Limited financial resources coupled with competing social demands may require novel approaches for biodiversity conservation. Within the Bahamas archipelago, subtropical dry forest (“coppice”) provides habitat for many resident and migratory bird species including the U.S. federally endangered Kirtland's warbler (Setophaga kirtlandii). On the islands, this migratory bird relies heavily on fruits of shrubs in early-successional coppice. Evidence indicates shrub species of particular importance in the bird's diet may not be generally widespread, while attempts to actively manage for these plant species could be cost-prohibitive or counterproductive to other conservation concerns. Because these shrubs and Kirtland's warblers have been frequently found on goat farms we investigated whether periodic goat grazing might be a practical tool for maintaining suitable coppice habitat in other semi-natural areas where late-successional coppice is unsupportable (e.g. utility rights-of-way) and whether it promotes increased abundance of important fruiting shrubs. In experiments conducted in young coppice within a pipeline corridor, we found little evidence that grazing would increase abundance of these shrubs, but our grazed coppice plots returned quickly to their pre-grazing state and exhibited few subsequent structural or compositional differences from ungrazed coppice plots. Thus, if appropriately applied and managed, goat grazing may serve as an economically viable tool for biodiversity preservation because (1) suitability as habitat for Kirtland's warblers and many other birds returns quickly after a short-term grazing treatment and (2) periodic, short-term grazing will forestall succession toward a vegetation type less appropriate for these birds or for certain types of human land use.

中文翻译：

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早期成功的巴哈马干旱森林栖息地对山羊放牧的响应及其对柯特兰莺（Setophaga kirtlandii）越冬地管理的影响

有限的财政资源以及竞争激烈的社会需求可能需要新颖的生物多样性保护方法。在巴哈马群岛内，亚热带干旱森林（“小灌木林”）为许多居民和候鸟提供了栖息地，其中包括美国联邦濒临灭绝的柯特兰莺（Setophaga kirtlandii）。在这些岛屿上，这种候鸟在很大程度上依赖于灌木丛的果实。有证据表明，在鸟的饮食中特别重要的灌木物种可能不会普遍分布，而积极管理这些植物物种的尝试可能会在成本上抑制或不利于其他保护问题。因为这些灌木和柯特兰' 我们在山羊农场上经常发现鸣鸟，我们调查了定期放牧山羊是否可能是在其他无法支持后期成功的半自然地区（例如，使用权的实用权）的半自然地区维持合适的小灌木林栖息地的实用工具。促进重要果灌木的丰度增加。在管道走廊内的小灌木林进行的实验中，我们几乎没有发现放牧会增加这些灌木的丰度的证据，但是我们的放牧灌木丛地块迅速恢复到它们的放牧前状态，并且与未浸染的灌木丛地块相比，其后的结构或成分差异很小。因此，如果适当地加以应用和管理，放牧山羊可作为生物多样性保护的经济上可行的工具，因为（1）适合作为柯特兰郡的栖息地