Site occupancy and reproductive dynamics of California spotted owls in a mixed-ownership landscape

Elevational gradients strongly mediate habitat selection patterns in a nocturnal predator

“…Thus, our finding that habitat selection varies across elevation supports a growing body of research that links elevational‐dependent distributions of small mammal communities with emergent effects on individual fitness and population metrics such as population density and trend (Jones et al 2016, Hobart et al 2019 a , b ). Collectively, these results suggest that lower elevations within the range of the spotted owl in the Sierra Nevada are particularly important for maintaining viable populations of this species—acknowledging that, in the future, the potential adverse effects of anthropogenic climate change on spotted owls might be greatest at lower elevations (Peery et al 2012).…”

“…In conjunction with previous studies (Zabel et al 1995, Munton et al 2002, Hobart et al 2019b, our results suggest that the elevational gradients in habitat selection, which are likely a response to the distribution of primary prey, have consequences for spotted owl populations. At lower elevations, spotted owl territory occupancy and breeding probabilities tend to be higher, home ranges smaller, and woodrats more prevalent in the diet (Zabel et al 1995, Hobart et al 2019a.…”

“…We predicted that variation in spotted owl habitat selection by elevation would reflect the habitat preferences of their woodrat and flying squirrel prey that are relatively abundant at high and low elevations, respectively (Gutiérrez et al 1992, Munton et al 2002, Hobart et al 2019 b ). Woodrats are often associated with younger, shorter forests containing hardwoods and brushy understories (Sakai and Noon 1993, Innes et al 2007, Hamm and Diller 2009), such that selection for shorter forests by GPS‐tagged owls at lower elevations may have reflected a woodrat‐focused foraging strategy.…”

Spatiotemporal Patterns of the California Spotted Owl’s Territorial Vocalizations

“…1997, North et al 2017, Hobart et al 2019, though stands of open forest with high basal area of hardwoods contribute to Spotted Owl reproduction (Hobart et al 2019) and some stands of young forest are selected for foraging (Atuo et al 2019). Collectively, this behavior suggests that Spotted Owls dedicate time to active maintenance of the boundaries of their territories, despite relatively routine movements that often encompass multiple territories (Berigan et al 2018, Blakey et al 2019.…”

Framing management of social-ecological systems in terms of the cost of failure: the Sierra Nevada, USA as a case study

“…For example, in conservation conflicts surrounding the spotted owl, the relationship between academic researchers and the timber industry has historically had adversarial undertones. However, in the Sierra Nevada, the two groups recently began collaborating and were able to document previously unknown elements of California spotted owl resource use and population ecology, thus identifying promising new pathways in the conservation of that subspecies (Hobart et al 2019a, Atuo et al 2019. Unsurprisingly, the absence of trust can impede the management process.…”