The Importance of Floristics to Sagebrush Breeding Birds of the South Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys, British Columbia1 Susan Paczek2 and Pam Krannitz3 ________________________________________ Abstract Habitat associations were determined for five species species in Canada relative to the 3 percent of area that of songbirds breeding in sagebrush habitat of the South these habitat types occupy (Hooper and Pitt 1995). At Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, British Columbia. the northern extent of the Great Basin, the shrubsteppe We examined the relative importance of plant species habitat of the southern Okanagan and Similkameen versus “total forbs” and “total grasses” at a local level Valleys (fig. 1) supports many species that are at the (<100 m) with point counts and vegetation survey data limit of their range and are unique in Canada. This area collected at 245 points. Logistic regression models contains a high concentration of bird species at risk, showed that individual plant species were often more including provincially red-listed shrubsteppe birds such important than variables that grouped species. Habitat as Brewer's Sparrow (Spizella breweri breweri), Grass- associations varied for each species. Brewer's Sparrow hopper Sparrow (Ammodrammus savannarum) and (Spizella breweri) was associated with parsnip- Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus). In addition, flowered buckwheat (Eriogonum heracleoides) and North American Breeding Bird Survey data compiled lupine (Lupinus sericeus or sulphureus). Lark Sparrow for the period 1966 to 1996 showed significant con- (Chondestes grammacus) was positively associated tinental decreases in populations of Brewer's Sparrow, with sand dropseed grass (Sporobolus cryptandrus), Lark Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrows and Western Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodrammus savannarum) Meadowlarks (Sturnella neglecta; Peterjohn and Sauer was positively associated with pasture sage (Artemisia 1999), all of which breed in the study area. While the frigida) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), Vesper distributions of songbird species are well known within Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) was positively associ- the South Okanagan (Cannings et al. 1987), the spe- ated with lupine, and Western Meadowlark (Sturnella cific habitat associations of bird communities within neglecta) was positively associated with needle-and- sagebrush habitat of this region are not. Despite recent thread grass (Stipa comata). These herb-layer species establishment of parks in the southern Okanagan, be- have strong associations with rangeland management tween 60-70 percent of potential habitat for the red- practices; therefore this information can be used to di- listed birds in this study is owned privately or by First rect management efforts in this highly threatened area. Nation reserves (MELP 1998). This habitat is under great threat to irreversible development as the human population of the Okanagan expands. Much of the remaining shrubsteppe habitat is subject to cattle Key words: Brewer’s Sparrow, floristics, Grasshopper grazing. A good understanding of bird-habitat associa- Sparrow, habitat associations, Lark Sparrow, Okana- tions is necessary to guide songbird conservation on gan, sagebrush, Vesper Sparrow, Western Meadowlark. public land and to increase the effectiveness of man- agement guidelines for interested private landowners. Descriptions of bird-habitat associations at a local level have often been made with measures of vegetation Introduction such as “total grasses” and “total forbs” and indices of vegetation variables, such as richness and diversity, Grasslands and shrubsteppe of British Columbia con- based on tradition and convenience (Rotenberry 1985). tain a disproportionately high number of endangered However, breeding songbirds in temperate regions are likely to be insectivorous migrants that are adapted to __________ certain insect prey, and often have better success in the 1A version of this paper was presented at the Third Interna- type of vegetation with which abundance of these in- tional Partners in Flight Conference, March 20-24, 2002, sects is correlated (Cody 1981). Host specialization is Asilomar Conference Grounds, California. widespread among herbivorous insects (Minckley et al. 2Centre for Applied Conservation Research, University of British rd 2000) and therefore individual plant species could in- Columbia, 3 floor, Forest Sciences Centre, 2424 Main Mall, directly affect habitat selection of insectivorous song- Vancouver BC, V6T 1Z4. E-mail: [email protected]. 3Environment Canada, 5421 Robertson Road, RR#1 Delta BC, birds. For example, grasshopper species composition is V4K 3N2. directly related to plant species composition in some USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-191. 