ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION OF FOREST BIRDS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0215824
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2008
• Project End Date: Aug 30, 2013
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611

Performing Department
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Non Technical Summary
My overall research program is focused on the ecology and conservation of forest birds in fragmented landscapes. I have worked in various countries (US, Chile, Panama, Canada), and on different species and systems (Temperate, Tropical and Sub-tropical forest birds). My work relies on concepts and tools of community, behavioral and landscape ecology, and addresses applied themes, such as, the design of habitat corridors and patch networks to sustain connectivity for bird populations in fragmented landscapes. Ultimately, I address problems associated with keeping wild native forest birds persisting in once-forested landscapes now dominated, degraded, and fragmented by human land uses and activities (Jones et al. 2005). My work and that of my students uses creative experimental approaches to determine constraints on bird movement and persistence in fragmented forest landscapes. For example, we were among the first to use (1) taped song playback (Sieving et al. 1996, 2000, 2004) and (2) translocation experiments (Castell=n and Sieving 2006a) to test for birds? behavioral responses to, and uses of, landscape structures (corridors, matrix), and (3) bird-friendly intercropping techniques to draw native birds into cropped areas where they helped control pests (Jones and Sieving 2006). The conceptual focus of our work lies within the area of behavioral landscape ecology, an exciting discipline because it provides the conceptual fodder for understanding mechanisms underlying animals? responses to landscape structure and quality. Concepts from behavioral landscape ecology, such as perceptual range, least-cost paths, and fear ecology have been very useful in our work (Lima 1998, Laundre et al. 2001, Zollner and Lima 2005). This discipline is predicated on the idea that the nature and degree of habitat fragmentation or degradation is in the eyes (and other senses) of the species beholding it. For example, one forested corridor may be used by birds because the density of understory vegetation is greater there than in other corridors that they will not use (Sieving et al. 2004). We have also found that a gap in forest may be crossed by birds when they are accompanied by tufted titmice, but not when titmice are absent (Sieving et al. 2004) because social factors can influence the permeability of habitat (M?nkk?nen and Forsman 2002, Ward and Schlossberg 2004, Fletcher 2006, 2007). In both cases, different responses by focal species are caused by conditions that would not be detectable by looking at aerial photographs. Hence, behavioral aspects of landscape ecology are very important for understanding vertebrate distributions in landscapes. Once mechanisms underlying patterns and responses are known, then management favoring biodiversity conservation in human-dominated landscapes becomes possible. Two ongoing research programs that demonstrate my research approaches and goals include investigating (1) the nature and causes of landscape connectivity for forest birds, and (2) various ways to integrate forest bird conservation with farming - the dominant land use in deforested areas that typically hinders landscape connectivity for forest birds.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
135	0611	1070	50%
136	0613	1070	10%
211	0621	1070	10%
215	0820	1070	10%
216	1430	1070	10%
315	3110	1070	10%

Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife; 211 - Insects, Mites, and Other Arthropods Affecting Plants; 136 - Conservation of Biological Diversity; 215 - Biological Control of Pests Affecting Plants; 216 - Integrated Pest Management Systems; 315 - Animal Welfare/Well-Being and Protection;

Subject Of Investigation
0621 - Broadleaf forests of the South; 0820 - Wild birds; 0611 - Conifer forests of the South; 1430 - Greens and leafy vegetables; 3110 - Insects; 0613 - Mixed conifer-broadleaf forests;

Field Of Science
1070 - Ecology;

Keywords

avian ecology and conservation

sustainable farming practices

information ecology

landscape ecology

conservation of biodiversity

Goals / Objectives
Under all hypotheses, major outcomes of my work are of the following kinds: Graduated thesis students 1-3 undergraduate honors theses/year 1 masters theses student per year 1 doctoral student per project (approx. 1 every year to 2 years) Peer-reviewed journal articles at least 2 per year Agency reports 1 per project per year Talks at national/international meetings at least 2-5 per year Invited seminars / journal contributions based on my research at least 1 per year of each (based on last three years) Pedagogical exercises / lectures / workshops based on research findings at least 3-5 new ones per year In terms of economic benefits - these are difficult to assess for my work, although if Objective 2 is fully funded over the next 5 years, I will have some measurable monetary and ecological benefits to farmers that can be calculated. Once this has been accomplished, I will develop and implement an educational program concerning management of native birds as pest-controllers on vegetable farms that will be able to convey the benefits of recommended practices using specific estimates of damage reductions (leaf area / acre) and of pest insects (insects per acre consumed by birds). Farmers have already noted that both damage and insect infestations are controlled by birds when our management practices are applied, but these have not yet been quantified fully.

