Journal
AUK
Volume 126, Issue 3, Pages 673-683Publisher
AMER ORNITHOLOGISTS UNION
DOI: 10.1525/auk.2009.08127
Keywords
agricultural intensification; fragmentation; generalist species; interannual variation; landscape structure; mating systems; Meleagris gallopavo; spatial distribution; Wild Turkey
Categories
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada
- Fonds quebecois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies
- Canada Research Chair program
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- Canadian Wildlife Service
- Association chasse peche plein air les Balbuzards
- Association quebecoise des groupes d'ornithologues
- Federation quebecoise de la faune
- Fondation de la faune du Quebec
- Fondation heritage faune
- Ministere des ressources naturelles et de la faune du Quebec
- Ordre des agronomes du Quebec
- Swarovski Optiks
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The influence of landscape structure on abundance or spacing patterns of generalist bird species may be nonlinear and vary annually depending on the severity of environmental conditions. The Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo sylvestris) is a generalist forest species that experiences high mortality when snow reduces food availability. Although increasing amounts of cornfield habitat may benefit Wild Turkeys by providing an alternate food source, reduced forest cover or elevated levels of forest fragmentation associated with increased corn (Zea mays) production could be detrimental. We evaluated the hypothesis that spring density of male Wild Turkeys increases with the amount of corn habitat as long as forest cover remains a dominant landscape component and that this increase is more prominent following a winter with thick snow accumulations. We performed point counts and corrected for imperfect detection in 2003 and 2004 at 130 randomly distributed sites in southern Quebec. After a mild winter, male density peaked in landscapes characterized by 25-50% forest cover and a large amount of edge between forest and open habitats. After a harsh winter, male density decreased with annual crop cover when forests represented < 20% of the landscape and increased when they represented > 40%. Male aggregation was higher and increased with male density at a slower rate than if individuals had been randomly distributed, yet landscape structure had only a marginal effect on aggregation. Our results suggest that Wild Turkeys' response to landscape Structure depends on environmental conditions and that this generalist forest species benefits from cornfields where forest cover is fragmented but abundant. Received 10 July 2008, accepted 7 April 2009.
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