Land cover dynamics across the Great Plains and their influence on breeding birds: Potential artefact of data and analysis limitations

Curtis H. Flather; Michael Knowles; Scott Baggett

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.07.002

Treesearch

Land cover dynamics across the Great Plains and their influence on breeding birds: Potential artefact of data and analysis limitations

Formally Refereed

Authors:

Curtis H. Flather, Michael Knowles, Scott Baggett

Year:

2017

Type:

Scientific Journal

Station:

Rocky Mountain Research Station

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.07.002

Source:

Biological Conservation. 213: 243-244.

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Abstract

The distribution and abundance of obligate grassland breeding birds in the US have declined across the Great Plains as native habitats have been converted to intensive human land use. A major finding of Scholtz et al. (2017: Table 3) was that the group-wise extinction rate among 13 common grassland nesting birds declined with increasing cropland. This conclusion runs counter to expectations and may be attributable to an artefact of flawed data or analyses. Here, we outline four concerns that may be contributing to the counter-intuitive association.

Keywords

bias, scale, land cover error, multi-year occupancy, observer effects

Citation

Flather, C. H.; Knowles, M. S.; Baggett, L. S. 2017. Land cover dynamics across the Great Plains and their influence on breeding birds: Potential artefact of data and analysis limitations. Biological Conservation. 213: 243-244.