Project Methods
Please see Project outline for the methods employed in my research (attached). Efforts to cause a change in knowledge include the standard ones - deploying the most rigorous research designs and analysis, publication in peer-reviewed journals and associated editing and mentoring of young scientists in their work, and because I have a large teaching responsibility, I also have a direct effect on teaching current science in my field to young people. All of these efforts are evaluated in time-honored ways - by peer reviewers, by student peer-evaluations of teaching, and by the success of my mentees when they graduate and obtain work in their chosen fields. With specific reference to evaluating impacts on intended audiences of my research work (farmers and conservation biologists and planners) - I interact intensively with people at meetings (conservationists) of regional natures, and so they tell me how useful or not my research is. We work one on one with farmers and they report regularly and positively to us about the management practices we implement on their farms as a part of our research. But, as noted, once we have some hard economic numbers to share, we will embark on serious training initiatives to spread the word.

Progress 09/01/08 to 08/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Targety audiences NGO conservation practitioners - Audubon Chapters around the State of Florida; The Florida Bluebird Society; Professional scientific societies at state, national and international levels (Wildlife Society, Ecological Society of America, Florida Ornithological Society). Farmers and growers in the SE region Graduate and undergraduate students at the University of Florida. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? post-doctoral - finished 1 Dr. Dara Wald (instructor of my course); Networking Women in Sustainability, 2013. Currently in a Post doc at AZ State University Doctoral: finished two Jackson Frechette: Ecological roles of primates in Cambodia, 2013-14. Current Position: Charismatic Species Manager, FFI, Cambodia Fangyuan Hua: Quantifying landscapes of fear in bird communities, 2013. Current Position: Post doc at Princeton. Masters: none Undergraduate theses/scholars - finished 5 Maria Ruiz: Development of wildlife fecal detection methodology for crops, 2014. Michael Bainum: Camera trap survey of feral cats on UF campus, 2013. Working for USFS in Ocala National Forest Julie Perreau: Assessing nest box design on success and incubation temperatures, 2014. Accepted to MEME MSc program, EU Amanda Powell: Effects of Non-Lethal Predation Risk on Eastern Bluebirds, 2013. Biologist for ARCI in Gainesville Jessica Burnett: Use of avian distress calls in surveying for avian predators, 2013. Now an MSc student How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Journal articles, final agency reports, talks to stakeholder groups (NGO, academic, and farmer/growers) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? I achieved adequate progress in all areas (producing graduated thesis students/theses; reports; talks; pedagogical materials; major proposals that review well and/or get funded. Progress on all listed objectives was made in both major project areas - landscape ecology of forest bird communities, and integration of bird conservation on farmlands.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Castell�n TMD, Sieving KE. 2012. Can focal species planning for landscape connectivity meet the needs of South American temperate rainforest endemics? Natural Areas Journal 32:316324.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Hua F, Fletcher RJ Jr., Sieving KE, Dorazio RM. 2013. Too risky to settle: avian community structure changes in response to perceived predation risk on adults and offspring. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 280.

Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
Target Audience: Target Audiences 1) Readers of scientific journals where my research group's publications appear. 2) Graduate, undergradaute and post-doctoral trainees in my lab and in my courses. a. I have 3 masters students, 5 PhD students, 4 undergraduates and a recent post doc in my lab this reporting period. b. I taught one free online course to 30 students on 4 continents, and three courses to UF students (undergraduates and graduates) this year. 3) Members of the public with whom I interact a. when I give live presentations of popular interpretations of my work (e.g., Audubon Society, Garden Club, Bird Fancier Clubs, UF's Public Interest Environmental Law Conference) b. When I attend meetings and participate in Working Group Discussions (e.g., IPM working group and Southern SAWG). Changes/Problems: As noted, the advent of FDA's FSMA proposed ruling has altered funding and research priorities with respect to managing native species on agricultural croplands. My research program is repsonding by addressing the overall hypothesis that wild species can be readily managed to minize/eliminate risks to food safety while garnering major ecosystem services (pollination and pest control). What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Trainee scientists produced - 2 doctoral students graduated in 2012-2013; 1 masters student and 3 undergraduate thesis students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Through publications, conference presentations, and a series of public talks around the state of florida What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Efforts are changing to address the threats to beneficals on farms from the FDA FMSA. Resarch proposals (4-6) will have been submitted by the end of the next reporting period.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Beneficial bird effects accomplishments - findings of this work has been transferred to educational materials presnted to the public in a video (Small Farms Academy) and in public talks given, and at a conference for Small Farmers In Florida - in Summer of 2012.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Hua, Fangyuan ;Fletcher, Robert J ;Sieving, Kathryn E ;Dorazio, Robert M Title: Too risky to settle: avian community structure changes in response to perceived predation risk on adults and offspring Year: 2013 Journal: Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences Volume: 280 Issue: 1764
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2014 Citation: Hua, Fangyuan ;Sieving, Kathryn E ;Fletcher, Robert J ;Wright, Chloe Title: Increased perception of predation risk to adults and offspring alters avian reproductive strategy Year: in press (2014) Journal: Behavioral Ecology
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Castellon, TMD, Sieving, KE Title: Can focal species planning for landscape connectivity meet the needs of South American temperate rainforest endemics? Year: 2012 Journal: Natural Areas Journal Pages: 8 Start Page: 316
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Diaz, IA, Sieving, KE, Pena-Fox, M, Armesto, JJ Title: Contribution of epiphytes to invertebrate diversity: An experiment in old-growth Chilean temperate rain forest. Year: 2012 Journal: Ecosphere Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Pages: 5
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Journal Article Author: Silva-Rodriguez, EA, Sieving, KE Title: DOMESTIC DOGS SHAPE THE LANDSCAPE-SCALE DISTRIBUTION OF A THREATENED FOREST UNGULATE Year: 2012 Journal: Biological Conservation
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Thesis Author: Thrasher, Derrick J ;Sieving, Kathryn E Title: Characteristics of breeding habitat and habitat use of the Eastern painted bunting in Florida. Year: 2012 Academic Department: Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Place Published: University of Florida Honors Program http://www.honors.ufl.edu/apps/Thesis.aspx/Details/1117 University: University of FLorida Degree: BSc Honors Document Number: 117
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: Aug 2012. Too scared to settle: Predation risk shapes breeding bird community in ways predictable from functional traits. Hua F, Fletcher RA, Sieving KE, Dorazio R. 97th Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Portland, OR.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2012 Citation: May 2012. Research Design for Landscape Scale Wildlife Studies. Presented by K Sieving at symposium organized by *Sieving, Branch and Thornton (Landscape Ecological Approaches to Conservation of Wildlife) 10th Congress of Wildlife Management in Amazonia and Latin America (XCIMFAUNA), Salta Argentina. Talk was invited, symposium proposed and accepted.

Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Outputs: Research results and management recommendations from this project were disseminated in the following 3 venues in 2011: 1. A research seminar on cross-species communication native songbirds given to the School of Natural Resources at University of Illinois reported on findings regarding works published this year to an audience of researchers and graduate students (150 attendees). 2. A workshop given at the 2011 Florida Small Farms Conference (30 attendees) on managing for native species in farmland operations. 3. A presentation on managing bluebirds for pest control to local chapters of the Audubon Society. All research reports are available via my maintained website www.wec.ufl.edu/faculty/sievingk. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals and roles Diaz IA - coauthor and former doctoral student. Castellon TMD - coauthor and former doctoral student. Huang P - coauthor and former MSc student. St. Mary CM - coauthor. Hetrick SA - coauthor and former MSc student. Silva-Rodriguez EA - coauthor and current doctoral student. Contreras TA - coauthor and former post-doc. Kappes JJ, Jr. - coauthor and former doctoral student. Johnson R - Co-PI and current doctoral student. Frechette J - Co-PI and current doctoral student. Hua F - Co-PI and current doctoral student. Chaves-Didier W - Co-PI and current doctoral student. Partner Organizations USDA-NIFA USDA-SSARE NSF-DEB USFWS-Wildlife Without Borders Bay and Paul Foundation Primate Conservation Inc Animal Behavior Society Ocean Park onservation Foundation, Hong Kong Conservation Leadership Programme Collaborators and contacts A Peterson UF-Religion C St Mary UF-Biology R Kimball UF-Biology Training or professional development Workshop in Sri Lanka on study of flocking birds Workshop at small farms conference in FL on birds as pest control agents in sustaonable ag operations TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Outcomes: Changes in Knowledge - 1. My lab produced new fundamental and applied knowledge significant enough to be included in 7 new (since 2010) publications (in press, accepted or published in 2011); 2. In these publications we report on 4 new methods, or methodological improvements, for conducting field or aviary studies of wildlife ecology or behavior; 3. In these publications we report on experiments and two comparative study designs of relevance to large and small scale investigations of wildlife interactions and management of wildlife populations or ecosystems - all were conducted with rigorous methods and techniques; 4. Three of these publications are directly relevant to policies regarding a. management of endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers (specifically, policies relevant to management of predators); b. large-scale conservation planning in Southern South American landscapes (specifically, use of focal species in large-scale conservation planning), and c) forest management practices (specifically, removal of old-growth trees and the effects on ecosystem processes critical to long-term harvest and watershed management). Changes in actions 1. Regarding use of bluebird boxes on FL farms as a result of my interactions (workshops and talks and on farm visits) with farmers concerning use of bluebirds to help control pests in farmlands. 2. Citation rate of my work is around 44 citations per year (Web of Knowledge) indicating people are using my work. Through my advising of young colleagues in research I effect positive changes in conditions in that all of my graduate, undergraduate, and post-doctoral advisees (current count = now 30 alumni and 6 current advisees) all go on to good jobs and better positions in their field than they had before they came into my lab. I have helped my lab advisees obtain nearly 80K in grant funding this year; and all my doctoral students have advanced to candidacy.

Publications

• Huang P, Sieving KE, St. Mary CM. 2011. Heterospecific Information about Predation Risk Influences Exploratory Behavior. Behavioural Ecology. doi 10.1093 beheco arr212
• Hetrick SA and Sieving KE. 2012. Antipredator calls of tufted titmice and interspecific transfer of encoded threat information. Behavioral Ecology doi 10.1093 beheco arr160.
• Silva-Rodriguez EA and Sieving KE. 2011. How the care of domestic carnivores influence their predation on wildlife in Southern Chile. Conservation Biology. DOI 10.1111 j.1523-1739.2011.01690.x
• Contreras TA and Sieving KE. 2011. Winter foraging flock leadership by tufted titmouse: Are tufted titmice passive nuclear species International Journal of Zoology. Article ID 670548, 11 pages doi 10.1155 2011 670548.
• Diaz IA, Sieving KE, Pena-Fox M, Armesto JJ. 2011 Contribution of epiphytes to invertebrate diversity - A field experiment in old-growth Chilean temperate rain forest. Ecosphere.
• Castellon TMD, Sieving KE. 2011. Can focal species planning for landscape connectivity meet the needs of South American temperate rainforest endemics Natural Areas Journal.
• Kappes JJ, Jr. and Sieving KE. 2011. Resin-barrier maintenance as a mechanism of differential predation among occupants of red-cockaded woodpecker cavities. The Condor 113. 362-371.

Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: PROGRESS and OUTPUTS Specific activities reflecting progress in my research program include continued successful grantsmanship, continued publication of research findings with my mentees and colleagues, continued and new collaborations with colleagues in the US and abroad, and invitations to collaborate/advise/present/teach within the international and national community of conservation scientists. GRANTSMANSHIP: With my help (direct and indirect) my graduate/undergraduate students collectively applied (as PI or Co-PI/collaborator) for 33 competitive grants and awards in 08/09, and received over 55,000$ in funding for their own programs. I was PI, Co-PI, or collaborator on more than 15 competitive grants and awards submitted for over 1 million dollars collectively, and awarded over 40,000$. PUBLICATIONS (see below). COLLABORATIONS: In fall 2008, I took a sabbatical in Brasil and interacted with colleagues and students in two cities/regions - Acre State in the western Amazon basin (Univ Federal do Acre) and Sao Paolo (Univ do Sao Paolo). I taught a course in Research Design for Conservation Biology (aided by Dr. Lyn Branch (UF), Dr. Karl Didier (Wildlife Conservation Society), and my student Willa Chaves in Acre. This trip was funded by the Moore Foundation. At USP, I went in the field with Dr. Cintia Cornelius, a post doc in Dr. Jean Paul Metzger's lab to confer on research in progress that was designed based on my previous work in Chile with using behavioral studies of forest birds to ascertain sustainable configurations of forest cover in human-dominated landscapes. Several of my graduate students are conducting similar work and the collaboration continues with my colleagues in Brasil. Moreover, Dr. Cornelius and I organized and led a symposium on behavioral landscape ecology at the first Latin American Chapter of the International Association of Landscape Ecologists in Campos do Jordao (Fall 09). INVITATIONS: In addition to the sabbatical activities, I was invited to participate in the following: An international working group concerning restoration and conservation of critically endangered species on Juan Fernandez Islands of Chile, funded by the Chilean government; I was invited as a keynote speaker in a symposium at the International Ornithological Congress; and invited symposium participant in two other meetings; I was invited to teach my Research Design for Conservation course in Costa Rica (for Organization for Tropical Studies) and in Acre State during this time period; and finally - I was invited to submit a paper in a special series in the journal OIKOS concerning the ecology of information sharing among bird species (see publications). PARTICIPANTS: All of these things are detailed in the text of the report. There are many! Training and collaboration are major impacts of my research program that are included in the report. TARGET AUDIENCES: Much of this is included in the report text. But my main audiences include direct and indirect. Direct audiences include my own advisees (graduate students, undergraduate students and post-docs; students who I train in my research design courses. In the reporting period this included 23 students at University of Florida in 4 different departments, 16 students from Brasil and Western Amazonia (incl. Peru), and another 7 students from all over that took the OTS course in March of 2009 that I co-taught with Mickie Swisher for OTS. Other direct audienses targetted with my research-based knowledge included the international community of conservationists that collaborate with me in meetings, research projects, etc. Indirect impacts are conveyed via my publications in international peer-reviewed journals. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
OUTCOMES and IMPACTS: 2008/10 TO 2009/09 The main impacts of my work this past year fall in three areas; 1. TRAINING of young professionals. All of my research is collaborative with undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral advisees, and I mentor and publish with all of them. I finished one MSc student (Willa Chaves-Didier) two PhD's (Ivan A Diaz, and Matthew J Reetz) and one undergraduate honors thesis student (Montana Atwater) in 2008/2009. With my help, Willa won a 4-year fellowship and entered UF's SNRE for her doctorate; Ivan obtained a tenure track faculty position in the School of Forestry at Austral University in his home country, Chile; and Matthew obtained a 1 year teaching position at Franklin College in Indiana, and has now started a post-doc at the University of Wisconsin. Montana successfully applied to the Entomology department at UF and is now working on a graduate degree. 2. INCREASED UNDERSTANDING of bird species behavioral responses to human-altered habitat and landscape structure. My work (and my students') focuses on behavioral mechanisms underlying animal movement in fragmented landscapes, and our results are applicable to management of vegetation at local (farm or landowner) to regional scales. Results from Chilean work (2001-2007 published works) are being used in regional conservation planning in Chile, and have sparked similar approaches to landscape fragmentation research in Brasil (among my colleagues/students in USP). I am working on solidifying a cogent theory framework for Behavioral Landscape Ecology with several colleagues we presented with in Brasil last year - this will aid in focusing research in more productive ways, specifically, at the interface of field studies and modeling at large scales. Within my lab, work in this area has produced results and collaborations with significant conservation organizations in three countries - Chile (WWF, Chilean government); Brasil (State government of Acre and WCS; Sumatra (Birdlife International, Harapan Rainforest Initiative - all regions with significant land use change patterns that threaten biodiversity. 3. INCREASED UNDERSTANDING of species interactions, specifically, (1) the use of warning signals produced by species in family Paridae by a variety of other forest birds. Information sharing about predation risks appears to govern many aspects of avian spatial behavior across scales, and my students and collaborators are pushing the frontier of knowledge in this area. Evidence of impacts are emerging (the invited OIKOS paper, below, and increased invitations by the public (Audubon Society, et al.) to present information on these topics. (2) Work on the interactions of avian insectivores and other beneficial species in organic farming continues and we are preparing publications currently that should have important impacts on understanding just how much insect biomass can potentially be consumed by native birds in organic farming operations.

Publications

• Fletcher, R. A. and K. E. Sieving. 2010. Social information use in heterogeneous landscapes: A prospectus. Condor.
• Sieving KE, Hetrick SA, and Avery MA. Published Online: 13 Nov 2009. Anti-predator communication by the tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor): Encoding of predation risk information. OIKOS, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17682.x
• Atwater M, and Sieving KE. 2008. Native dragonflies as pest-consumers in organic gardens and farms of North-central Florida: A preliminary assessment. Journal of Undergraduate Research. http://www.clas.ufl.edu/jur/
• Schmidt, KA, E. Lee2, R. S. Ostfeld, and K. E. Sieving. 2008. Eastern chipmunks increase their perception of predation risk in response to titmouse alarm calls. Behavioral Ecology 19:759-763.
• Diaz IA, KE Sieving, ME Pena-Foxon, J Larrain & JJ Armesto. 2010. Epiphyte diversity and biomass loads of canopy emergent trees in Chilean temperate rain forests: A neglected functional component. Forest ecology and Management.
• Farley, E. A., K. E. