Sensitivity of secretive marsh birds to vegetation condition in natural and restored wetlands in Wisconsin

摘要: Wetland loss, biological invasions, and ecological restoration are major factors altering wetland resources in the Midwestern United States. Large-scale plant-community change associated with these is an under-investigated, potentially strong driver of habitat suitability for wetland-dependent wildlife, such as secretive marsh birds (SMBs), which widespread conservation concern. We employed multi-year, hierarchical Bayesian occupancy modeling to investigate sensitivity 3 SMB species (American bittern, sora, Virginia rail) vegetation characteristics Wisconsin, USA. contrasted natural wetlands those restored under federally funded Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP). also examined extent was explained by levels assessment that encompassed different spatial scales sampling effort (landscape, rapid, intensive). All were significantly variables derived from intensive assessment, showed high differences composition quality. Both American bittern rail negatively abundance invasive grass, Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass), positively indicator quality (mean coefficient conservatism, or C-value). Sora Typha (cattail) abundance. For all species, greater sites than sites, characterized lower mean C-values. Our results show broad agreement between botanical avian indicators quality, suggesting enhancing condition can yield ancillary benefits SMBs. In this region, efforts control restore diverse, native-dominated plant communities likely increase wetlands’ capacity support © 2015 The Wildlife Society.