Apparent foraging success reflects habitat quality in an irruptive species, the Black-backed Woodpecker

The condor

Christopher T. Rota¹ 

关键词: bark beetles;    disturbance;    ephemeral habitat;    foraging;    wood-boring beetles;   

DOI  :  10.1650/CONDOR-14-112.1

学科分类：动物科学

来源: Central Ornithology Publication Office

【 摘 要 】

ABSTRACT Dramatic fluctuations in food resources are a key feature of many habitats, and many species have evolved a movement strategy to exploit food resources that are unpredictable in space and time. The availability of food resources may be a particularly strong determinant of habitat quality for irruptive bird species. We studied the apparent foraging success of Black-backed Woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus), an irruptive species that responds opportunistically to pulsed food resources in burned forests and mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestations. Prior investigations revealed that the highest population growth rates of Black-backed Woodpeckers occurred in habitat created by summer wildfire, with intermediate population growth rates in MPB infestations, and the lowest population growth rates in habitats created by prescribed fire in fall. We tested whether apparent foraging success was associated with known habitat quality in order to assess the potential for food availability to regulate population gr...

【 授权许可】

CC BY