Title |
Strategic Grassland Bird Conservation throughout the Annual Cycle: Linking Policy Alternatives, Landowner Decisions, and Biological Population Outcomes
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Published in |
PLOS ONE, November 2015
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DOI | 10.1371/journal.pone.0142525 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Ryan G. Drum, Christine A. Ribic, Katie Koch, Eric Lonsdorf, Evan Grant, Marissa Ahlering, Laurel Barnhill, Thomas Dailey, Socheata Lor, Connie Mueller, David C. Pavlacky, Catherine Rideout, David Sample |
Abstract |
Grassland bird habitat has declined substantially in the United States. Remaining grasslands are increasingly fragmented, mostly privately owned, and vary greatly in terms of habitat quality and protection status. A coordinated strategic response for grassland bird conservation is difficult, largely due to the scope and complexity of the problem, further compounded by biological, sociological, and economic uncertainties. We describe the results from a collaborative Structured Decision Making (SDM) workshop focused on linking social and economic drivers of landscape change to grassland bird population outcomes. We identified and evaluated alternative strategies for grassland bird conservation using a series of rapid prototype models. We modeled change in grassland and agriculture cover in hypothetical landscapes resulting from different landowner decisions in response to alternative socio-economic conservation policy decisions. Resulting changes in land cover at all three stages of the annual cycle (breeding, wintering, and migration) were used to estimate changes in grassland bird populations. Our results suggest that successful grassland bird conservation may depend upon linkages with ecosystem services on working agricultural lands and grassland-based marketing campaigns to engage the public. With further development, spatial models that link landowner decisions with biological outcomes can be essential tools for making conservation policy decisions. A coordinated non-traditional partnership will likely be necessary to clearly understand and systematically respond to the many conservation challenges facing grassland birds. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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United States | 2 | 67% |
Unknown | 1 | 33% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
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Members of the public | 2 | 67% |
Scientists | 1 | 33% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Colombia | 1 | <1% |
Unknown | 106 | 99% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 23 | 21% |
Researcher | 22 | 21% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 16 | 15% |
Student > Bachelor | 10 | 9% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 5 | 5% |
Other | 9 | 8% |
Unknown | 22 | 21% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
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Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 35 | 33% |
Environmental Science | 24 | 22% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 3% |
Social Sciences | 3 | 3% |
Economics, Econometrics and Finance | 3 | 3% |
Other | 11 | 10% |
Unknown | 28 | 26% |