Recreational trails, human activity, and nest predation in lowland riparian areas
Recreational trails, human activity, and nest predation in lowland riparian areas
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DOI：
10.1016/s0169-2046(00)00091-8
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发表时间：
2000-08
影响因子：
9.1
通讯作者：
James R. Miller;N. Hobbs
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
James R. Miller;N. Hobbs
在人类住区，绿道和开放空间土地往往是为了娱乐目的，以及提供野生动物栖息地，但这些目标的兼容性是不确定的。我们研究了休闲步道对巢捕食和巢捕食者活动的风险在四个低地河岸网站沿着前山脉的科罗拉多的影响。在两条溪流的每一条上，我们在休闲步道附近放置了一个人工巢样带，在溪流的另一边放置了另一个样带。我们还在每条小溪上的第二个地点放置了另一个巢样带，这些巢与休闲小径无关。在1995年，我们用鹌鹑蛋作为鸟巢的诱饵;在1996年，我们还在鸟巢中添加了一个粘土蛋，以帮助我们识别鸟巢捕食者。人工巢不是天然巢的完美替代品，但在产生关于巢失败原因的假设和检测捕食者组合的变化方面是有用的。总体而言，捕食率很高（94%）。有显着差异的脆弱性，捕食对不同的样带类型，与捕食率增加的趋势，从步道的距离。有一个显着的时间效应，在1996年捕食的风险更大。1996年，83%的泥蛋被发现有被捕食的迹象。弗伦斯破坏了11%的泥蛋;在69%的泥蛋上发现了黑嘴喜鹊、蓝鸟和普通八哥的痕迹;老鼠捕食了25%的泥蛋;松鼠捕食了12%的泥蛋。鸟类攻击更多的巢附近的步道比远离步道，而哺乳动物似乎避免巢附近的步道在一定程度上。这些结果支持的论点，娱乐步道和人类活动可能会影响筑巢成功的一些物种，并建议巢捕食模式反映了独特的，有时，违反直觉的反应，个别捕食物种。而不是依赖于简单的假设，娱乐和野生动物的兼容性，重要的是要考虑到如何个别物种的栖息地改变和人类活动与步道时，决定步道应位于和在人类占主导地位的地区制定整体保护战略。
In areas of human settlement, greenways and open-space land are often intended to serve recreational purposes as well as provide wildlife habitat, but the compatibility of these goals is uncertain. We examined the effect of recreational trails on the risk of nest predation and nest predator activity at four lowland riparian sites along the Front Range of Colorado. At one site on each of two streams, we placed a transect of artificial nests near a recreational trail and another transect on the opposite side of the stream. We also placed another transect of nests at a second site on each stream that was not associated with a recreational trail. In 1995, nests were baited with quail eggs; in 1996 a clay egg was also added to nests to aid us in nest predator identification. Artificial nests are not perfect surrogates for natural nests, but are useful in generating hypotheses about causes of nest failure and for detecting changes in predator assemblages. Overall, predation rates were high (94%). There were significant differences in vulnerability to predation on the different transect types, with a tendency for predation rates to increase with distance from trails. There was a significant effect of time with a greater risk of predation in 1996. In 1996, 83% of the clay eggs that were recovered showed signs of predation. House Wrens destroyed 11% of the clay eggs; impressions from Black-billed Magpies, Blue Jays, and Common Grackles were found on 69%; mice preyed on 25%; and squirrels on 12% of the eggs. Birds attacked more nests near trails than away from trails, whereas mammals appeared to avoid nests near trails to some extent. These results support the contention that recreational trails and human activity may affect nesting success for some species, and suggest that patterns of nest predation reflect the unique, and sometimes, counter-intuitive responses of individual predator species. Rather than relying on simplistic assumptions about the compatibility of recreation and wildlife, it is important to consider how individual species respond to the habitat alteration and human activity associated with trails when deciding where trails should be located and in developing overall conservation strategies in human-dominated areas.