Chapter 20: Relationship of Marbled Murrelets with Habitat Characteristics at Inland Sites in California

Abstract

We examined the range and the relationships of Marbled Murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) behavior with habitat and landscape characteristics in isolated old-growth and residual forest stands from 2 to 400 ha in California. In large contiguous stands of old-growth forest in parks, we examined relationships of murrelet detections with elevation and topography. In isolated stands we found higher murrelet detection levels in stands with higher dominant and codominant crown cover and >50 percent coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). Surveys also were more likely to detect occupied behaviors at stands with higher crown cover and a greater proportion of redwoods. Density of old-growth cover and species composition may be the strongest predictors of murrelet presence and occupancy in California. Contrary to previous studies, we did not find that larger stands were more likely to have murrelets present. In the large park stands, we found that mean detection levels and the number of occupied stations were highest in the major drainages and at lower elevations. Major ridges tended to have lower detection levels and fewer occupied behavior stations.

Parent Publication

• Ecology and conservation of the Marbled Murrelet

Citation

Miller, Sherri L.; Ralph, C. John. 1995. Chapter 20: Relationship of Marbled Murrelets with Habitat Characteristics at Inland Sites in California. In: Ralph, C. John; Hunt, George L., Jr.; Raphael, Martin G.; Piatt, John F., Technical Editors. 1995. Ecology and conservation of the Marbled Murrelet. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-152. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture; p. 205-218