Context

Given widespread population declines of birds breeding in North American grasslands, management that sustains wildlife while supporting rancher livelihoods is needed. However, management effects vary across landscapes, and identifying areas with the greatest potential bird response to conservation is a pressing research need.

Objectives

We developed a hierarchical modeling approach to study grassland bird response to habitat factors at multiple scales and levels. We then identified areas to prioritize for implementing a bird-friendly ranching program.

Methods

Using bird survey data from grassland passerine species and 175 sites (2009–2018) across northeast Wyoming, USA, we fit hierarchical community distance sampling models and evaluated drivers of site-level density and regional-level distribution. We then created spatially-explicit predictions of bird density and distribution for the study area and predicted outcomes from pasture-scale management scenarios.

Results

Cumulative overlap of species distributions revealed areas with greater potential community response to management. Within each species’ potential regional-level distribution, the grassland bird community generally responded negatively to cropland cover and vegetation productivity at local scales (up to 10 km of survey sites). Multiple species declined with increasing bare ground and litter cover, shrub cover, and grass height measured within sites.

Conclusions

We demonstrated a novel approach to multi-scale and multi-level prioritization for grassland bird conservation based on hierarchical community models and extensive population monitoring. Pasture-scale management scenarios also suggested the examined community may benefit from less bare ground cover and shorter grass height. Our approach could be extended to other bird guilds in this region and beyond.

中文翻译：

---

使用分层社区模型优先处理景观，以保护草地鸟类

语境

鉴于北美草原上鸟类繁殖的人口普遍减少，需要进行管理以维持野生生物同时支持牧场主生计的管理。然而，管理效果​​因地域而异，因此识别鸟类对保护的潜在潜力最大的区域是一项紧迫的研究需求。

目标

我们开发了一种分层建模方法，以研究草地鸟类对多种尺度和水平的栖息地因素的响应。然后，我们确定了优先实施鸟类友好型牧场计划的领域。

方法

使用来自美国怀俄明州东北部的草地雀形目物种和175个站点（2009-2018）的鸟类调查数据，我们拟合了分层的社区距离采样模型，并评估了站点级别密度和区域级别分布的驱动因素。然后，我们为研究区域创建了鸟类密度和分布的空间明晰预测，并从牧场规模管理方案中预测了结果。

结果

物种分布的累积重叠表明，社区对管理的反应更大。在每个物种潜在的区域分布中，草原鸟类群落通常对当地规模（长达10公里的调查点）的耕地覆盖率和植被生产力产生负面影响。随着场地内裸露土地和垃圾覆盖物，灌木覆盖物和草高的增加，多种物种减少。

结论

我们展示了一种基于分层社区模型和广泛的种群监测的草原鸟类保护的多尺度和多层次优先排序的新颖方法。牧场规模管理方案还表明，受调查的社区可能会受益于较少的裸露地面和较短的草高。我们的方法可以扩展到该地区及其他地区的其他鸟类协会。