A Classification-Tree Analysis of Nesting Habitat in an Island Population of Northern Harriers
Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, hosts the largest population of breeding Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) in the northeastern United States. We analyzed 128 nest sites to determine landscape features influential to habitat selection. We performed a vegetation community use-availability study, and...
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American Ornithological Society
2008
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 |
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ftbioone:10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 2024-05-12T08:02:30+00:00 A Classification-Tree Analysis of Nesting Habitat in an Island Population of Northern Harriers Blake Massey Rhys Bowen Curtice Griffin Kevin McGarigal Blake Massey Rhys Bowen Curtice Griffin Kevin McGarigal world 2008-02-01 text/HTML https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 en eng American Ornithological Society doi:10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 All rights reserved. https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 Text 2008 ftbioone https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 2024-04-16T02:14:21Z Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, hosts the largest population of breeding Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) in the northeastern United States. We analyzed 128 nest sites to determine landscape features influential to habitat selection. We performed a vegetation community use-availability study, and we used 70 GIS-derived landscape metrics to conduct a classification tree analysis. We used the classification tree results to quantify, predict, and map the preferred nesting habitat of harriers islandwide. The vegetation community use-availability study showed that harriers had a preference for herbaceous marsh and shrublands and that they used low vegetation and forested habitats less than expected by availability. Preferred nesting habitat had two classification nodes. The first node represents habitat distant from developed land and roads, out of forests, and in or immediately adjacent to wetlands. The second node represents habitat identical to the first node with respect to distance from high densities of development and forests, but is upland and contains only minimal developed land. We applied the classification tree's criteria to GIS data for the entire island to create an islandwide map of preferred nesting habitat. Although most of the island's preferred nesting habitat is currently preserved (86%), we suggest conserving the remaining unprotected areas to maintain important nesting habitats. Text Circus cyaneus BioOne Online Journals Nantucket ENVELOPE(-61.917,-61.917,-74.583,-74.583) The Condor 110 1 177 183 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
BioOne Online Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftbioone |
language |
English |
description |
Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, hosts the largest population of breeding Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) in the northeastern United States. We analyzed 128 nest sites to determine landscape features influential to habitat selection. We performed a vegetation community use-availability study, and we used 70 GIS-derived landscape metrics to conduct a classification tree analysis. We used the classification tree results to quantify, predict, and map the preferred nesting habitat of harriers islandwide. The vegetation community use-availability study showed that harriers had a preference for herbaceous marsh and shrublands and that they used low vegetation and forested habitats less than expected by availability. Preferred nesting habitat had two classification nodes. The first node represents habitat distant from developed land and roads, out of forests, and in or immediately adjacent to wetlands. The second node represents habitat identical to the first node with respect to distance from high densities of development and forests, but is upland and contains only minimal developed land. We applied the classification tree's criteria to GIS data for the entire island to create an islandwide map of preferred nesting habitat. Although most of the island's preferred nesting habitat is currently preserved (86%), we suggest conserving the remaining unprotected areas to maintain important nesting habitats. |
author2 |
Blake Massey Rhys Bowen Curtice Griffin Kevin McGarigal |
format |
Text |
author |
Blake Massey Rhys Bowen Curtice Griffin Kevin McGarigal |
spellingShingle |
Blake Massey Rhys Bowen Curtice Griffin Kevin McGarigal A Classification-Tree Analysis of Nesting Habitat in an Island Population of Northern Harriers |
author_facet |
Blake Massey Rhys Bowen Curtice Griffin Kevin McGarigal |
author_sort |
Blake Massey |
title |
A Classification-Tree Analysis of Nesting Habitat in an Island Population of Northern Harriers |
title_short |
A Classification-Tree Analysis of Nesting Habitat in an Island Population of Northern Harriers |
title_full |
A Classification-Tree Analysis of Nesting Habitat in an Island Population of Northern Harriers |
title_fullStr |
A Classification-Tree Analysis of Nesting Habitat in an Island Population of Northern Harriers |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Classification-Tree Analysis of Nesting Habitat in an Island Population of Northern Harriers |
title_sort |
classification-tree analysis of nesting habitat in an island population of northern harriers |
publisher |
American Ornithological Society |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 |
op_coverage |
world |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-61.917,-61.917,-74.583,-74.583) |
geographic |
Nantucket |
geographic_facet |
Nantucket |
genre |
Circus cyaneus |
genre_facet |
Circus cyaneus |
op_source |
https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1525/cond.2008.110.1.177 |
container_title |
The Condor |
container_volume |
110 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
177 |
op_container_end_page |
183 |
_version_ |
1798844602069811200 |