Abstract
We used infra-red triggered cameras, point counts, footprint monitors, and artificial nests baited with quail eggs to investigate the abundance of potential nest predators at 75 sites spread across a gradient of housing density in Franklin County, Tennessee. The total number of predators detected at each site showed a shallow positive rise with increasing housing density. Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata), domestic cats (Catus silvestris), raccoons (Procyon lotor), and opossums (Didelphis marsupialis) all increased in abundance, American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) decreased in abundance, and the abundance of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) was not related to housing density. Thus, in our study area, urbanization may increase populations of some nest predators, but not of others. The probability of predation on artificial nests containing a quail egg did not change with housing density, and quail egg predation was correlated only with the presence of raccoons and American Crows. These data suggest that quail eggs may not be an appropriate method for studying rates of predation on eggs or nestlings in urban settings, but may be helpful for assessing the abundance of American Crows and raccoons. More information is needed about how changes in the abundance of predators translates into changes in rates of predation on bird nests, and for studies of how urbanization affects populations of nest predators in regions other than North America and Europe. We also outline two parallel studies of economics and policy that may provide ways to connect conservation biology with changes in land-use planning.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Adkins, C. A., and P. Stott. 1998. Home ranges, movements and habitat associations of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in suburban Toronto, Ontario, Canada. J. Zool. (Lond.) 244:335–346.
Beissinger, S. R., and D. R. Osborne. 1982. Effects of urbanization on avian community organization. Condor 84:75–83.
Blair, R. B. 1996. Land use and avian species diversity along an urban gradient. Ecol. Appl. 6:506–519.
Bowman, R., and G. Woolfenden. 2001. Nest success and the timing of nest failure of Florida Scrub-Jays in suburban and wildland habitats, p. 385–404. In J. M. Marzluff, R. Bowman, and R. Donnelly [EDS.], Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing world. Kluwer Academic, Norwell, MA.
Brockett, C. D., and L. Gebhard. 1999. NIPF tax incentives: do they make a difference? J. Forestry 97:16–21.
Burke, D. M., and E. Nol. 1998. Influence of food abundance, nest-site habitat, and forest fragmentation on breeding ovenbirds. Auk 115:96–104.
Churcher, P. B., and J. H. Lawton. 1987. Predation by domestic cats in an English village. J. Zool. (Lond.) 212:439–455.
Coleman, J. S., and S. A. Temple. 1993. Rural residents’ free-ranging domestic cats: a survey. Wildl.Soc. Bull. 21:381–390.
Crooks, K. R., and M. E. Soulé. 1999. Mesopredator release and avifaunal extinctions in a fragmented system. Nature 400:563–566.
Crosby, N., and R. Blair. 2001. Do temporal trends in Christmas Bird Counts reflect the spatial trends of urbanization in southwestern Ohio, p. 525–542. In J. M. Marzluff, R. Bowman, and R. Donnelly [EDS.], Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing world. Kluwer Academic, Norwell, MA.
Danielson, W. R., R. M. DeGraaf, and T. K. Fuller. 1997. Rural and suburban forest edges: effect on egg predators and nest predation rates. Landsc. Urb. Plan. 38:25–36.
DeGraaf, R. M., and T. J. Maier. 1996. Effect of egg size on predation by white-footed mice. Wilson Bull. 108:535–539.
Doncaster, C. P., and D. W. Macdonald. 1997. Activity patterns and interactions of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Oxford city. J. Zool. (Lond.) 241:73–87.
Emlen, J. T. 1974. An urban bird community in Tuscon, Arizona: derivation, structure, regulation. Condor 76:184–197.
Friesen, L., M. D. Cadman, and R. J. MacKay. 1999. Nesting success of neotropical migrant songbirds in a highly fragmented landcape. Conserv. Biol. 13:338–346.
Haskell, D. G. 1995a. Forest fragmentation and nest-predation: Are experiments with Japanese Quail eggs misleading? Auk 112:767–770.
Haskell, D. G. 1995b. A reevaluation of the effects of forest fragmentation on rates of bird-nest predation. Conserv. Biol. 9:1316–1318.
Haskell, D. G. 2000. Effects of forest roads on macroinvertebrate soil fauna of the Southern Appalachians mountains. Conserv. Biol. 14:57–63
Hogrefe T. C, R. H. Yahner, and N. H. Piergallini. 1998. Depredation of artificial ground nests in a suburban versus a rural landscape. J. Penn. Acad. Sci. 72:3–6.
