Wildlife
| Project: | Effects of firewood harvesting on avian abundance and guild structure in a California oak-pine woodland |
| Project Leader: | Aigner, P.A. |
| Summary: | 1996. M.S. Thesis, Northern Arizona University. 117 pages. This thesis studies the impact of firewood harvesting on the breeding-season bird community in an oak-pine woodland in the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevadas, California, with particular focus on the foraging behavior of species in the foliage-gleaning insectivorous guild. Objectives were to measure population trends of all species after an experimental firewood harvest, and to use concomitant changes in food abundance to assess the importance of interspecific competition for food in structuring the foliage-gleaning guild. Results are consistent with the hypothesis that competition is less likely to be important in structuring communities in variable environments. Ref.268\64.04. |
| Project: | Probable breeding population of the Black Rail in Yuba County, California |
| Project Leader: | Aigner, P.A., J. Tecklin, and C.E. Koehler |
| Summary: | 1995. Western Birds 26: pp. 157-160. We report the discovery of a probable breeding population of black rails in two marshes along tributaries of Dry Creek at the University of California Sierra Foothill Research and Extension Center about 24km east of Marysville in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Yuba County, and subsequent detections of black rails on two other tributaries of Dry Creek. |
| Project: | Design recommendations for point counts of birds in California oak-pine woodlands: power, sample size, and count stations versus visits |
| Project Leader: | Aigner, P.A., W.M. Block, and M.L. Morrison |
| Summary: | In press. Proc., Symp. on Oak Woodlands: Ecology, Management, and Urban Interface Issues. San Luis Obispo, CA., Mar. 19-22, 1996. Point count data was used from a 3-year experimental study of the impact of firewood cutting on an oak woodland bird community to make specific recommendations about sampling design and sample sizes necessary to detect environmental impacts on bird density. Optimal allocation and sample size varied depending on the species, parameter of interest, and statistical hypothesis test. Our results can be used to plan future studies when objectives and parameters of interest are clearly defined. Ref.250\64.01. |
| Project: | The impacts of foraging meadowlarks, Sturnella neglecta, on the degradation of cattle dung pads |
| Project Leader: | Anderson, J.R., and R.W. Merritt |
| Summary: | 1977 J. Applied Ecol. 14: pp. 355-362. In 110 hours of observations over four years only the western meadowlark was seen foraging in cattle dung pads. Field examination of dung pads with and without undigested barley seeds (the former from cattle provided a supplemental autumn-winter ration of cottonseed meal and barley), and gizzards of twelve meadow-larks killed during winter, showed that they were foraging in pads for barley seeds, not insects. This appears to be the first report of a bird species utilizing cattle dung pads in pastures as an autumn-winter food source for seeds. |
| Project: | Spatial and temporal patterns of resource use by birds in California oak woodlands |
| Project Leader: | Block, W.M. |
| Summary: | 1989. Ph.D. Thesis, UCDavis: p. 364. This study concentrated on populations, foraging ecologies, and habitats of birds found at three oak-woodland study areas in California. Data was collected from three breeding and two nonbreeding seasons from 1986 through 1988. Spatial and temporal patterns were examined and investigated. The conclusion that many species found in oak woodlands have morphological and behavioral traits that allow them to exploit a changing environment. Thus, management of oak woodland birds must be based on detailed information collected across a wide-range of environmental conditions representative of those occurring in oak woodlands. |
| Project: | Conceptual framework and ecological considerations for the study of birds in oak woodlands |
| Project Leader: | Block, W.M., and M.L. Morrison |
| Summary: | 1987 Proc., Symp. Multiple-use Mgmt. of Calif. Hardwood Res. USFS Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-100: pp. 163-173. The distributions and abundances of birds within oak woodland communities of California are the results of geologic events leading to the formation of the Mediterranean-type ecosystem, and of more recent anthropogenic impacts that have altered the landscape. The principal objective of this framework is to outline aspects of bird biology, ecology and behavior that must be addressed before assessments of habitat quality can be made. Collection of all of these data requires extensive field work to determine temporal and spatial patterns of habitat and resource use. There are no shortcuts for obtaining this information. |
| Project: | Wildlife diversity of the central Sierra foothills |
| Project Leader: | Block, W.M., and M.L. Morrison |
| Summary: | 1990 California Agriculture 44(2): pp. 19-22. A 3-year study of wildlife-habitat relationships in the oak woodlands of California's Sierra foothills found a wide range of species. This was directly related to the diversity of habitats provided by oak woodlands. We found a wide variety of wildlife, much of which was directly attributable to the vegetative diversity of the central Sierra foothills. No oak woodland at the Sierra Foothill Range Field Station goes unused by wildlife. In the management of oak woodlands, a rich diversity of wildlife can only be ensured by maintenance of the diversity of habitats. |
| Project: | Design consideration for the study of amphibians, reptiles, and small mammals in California's oak woodlands: temporal and spatial patterns. Management of amphibians, reptiles and small mammals in North America |
| Project Leader: | Block, W.M., M.L. Morrison, J.C. Slaymaker, and G. Jongejan |
| Summary: | 1988 USFS Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-166.: pp. 247-253. Using pitfall traps to sample amphibian, reptile, and small mammal populations, we found pronounced variation within and among study areas, and within and between years in capture rates of all taxa and of many of the species studied. Implications of these results apply both to the design of studies for these animals as well as for their management. Each oak-woodland type contains a unique set of factors that predispose species to use the area for some aspect of their life histories. Management for a species should be based on information that considers the spatial and temporal variability in habitat use to provide for all life requisites. |