2005 621 Floristics and Sagebrush Breeding Birds – Paczek and Krannitz Figure 1— Location of point count stations in the southern Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys for songbird surveys conducted in 1998. grasslands (Quinn and Walgenbach 1990). In other (Hooper and Pitt 1995). Research of this type can cases, plant species may reflect environmental vari- produce reliable grazing management prescriptions. ables such as moisture that are directly linked to insect productivity (Dunning and Brown 1982). We examined the relative importance of floristics (plant species) versus total grasses or forbs for five The measurement of individual plant species, or shrubsteppe breeding songbird species: Brewer’s Spar- “floristics,” is of particular value in grazed habitats as row, Lark Sparrow, Grasshopper Sparrow, Western grazing impacts both composition and structure of Meadowlark, and Vesper Sparrow. We hypothesized vegetation. While species richness of grassland birds that floristics would have a significant effect on bird declines in areas of extreme grazing pressure (Bradford distribution, as compared to percent horizontal cover of et al. 1998), bird species have variable responses to “total grasses” or “total forbs.” Methods, results, and grazing intensities in the middle of this spectrum (Saab conclusions presented in this paper are summarized et al. 1995). Grazing affects birds indirectly by altering from Paczek (2002). their habitat. For example, litter and cryptogramic crust cover decrease while bare soil increases with grazing (Laycock 1967). Certain plant species are less palatable and/or more robust to livestock grazing and will in- Methods crease under grazing pressure, while preferred forage Study Site Selection or sensitive plant species will decline (Ryder 1980). In- sectivorous songbirds can be further affected by graz- Study sites were located in the lower South Okanagan ing, because changes in plant community structure and Similkameen valleys, British Columbia, between impacts herbivorous insects. Grazing has been posi- approximately 49˚ 00’ 00” N and 49˚ 25’ 00” N, and tively correlated with increased grasshopper abundance 119˚ 49’ 00” W and 119˚ 27’ 00” W (fig. 1). Elevations (Smith 1940, Nerney 1958), but has a negative impact ranged between 345 m and 1200 m, within the Ponder- on the abundance of small and relatively sedentary in- osa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) – Bunchgrass and Interior sects and arachnids (Dennis et al. 1998). It is difficult Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) biogeoclimatic to adequately assess grazing effects because of the zones (Medinger and Pojar 1991). All of the survey need for temporal and spatial replication, but the effect areas were dominated by big sagebrush, Artemisia of grazing on wildlife can be inferred indirectly from tridentata. Variation in the herb understory was used to correlations between vegetation and wildlife variables guide point count station selection. Understory types included areas dominated by sand dropseed grass, USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-191. 2005 622 Floristics and Sagebrush Breeding Birds – Paczek and Krannitz needle-and-thread grass and areas with abundant forbs. We derived elevation, aspect and slope for each station Understory types were initially categorized by visual from BC Terrain Resource Inventory Mapping (TRIM) observation. Detailed vegetation sampling was then data. An index of moisture was derived from Landsat conducted to quantify differences among point count Thematic Mapper satellite data, taken 6 July 1996. stations. The sites occurred in 15 geographically dis- tinct areas, several of which contained more than one Statistical Analyses habitat type. Herb understory types were replicated at three or more of these areas. Study sites had a range of All statistical analyses were performed in SPSS (ver- sagebrush densities, varied in surrounding landscape sion 9). For all species, bird presence versus bird ab- characteristics, and included a range of aspects. Point sence was used as the dependent variable for logistic count stations were at least 300 m apart. Within an regression models (table 1). Logistic regression was area, stations were placed so that each plot was in the used for analysis because most of the habitat and bird center of an area of similar sagebrush density and variables were not normally distributed, and this could homogeneous understory. The 15 areas had between not be remedied with transformations. Logistic regres- three and 34 point count stations, depending on the size sion is robust with non-normal data (Menard 1995), but of the area, for a total of 245 survey stations (fig. 1). because of its requirement of a binary response var- iable it is difficult to assess the relative quality of Bird Surveys habitat. For the