Life History Attributes of Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) and Comparisons with Other North American Subspecies

Ruth, Janet M.

doi:10.1674/0003-0031-178.1.64

Cited by 8 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…This subspecies is endemic to the desert grasslands of the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico, with a breeding distribution that includes southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, USA, south to northern Sonora, Mexico (Vickery 1996). The subspecies is considered a Bird of Conservation Concern in USFWS Region 2 (USFWS 2008) and is listed as Endangered in the state of New Mexico (NMDGF 2016) due to population declines and threats of loss, degradation, and fragmentation of its native grassland habitat (Ruth 2008, 2017, USFWS 2008, NMDGF 2016.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these grasslands, Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows and Cassin's Sparrows (Peucaea cassinii), another desert grassland specialist, have adapted to the arid climate by delaying nest initiation until the arrival of summer monsoons in July and August (McClaran and Van Devender 1995, Ruth 2000, 2017, Corman and Wise-Gervais 2005. In Arizona, Grasshopper Sparrow nest entrances are oriented to the north, likely to provide protection from solar radiation and prevailing winds (Long et al 2009, Ruth 2017. Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows are smaller than more northern subspecies (Ruth 2017), possibly facilitating heat loss following Bergmann's rule (Ashton 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Arizona, Grasshopper Sparrow nest entrances are oriented to the north, likely to provide protection from solar radiation and prevailing winds (Long et al 2009, Ruth 2017. Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows are smaller than more northern subspecies (Ruth 2017), possibly facilitating heat loss following Bergmann's rule (Ashton 2002). In spite of these adaptations, recent literature suggests that changes in temperature and precipitation patterns may still affect the reproductive success of grassland species such as the Grasshopper Sparrow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reproductive response of Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows to weather patterns and habitat structure

Ruth

Skagen

2018

The Condor

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reproductive response of Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows to weather patterns and habitat structure

Ruth

Skagen

2018

The Condor

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“…2). Plots were small enough to ensure that grass composition within many plots was homogeneous, but large enough to encompass portions of several sparrow territories, which average 0.7 ha for grasshopper sparrow (Ruth 2017) and 1.4 ha for Botteri's sparrow (Webb 1985).…”

Section: Sampling Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although these two sparrows are similar ecologically and both are classified as grassland obligates (Vickery et al 1999), they differ in their habitat preferences and breadth (i.e., the width of the habitat component of a species' niche). For example, in Arizona, grasshopper sparrows are restricted primarily to upland grasslands with few shrubs and relatively small-statured grasses (Ruth andSkagen 2017, Andersen and. In contrast, Botteri's sparrows nest sympatrically with grasshopper sparrows, but also nest in areas where shrub cover reaches 30% and in relatively mesic bottomlands that support tall, robust native grasses (e.g., sacaton, Sporobolus wrightii; Jones and Bock 2005, Andersen and Steidl 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant invasions alter settlement patterns of breeding grassland birds

Andersen

Steidl

2020

Ecosphere

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Citation: Andersen, E. M., and R. J. Steidl. 2020. Plant invasions alter settlement patterns of breeding grassland birds.Abstract. Animals have evolved strategies to identify areas that provide the resources and environmental conditions they need to survive and reproduce. To explore how invasions by nonnative plants might disrupt this fundamental process, we evaluated settlement patterns of migratory birds that breed in grasslands being invaded by two structurally different congeneric grasses. We established 40, 2.25-ha plots across an area where the composition of each nonnative grass ranged from 0% to nearly 100% of total grass cover, which provided individuals with the full range of alternatives in species composition. We then used the temporal sequence by which birds established territories to infer their habitat preferences. We evaluated responses of the most common species that settled the area, two confamilial sparrows that differed markedly in habitat breadth. The species with narrower habitat breadth, the grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus), first established territories in areas dominated by native grasses, where grass height and cover were substantially lower than in areas dominated by the nonnative grasses. As the settlement period progressed, they increasingly established territories in areas dominated by the smaller nonnative grass (Eragrostis lehmanniana), but never established territories in areas dominated by the larger grass (E. curvula). In contrast, the species with broader habitat breadth, the Botteri's sparrow (Peucaea botterii arizonae), established territories without regard to grass composition, likely because both nonnative grasses were within the structural range of native grasses used by this grassland generalist. Our results demonstrate that in areas invaded by nonnative plants, changes in habitat use by animals can reflect the interaction between their habitat breadth and the amount of structural contrast between invading plants and the native plant species that are displaced. This interaction provides a mechanism to explain the variation in responses among species to invasions by nonnative plants, which has consequences for broadscale changes in the geographic distribution of many species.

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Emigration and survival correlate with different precipitation metrics throughout a grassland songbird's annual cycle

et al. 2023

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Many exogenous factors may influence demographic rates (i.e., births, deaths, immigration, emigration), particularly for migratory birds that must cope with variable weather and habitat throughout their range and annual cycle. In midcontinental grasslands, disturbance (e.g., fire and grazing) and precipitation influence variation in grassland structure and function, but we know little about when and why precipitation is associated with grassland species' vital rates. We related estimates of detection, survival, and emigration to a priori sets of precipitation metrics to test the putative alternative factors influencing movement and mortality in grasshopper sparrows (Ammodramus savannarum). This species is a migratory songbird that exhibits exceptionally high rates of within-season and between-season dispersal. Between 2013 and 2020, we captured and resighted grasshopper sparrows in northeastern Kansas, USA, compiling capture histories for 1,332 adult males. We tested predictions of climatic hypotheses explaining variation in survival and emigration throughout a grasshopper sparrow's annual cycle; both survival and emigration were associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation precipitation index (ESPI). Survival was positively related with ESPI during winter, and temporary emigration was curvilinearly related to breeding season ESPI lagged 2 years, with the highest site fidelity associated with intermediate rainfall values. The relationship between rainfall and temporary emigration likely reflects the influence of weather over multiple years on

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Life History Attributes of Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum ammolegus) and Comparisons with Other North American Subspecies

Cited by 8 publications

References 39 publications

Reproductive response of Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows to weather patterns and habitat structure

Reproductive response of Arizona Grasshopper Sparrows to weather patterns and habitat structure

Plant invasions alter settlement patterns of breeding grassland birds

Emigration and survival correlate with different precipitation metrics throughout a grassland songbird's annual cycle

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