Do landscape features predict the presence of barn owls in a changing agricultural landscape?
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| Authors: | Hindmarch S, Krebs EA, Elliott J and Green DJ. |
| Year: | 2012 |
| Journal: | Landscape and Urban Planning 107:255-262 Article Link (DOI) |
| Title: | Do landscape features predict the presence of barn owls in a changing agricultural landscape? |
| Abstract: | Population declines of farmland birds have been linked to the loss and fragmentation of grassland habitats resulting from changes in agricultural practices and urbanization. We investigated how changes to landscape attributes in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, Canada, influenced the persistence and current occupancy by barn owls at roosting and nesting sites. There has been considerable development in the agricultural landscape of the Fraser Valley between the early 1990's and 2007/2008: grassland cover declined by 53%, the area of urban cover increased by 133%, length of secondary roads increased by 18%, and the volume of highway traffic increased by 33%. We also found that 30% of the sites used by barn owls in the early 1990s have been lost. Although the availability of grasslands are thought to influence the distribution of barn owls, in our study, barn owls were not more likely to persist at sites with little loss of grass cover, or to currently occupy sites surrounded by more grassland. The only variables that predicted the continued use and current occupancy of sites were traffic exposure and the length of highways. Barn owls were most likely to persist at sites with lower increases in traffic exposure and occupied sites containing fewer kilometers of highway within a 1-km radius. We conclude that the distribution of barn owls in the Fraser Valley is influenced by the loss of suitable roosting and nesting sites and location of highways. |
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