Nest predation in riparian buffer strips in a balsam fir forest in Western Newfoundland

• Main Author: Lewis, Keith P.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1999
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/1661/; https://research.library.mun.ca/1661/1/Lewis_KeithP.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/1661/3/Lewis_KeithP.pdf

Logging pressures on boreal forests have increased in recent decades and carry with them increased concerns for wildlife and habitat conservation. Buffer strips mitigate some of the negative impacts of logging on riparian habitat and associated wildlife. Given the widespread use of buffer strips, the subsequent increase of clear-cut/forest edge, and the decline of many forest birds. I investigated how buffer strips and habitat edges influence avian nesting success. Nest predation is the most common cause of nest failure among song birds. Therefore, artificial nests are a useful research tool for investigating the influences of habitat alteration on nest predation. Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) eggs are often used in artificial nest studies, although these eggs may be too large to detect predation by small mammals. My primary objectives were to determine 1) if nest predation differs between intact riparian forest and a) buffer strips and b) clear-cut forest edges, and 2) if Japanese Quail eggs are appropriate to use in artificial nest studies in western Newfoundland. -- Artificial tree and ground nests (n = 150 in 1996, n = 420 in 1997) with Japanese Quail eggs were used to measure nest predation in study blocks (k = 5 in 1996, k = 7 in 1997) that included buffer strips, intact riparian forest, and clear-cut forest edges. The second experiment used artificial ground nests (n= 180) with Chinese Painted Quail (Xexcalfactoria chinensis) eggs and Japanese Quail eggs to measure the influence of egg-size on ground-nest predation in buffer strips (k = 4) and intact forest sites (k = 5). The influences of buffer strip width, nest visibility, and distance of the nest from the nearest edge on nest predation were measured and nest predators documented. -- Nest predation was significantly different and extremely variable between study sites in both experiments suggesting that local presence of predators may be influenced by site-specific conditions, rather than specific types of habitat alteration. Nest predation did ...