Year: 2006
Type: dissertation
Abstract: With rapidly disappearing natural areas due to development and fragmentation,\npublic lands provide important habitat for birds. However, the increasing use of public\nlands for recreation may decrease the value of these areas for bird use. Human\ndisturbance can damage birds in many ways, including disrupting foraging or social\nbehavior, increasing nest predation, interfering with parent-offspring and pair bonds,\nincreasing nesting failures, and reducing the viability of fledglings. Additionally, birds\nmay perceive humans as predators and leave an area, and the resulting decline in species\nabundance resembles the effects of habitat loss. Increased human outdoor activity has\ncreated the need for information regarding the effects of human disturbance on birds. I\ninvestigated the effects of human disturbance on birds in Bastrop State Park (BSP) in\ncentral Texas in 1998 and 1999. A wide variety of people use much of BSP, and many\nareas within the park experience significant amounts of disturbance from people and\nvehicles, particularly in campgrounds. I evaluated the effects of various types of human\ndisturbance on the presence of 20 avian species, including seven neotropical migratory\nspecies. Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater), Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura), Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus), and Summer Tanager (Piranga\nrubra), were sensitive to human presence, and Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata), and\nDowny Woodpeckers (Picoides pubescens) occurred in lower abundances in sites with\nhigher numbers of vehicles. However, other species (e.g., American Crow [Corvus\nbrachyrhynchos], Black-and-white Warbler [Mniotilta varia], Pileated Woodpecker\n[Dryocopus pileatus], Red-eyed Vireo [Vireo olivaceus], Ruby-throated Hummingbird\n[Archilochus colubris], White-eyed Vireo [Vireo griseus], and Yellow-billed Cuckoo\n[Coccyzus americanus]) tolerated humans, vehicles, or both. Neotropical migratory\nspecies did not show higher sensitivity to disturbance when compared to resident\nspecies, and forest interior species were not more sensitive than edge species. My\nresults indicate that some species, including migrants, can become habituated to human\npresence in protected areas with low harassment and low-intensity, predictable\ndisturbances. Management recommendations for BSP include protecting habitat,\nminimizing human disturbance in some areas, providing buffer zones between humandominated\nzones and sites containing vulnerable species, and softening edges in\ncampgrounds.
Author: Heidi Marcum
Language: English
Topic: Avian ecology and behavior
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2298778690