Bird Population Changes Following the Establishment of a Diverse Stand of Woody Plants in a Former Crop Field in North Dakota, 1975–2015

Abstract

Hart 1997). Jakes and Smith (1982) estimated that about 2,830 km 2 of forest land or roughly 1.5% of the total area of North Dakota was covered by forest at the time of Euro-American settlement, which began in earnest aft er the US Congress organized the Dakota Territory in 1861. Euro-American settlement brought drastic changes to the North Dakota landscape. Th e shortage of wood for fuel, fencing, housing, and protection was discouraging to early settlers (Hart and Hart 1997), and triggered repeated eff orts to establish tree plantings in the state. Since settlement, North Dakota has lost about 49% of its wetlands (Dahl 1990, 2014) and 75% of its native prairies (Samson and Knopf 1994), almost entirely because of conversion to agriculture. Although native riparian forests and woodlands also have declined in North Dakota and the northern Great Plains since settlement (Stewart

The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Bobolink (<em>Dolichonyx oryzivorus</em>)

“…Bobolinks commonly use planted grasslands during the breeding season. Bobolinks nested or occurred in CRP fields in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota (Patterson and Best, 1996;Best and others, 1997;Delisle and Savidge, 1997;Roth and others, 2005;Igl, 2009;Negus and others, 2010). In a 12-State study of the north-central Plains, Bobolink populations increased after the establishment of CRP fields (Herkert, 2009).…”

“…Veech (2006) used BBS data to characterize the landscape within a 30-km radius of populations of Bobolinks throughout the Great Plains that were increasing or decreasing; CRP and rangeland composed a greater proportion of the landscape for increasing populations than for decreasing populations, and urban land composed a greater proportion for decreasing populations. Between 1990, Igl (2009 recorded 149 species of breeding birds on several hundred CRP grasslands in nine counties in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Montana; of those species, Bobolinks had the fourth highest average density of indicated breeding pairs. In Minnesota and North Dakota, Koford (1999) reported that Bobolink abundance was equal or nearly equal between CRP fields and WPAs.…”

“…In addition, the ability to manipulate factors such as stocking rate that affect Bobolink demographics requires good relationships and agreements with private individuals (Salo and others, 2004). Some of the widest-ranging examples of public/private partnerships are the PCP in Canada and the CRP in the United States (McMaster and Davis, 1998;Igl, 2009;Igl and Johnson, 2016), both of which provide habitat for Bobolinks and other grassland birds by converting cropland to perennial grassland cover. Federal landowner incentive programs like the CRP can provide valuable conservation benefits to a myriad of wildlife, and the effectiveness of this program in providing breeding habitat for the Bobolink has been well established (Herkert, 2009).…”

“…The BBS abundance map provides only an approximation of breeding range edges. grasslands, such as Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields, Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) fields, Permanent Cover Program (PCP) fields, and dense nesting cover (DNC) in Waterfowl Production Areas (WPAs), wildlife management areas (WMAs), and wildlife production areas (for example,Renken and Dinsmore, 1987;Johnson and Schwartz, 1993; Dhol and others, 1994;Hartley, 1994;King and Savidge, 1995; Best and others, 1997;Delisle and Savidge, 1997;McMaster and Davis, 1998;Koford, 1999; McCoy and others, 2001;Fletcher and Koford, 2002;Hull, 2002;Igl…”

The effects of management practices on grassland birds—Dickcissel (<em>Spiza americana</em>)

“…and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) (Gross, 1921a(Gross, ,b, 1968Graber and Graber, 1963;Emlen and Wiens, 1965;Monroe, 1967;Harrison, 1974;Stewart, 1975;Sealy, 1976;Ryan, 1986;Frawley, 1989;Igl, 1991;Helzer, 1996;Helzer and Jelinski, 1999;Kim and others, 2008). Dickcissels use planted grasslands, such as Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) fields, Waterfowl Production Areas, and fields of dense nesting cover (DNC) (Blankespoor, 1980;Renken and Dinsmore, 1987;Sample, 1989;Johnson and Schwartz, 1993;Johnson and Igl, 1995;King and Savidge, 1995;Hull and others, 1996;Patterson and Best, 1996;Best and others, 1997;Klute and others, 1997;Hughes and others, 1999;Fletcher and others, 2006;Igl, 2009;Reiley and Benson, 2020). Dickcissels also inhabit planted grasslands on reclaimed surface mines (DeVault and others, 2002;Scott and others, 2002;Galligan and others, 2006;Dixon and others, 2008;Graves and others, 2010).…”