| Project: | Wildlife and oak-woodland interdependency |
| Project Leader: | Block, W.M., M.L. Morrison, and J. Verner |
| Summary: | 1990 Fremontia 18: pp. 72-76. Management of wildlife in oak woodlands requires an ecosystem approach. Oak woodlands consist not only of trees, but also of shrubs, leaf litter, grasses, forbs, downed woody debris, and countless other biotic and abiotic components. These components are interrelated; thus, alteration of one will affect the others. Management must be based on accurate information that details the ecologies of all animals found there and also predicts effects of environmental change on their populations. |
| Project: | Clinal geographic variation in feral honey bees in California, USA |
| Project Leader: | Daly, H.V., K. Hoelmer, and P. Gambino |
| Summary: | 1991 Apidologie 22: pp. 591-609. Feral honey bees in California are mongrel populations, partially differentiated in morphometrics from managed colonies as well as from European subspecies. Most morphometric variables had low but significant correlations with environmental factors and clinal patterns of spatial autocorrelation with distance. Some measurements of body size exhibited Bergmann's Rule, but the hind legs did not exhibit Allen's Rule. The geographic variation is presumably adaptive and has developed within 138 years in the presence of a large, mobile beekeeping industry. |
| Project: | Nest sites of feral honey bees in California, USA |
| Project Leader: | Gambino, P., K. Hoelmer, and H.V. Daly |
| Summary: | 1990 Apidologie 21: pp. 35-45. Nest site characteristics are described for 94 honey bee nests in trees, 17 in the ground, and 82 in man-made structures. Nests were in trees of mean diameter 85 cm primarily in live hardwoods, especially oaks. Entrances were mostly single knots or cracks in the main trunk at ground level and up to a mean height of 2.5 m. Most nests in the ground were in treeless areas; half had partially exposed combs, possibly aiding ventilation. Nests in buildings differed from those in trees by having smaller entrances. Compass orientation of comb in natural nest sites was commonly from 145-195 degrees. |
| Project: | California quail life history calendar |
| Project Leader: | Gorenzel, P., S. Mastrup, and T. Nguyen |
| Summary: | 1988 Outdoor California 49: pp. 13-16. The events described in this natural history calendar are based on more than 2,000 hours of observation since 1981 at the University of California Sierra Foothill Range Field Station in the foothills east of Marysville, Yuba County. The calendar applies best to Californa quail in the foothills of the central to northern Sierra Nevada. The timing of events at a given location can vary from year to year, depending on rainfall and temperature patterns. The events we describe could occur as much as a month earlier in the more arid southern portions of California and up to a month later in the cooler, more northern portions of quail range. |
| Project: | Want to help wildlife? Start a nest box trail! |
| Project Leader: | Gorenzel, W.P., R.H. Schmidt, and G.A. Giusti |
| Summary: | 1993. Outdoor California (Jan-Feb): pp. 11-16. A nest box trail is simply a number of nest boxes, or bird houses, set up at regular, spaced distances from one another. A nest box trail can consist of just a few to hundreds of boxes. The number is limited only by the amount of resources and time you want to commit. Nest boxes can be purchased, but most people build their own. After the boxes are put up, they are inspected periodically through the nesting season to check on the birds. When nesting is finished, the boxes must be cleaned and readied for next year. The rewards of such an undertaking can be significant in many different ways...woodworker, bird watcher, and a person concerned with environmental awareness. Ref.103\64.00. |
| Project: | Dominance relations and the California quail |
| Project Leader: | Lott, D.F., and S. Mastrup |
| Summary: | 1985 Covey Rise 4: pp. 1-4. There are usually twenty to twenty-five million California quail in California each year. About two million are harvested. Our research was designed to learn more about California quail sociality, and its relationship to individual reproductive success and to population dynamics. In particular, we wanted to learn about dominance relationships and their effect on feeding behavior and on the number of young an individual produced. We found that all adult males and some young-of-the-year males formed a dominance heirarchy in the winter covey. The rest of the young males, and all of the females, rarely interacted aggressively. The dominance status of males proved to be important: only the highest ranking males got mates in the spring. |
| Project: | Survey of birds and lizards for ixodid ticks (Acari) and spirochetal infection in Northern California |
| Project Leader: | Manweiler, S.A., R.S. Lane, W.M. Block, and M.L. Morrison |
| Summary: | 1990 J. Medical Entomol. 27: pp. 1011-1015. A total of 138 birds (24 species) was captured in an oak woodland between December 1988 and June 1989 at the UC Sierra Foothill Range Field Station. Ticks were not found on 71 birds captured between December 1988 and March 1989. Five subadult Ixodes pacificus (Cooley & Kohls) were removed from 3 of 67 birds caught between April and June 1989. These three birds, an orange-crowned warbler, a lazuli bunting, and a chipping sparrow, represent new host records for I. pacificus in California. Tissues from two ticks and thick blood films prepared from 126 birds tested negative for spirochetes by direct immunoflourescence (DI). |
| Project: | Dominance relations and reproduction success in California quail |
| Project Leader: | Mastrup, S.A.N. |
| Summary: | 1981 Thesis, Univ. of Calif., Davis Master of Science: p. 92. The California quail is a very social animal which at times will form cooperative groups to raise its young. All adult members of both communal brood groups in the study population shared the various brood care duties. Due to either the excellent breeding conditions, or the communal brood care, or both, the survival rate of the young was the highest ever recorded for this quail. This cooperative behavior could have evolved by either inclusive fitness (kinship), or by individual selection via reciprocity. However, until further research is done on the kinship ties (if any) of the participants, our understanding of this system will remain clouded. |