Klein, Julian
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
Habitat suitability models (HSM) based on remotely sensed data are useful tools in conservation work. However, they typically use species occurrence data rather than robust demographic variables, and their predictive power is rarely evaluated. These shortcomings can result in misleading guidance for conservation. Here, we develop and evaluate a HSM based on correlates of long-term breeding success of an open nest building boreal forest bird, the Siberian jay. In our study site in northern Sweden, nest failure of this permanent resident species is driven mainly by visually hunting corvids that are associated with human settlements. Parents rely on understory nesting cover as protection against these predators. Accordingly, our HSM includes a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) based metric of understory density around the nest and the distance of the nest to the closest human settlement to predict breeding success. It reveals that a high understory density 15-80 m around nests is associated with increased breeding success in territories close to settlements (
Keywords
airborne laser scanning; forest thinning; habitat suitability models; LiDAR; nest predation; Perisoreus infaustus; understory
Published in
Ecology and Evolution
2020, volume: 10, number: 4, pages: 2238-2252
Publisher: WILEY
SLU Authors
Lindberg, Eva
- Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Eggers, Sönke
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
UKÄ Subject classification
Earth Observation
Ecology
Publication identifier
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6062
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/104401