Sparrow migration along a river corridor in desert grassland

Abstract

We analyzed trends of sparrows and towhees captured in fall at the Rio Grande Nature Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico from 1985 to 1994. Species were grouped into three breeding-habitat classes: grassland and shrubsteppe, riparian and deciduous vegetation, and upland forests, woodlands, and edges. Spearman's rank correlations were used to determine whether population trends were similar within and among species groups. We found that steep fluctuations in captures of many species masked population increases or decreases over time. Eight of nineteen (42%) correlations of pairs of species were significant within habitat groups. This indicated that some species populations fluctuated in similar ways, suggesting that shared factors on the breeding grounds may have influenced numbers captured in migration.

Parent Publication

• Ecosystem disturbance and wildlife conservation in western grasslands - A symposium proceedings

Citation

Finch, Deborah M.; Yong, Wang. 1996. Sparrow migration along a river corridor in desert grassland. In: Finch, Deborah M., Editor. Ecosystem disturbance and wildlife conservation in western grasslands - A symposium proceedings. September 22-26, 1994; Albuquerque, NM. General Technical Report RM-GTR-285. Fort Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. p. 64-72.