The importance of native valley oaks (Quercus lobata) as stopover habitat for migratory songbirds in urban Sacramento,California, USA |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Maragheh, P.O. Box 55136-553, Maragheh, East Azerbaijan, Iran;2. Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran;3. GTEV-ReX Limited, Swindon, Wilts. United Kingdom;4. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran;5. Institute of Environment, University of Tabriz, Iran;1. Department of Food Physics and Meat Science, Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 21/25, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany;2. Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR), Ingénierie des Agropolyméres et Technologies Émergentes (IATE), Montpellier, 34060 France;3. Department of Food Microbiology, Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstrasse 28, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany;1. Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA;2. Department of Forest Resources, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tifton, GA, 31793, USA;3. Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA;4. Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA;5. Department of Natural Resources Ecology and Management, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA. |
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| Abstract: | Urban development occupies over 375,000 ha (6%) of California's Central Valley, and expansion continues to displace natural and agricultural landscapes. The value of urban areas as habitat for native wildlife and the characteristics that determine its value, however, remain little studied. Many Neotropical migrant passerine bird species are declining due to changes in breeding, migratory, and wintering habitats and climatic conditions. During 2010–2013, we evaluated the importance of native valley oak (Quercus lobata) as stopover foraging habitat used by Neotropical migrant birds in urban areas of the Sacramento region in California, USA. Over 3 years, we surveyed spring and late summer-early fall migrant songbirds and measured tree canopy cover within 31 c.0.91 ha transects in Curtis Park, an older residential neighborhood. We detected 607 individuals from 20 migrant species, but four wood warblers comprised the bulk of observations: black-throated gray (Setophaga nigrescens), Wilson's (Cardellina pusilla), orange-crowned (Oreothlypis celata), and yellow warblers (Setophaga petechia). Migrant abundance was closely correlated with valley oak canopy abundance and increased linearly with oak canopy especially during fall migration. Migrants were nearly absent from areas lacking oak canopy. Migrant bird species as a group also foraged in valley oak substantially more often (74%) than would be expected based on its 15% relative canopy cover (χ21d.f. = 924, p < 0.0001), as did all species whose selectivity could be tested. These results are important in demonstrating previously undocumented migrant use of urban areas with remnant valley oak canopy and suggest that protecting existing valley oaks and increasing their use in future urban forestry and landscape plantings in the Central Valley could provide substantial habitat benefits for native migratory birds. |
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