Numerous studies have confirmed that when selecting habitat birds can use social information acquired from observing other individuals, and many aspects of this social information can be capitalized upon to manage bird populations. The conservation implications of attraction to conspecifics are especially promising for management, and as research progresses it is important to consider how this behavior can be applied to conservation practice. The biological underpinnings of conspecific attraction and the repercussions of manipulating species' distributions with attraction methods are not well understood, but conservation decisions often cannot wait for scientific research. Here we synthesize the current research on manipulation of songbirds by conspecific-attraction methods and review our knowledge gaps critically. We reviewed the published literature on conspecific-attraction experiments in songbirds and found that of 24 studies in which they were attempted, 20 were successful in attracting birds. Although many experiments have been successful in attracting conspecifics with various cues, we outline issues to be considered before songbirds are manipulated by attraction methods, and we highlight areas of research necessary to enhance the understanding of conspecific attraction and its use in conservation.Resumen. Se ha confirmado mediante numerosos estudios que las aves pueden utilizar información social adquirida mediante la observación de otros individuos al seleccionar el hábitat y muchos aspectos de esta información social pueden emplearse para manejar las poblaciones de aves. Las implicaciones de la atracción entre individuos coespecíficos para la conservación son especialmente promisorias para el manejo y a medida que la investigación progresa es importante considerar cómo se puede aplicar este comportamiento a la conservación en la práctica. Las bases biológicas de la atracción entre individuos coespecíficos y las repercusiones de manipular la distribución de las especies mediante métodos de atracción no se entienden adecuadamente, pero las decisiones de conservación a menudo no pueden esperar al desarrollo de investigaciones científicas. En este trabajo, sintetizamos la investigación actual sobre la manipulación de aves canoras mediante métodos de atracción de individuos coespecíficos y revisamos nuestros baches en el conocimiento de forma crítica. Revisamos la literatura publicada sobre experimentos de atracción de individuos coespecíficos en aves canoras y encontramos que, de 24 estudios en los que éstos fueron emprendidos, 20 tuvieron éxito atrayendo a las aves. Aunque muchos experimentos han tenido éxito atrayendo individuos coespecíficos usando varias señales, esbozamos algunos asuntos que deben considerarse antes de manipular a las aves canoras mediante métodos de atracción. Además, resaltamos áreas en las que es necesario realizar investigaciones para mejorar el entendimiento de la atracción de individuos coespecíficos y su uso en conservación.
The Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) may have the largest Asian elephant population in Indochina. However, elephants on Lao PDR's Nakai Plateau are potentially threatened by the construction of a hydropower dam that will flood important habitat. We conducted a non-invasive genetic study of elephants in this region to provide baseline data on genetic diversity and social structure prior to dam construction. For the 102 elephants we detected, values of observed heterozygosity (0.711) and allelic diversity (8.0 alleles/locus) at microsatellite loci were higher than those found in elephant populations in India and Vietnam, while mitochondrial diversity (haplotype diversity 0.741; nucleotide diversity 0.011) was similar to that reported for the Lao/Vietnam region. Six mitochondrial haplotypes were detected, representing both major clades previously reported in this species. Relatedness estimates between females and young detected near each other are consistent with familial relationships, and relatedness estimates between adult males and females suggest male locational dispersal. Since family group structure appears to be intact in the Nakai region, these elephants will likely move as relatively large family groups in response to habitat disturbance. These results have positive implications for the viability of the elephant population in this region, demonstrate its conservation significance, and will be valuable for predicting and monitoring the effects of the hydropower dam over time.
With the loss of over 70% of North America's grasslands (Samson et al. 2004), grassland birds increasingly rely on habitat that is privately owned and managed for livestock production. Therefore, it is critical to understand how livestock grazing influences grassland bird abundance and community structure. We evaluated the response of 4 obligate grassland bird species to grazing intensity, vegetation structure, ecological site description, and burning across a landscape including pastures with no recent grazing to pastures experiencing grazing intensities similar to that for private livestock production operations. We evaluated models using a binomial N-mixture model implemented in the R package unmarked. Overall, 3 of the 4 obligate species included positive relationships with grazing intensity in the top abundance model (i.e., grasshopper sparrow [Ammodramus savannarum], bobolink [Dolichonyx oryzivorus], and upland sandpiper [Bartramia longicauda]), suggesting the range of grazing intensities evaluated (0-4.57 animal months/ha) did not negatively affect the abundance of these species. Marbled godwit (Limosa fedoa) abundance, however, was higher with greater variability in litter depth but was not directly related to grazing intensity. Finally, the effect of year was correlated with decreasing precipitation over the course of the study and had the greatest influence on community composition with some community separation by grazing intensity. Our results suggest that cattle grazing can positively influence the abundance of some grassland bird species but annual variation in weather patterns can influence community composition at sites regardless of management decisions. Ó 2016 The Wildlife Society.
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