Horchem, J. D., and R. R. Gottfried. 1998. Growth: boon or bane? A report of the Cumberland Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Sewanee, Tennessee.
Liberg, O., and M. Sandell. 1988. Spatial organisation and reproductive tactics in the domestic cat and other felids, p. 83–98. In D.C. Turner and P. Bateson (EDS.), The domestic cat. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Luoma, J. R. 1997. Catfight. Audubon 99:85–91.
Macdonald, D. 1987. Running with the fox. Unwin Hyman, London-Sydney.
Major, R. E., G. Gowing, and C. E. Kendal. 1996. Nest predation in Autralian urban environments and the role of the pied currawong, Strepera graculina. Australian J. Ecol. 21:399–409.
Major, R. E., and C. E. Kendal. 1996. The contribution of artificial nest experiments to understanding avian reproductive success: a review of methods and conclusions. Ibis 138:298–307.
Marzluff, J. M., K. McGowan, R. Donnelly, and R. Knight. 2001. Causes and consequences of expanding American Crow populations, p. 333–365. In J. M. Marzluff, R. Bowman, and R. Donnelly [EDS.], Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing world. Kluwer Academic, Norwell, MA.
Matthiae, P. E., and F. Stearns. 1981. Mammals in forest islands in southeastern Wisconsin, p. 55–66. In R.L. Burgess and D.M. Sharpe (EDS.), Forest island dynamics in man-dominated landscapes. Springer-Verlag, New York.
McGowan, K. 2001. Demographic and behavioral comparisons of suburban and rural American Crows, p. 367–383. In J. M. Marzluff, R. Bowman, and R. Donnelly [EDS.], Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing world. Kluwer Academic, Norwell, MA.
Melampy, M. N., E. L. Kershner, and M. A. Jones. 1999. Nest predation in suburban and rural woodlots of northern Ohio. Am. Midland Nat. 141:284–292.
Nupp, T. E., and R. K. Swihart. 1996. Effect of forest patch area on population attributes of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) in fragmented landscapes. Can. J. Zool. 74:467–472.
Quinn, T. 1997. Coyote (Canis latrans) food habits in three urban habitat types of western Washington. Northwest Sci. 71:1–5.
Riley, S. P. D., J. Hadidain, and D. A. Manski. 1998. Population density, survival, and rabies in raccoons in an urban national park. Can. J. Zool. 76:1153–1164.
Roper, J. J. 1992. Nest predation experiments with quail eggs: too much to swallow? Oikos 65:528–530.
Rottenborn, S. C. 1999. Predicting the impacts of urbanization on riparian bird communities. Biol. Conserv. 88:289–299.
Savard, J., and J. B. Falls. 2001. Bird-habitat relationships of breeding birds in residential areas of Toronto, Canada, p. 543–568. In J. M. Marzluff, R. Bowman, and R. Donnelly [EDS.], Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing world. Kluwer Academic. Norwell, MA.
Schmidt, K. A. 1999. Foraging theory as a conceptual framework for studying nest predation. Oikos 85:151–160.
Stallcup, R. 1991. A reversible catastrophe. Observer 91:8–9.
Terborgh, J. 1989. Where have all the birds gone? Princeton University Press, NJ.
Triggs, B., H. Brunner, and J. M. Cullen. 1984. The food of fox, dog, and cat in Croajingalong National Park, south-eastern Victoria. Australian Wildl. Res. 11:491–499.
Trine, C. L. 1998. Wood thrush population sinks and implications for the scale of regional conservation strategies. Conserv. Biol. 12:576–585.
Wilcove, D. S. 1985. Nest predation in forest tracts and the decline of migratory songbirds. Ecology 66:1211–1214.
Wilcove, D. S. 1999. The condor’s shadow: The loss and recovery of wildlife in America. W. H. Freeman and Co., New York, NY.
Williamson, R. D. 1983. Identification of urban habitat components which affect eastern gray squirrel abundance. Urban Ecol. 7:345–356.
Wong, T. C. ML, N. S. Sodhi, and I. M. Turner. 1998. Artificial nest and seed predation experiments in tropical lowland rainforest remnants of Singapore. Biol. Conserv. 85:97–104.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Haskell, D.G., Knupp, A.M., Schneider, M.C. (2001). Nest predator abundance and urbanization. In: Marzluff, J.M., Bowman, R., Donnelly, R. (eds) Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanizing World. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1531-9_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1531-9_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5600-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1531-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive