Study

Effects of two sagebrush control methods on nongame birds

  • Published source details Castrale J.S. (1982) Effects of two sagebrush control methods on nongame birds. Journal of Wildlife Management, 46, 945-952.

Actions

This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

Action Category

Use prescribed burning on shrublands

Action Link
Bird Conservation

Manually control or remove midstorey and ground-level vegetation (including mowing, chaining, cutting etc) in shrubland

Action Link
Bird Conservation
  1. Use prescribed burning on shrublands

    A controlled study in 1980 in Utah, USA (Castrale 1982), found that response of breeding songbirds in sagebrush habitat chained or burned 3-4 years earlier varied between species. Total bird densities and diversity were similar between a chained site (i.e. vegetation knocked down by dragging a large chain), burned sites and sites without any intervention for 17 years. However, a burned site had 50-86% fewer Brewer's sparrow Spizella breweri (a sagebrush specialist) territories than chained or untreated sites. Horned lark Eremophila alpestris densities were 200-250% higher on the burned site compared to the untreated one. Vesper sparrow Pooecetes gramineus and western meadowlark Sturnella neglecta densities appeared unaffected by sagebrush control.

     

  2. Manually control or remove midstorey and ground-level vegetation (including mowing, chaining, cutting etc) in shrubland

    A controlled study in 1980 in Utah, USA (Castrale 1992), found that response of breeding songbirds in sagebrush habitat chained or burned 3-4 years earlier varied between species. Total bird densities and diversity were similar between a chained site, a burned site and a site without any intervention for 17 years. However, the chained site had significantly more Brewer's sparrow Spizella breweri (a sagebrush specialist) territories than the burned site, and horned lark Eremophila alpestris densities were 175-200% higher on the chained site than untreated sites. Vesper sparrow Pooecetes gramineus and western meadowlark Sturnella neglecta densities appeared unaffected by sagebrush control.

     

Output references
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