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Maps, Models, and Tools for Bird Conservation Planning

Modeling Avian Abundance: Results - Eastern Meadowlark

Murray, L. 2006. Predicting bird abundance and occurrence in Midwestern landscapes. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Also, see
Thogmartin, W. E., M. G. Knutson, and J. R. Sauer. 2006. Predicting regional abundance of rare grassland birds with a hierarchical spatial count model. Condor 108:25-46.

Modeling Avian Abundance: Results
Avian Species-of-Concern in the Prairie-Hardwood Transition Ecoregion (Bird Conservation Region 23)

Eastern Meadowlark
Sturnella magna

 

 Conservation Estate Portfolio for the Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)

Conservation Estate Portfolio for the Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)

 Eastern Meadowlark Predicted Relative Abundance Map


Eastern Meadowlark Predicted Relative Abundance Map(map - click for larger scale)
Eastern Meadowlark

Eastern Meadowlark
AOU Code  
Habitat Association  
Nest Type and Location open-cup
Migration Status

short distance migrant
Conservation Score  

Eastern Meadowlark Predicted Relative Abundance Map
This map indicates predicted relative species abundance. The predicted count of any cell in the map represents the expected count if a Breeding Bird Survey route were centered on that cell.

Eastern Meadowlark Predicted Relative Abundance Map

 

Eastern Meadowlark Best Habitat Model

Table 1. Means and associated 95% credibility intervals (CI) of the posterior distributions of slopes for the average model of Eastern Meadowlark abundance and the best model of Savannah Sparrow abundance in the Prairie Hardwood Transition of the upper midwestern United States. The average Eastern Meadowlark model was calculated from models within two Deviance Information Criterion units of the best model. All variables are standardized to allow direct comparison among slopes. 

   Explanatory variablea Scale (ha) Mean 95% CI Importance
   Interaction of grassland and static wetnessb 800 0.08 -0.05 , 0.21 0.90
   Total urban grass (%) 800 0.23 -0.13 , 0.60 0.80
   Total grassland 800 0.60 0.46 , 0.76 0.76
   Total forest 800 -0.35 -0.51 , -0.18 0.72
   Mean summer temperature   -0.16 -0.38 , 0.08 0.66
   Total rowcrop 800 0.09 0.01 , 0.18 0.46
   Precipitation in the coldest quarter   0.12 -0.05 , 0.30 0.44
   Static wetness 800 -0.13 -0.19 , -0.07 0.39
   Mean temperature during the wettest quarter   0 -0.06 , 0.05 0.36
   Total precipitation in the driest quarter   0.05 -0.05 , 0.13 0.31
   Area-weighted grass patch size (ha) 800 0.01 0.01 , 0.02 0.21

aVariables are described in detail in Murray (2006).

bStatic wetness is an index of moist soil conditions (Thogmartin et al. 2006).

Content manager: Wayne Thogmartin

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Page Last Modified: October 4, 2007

October 4, 2007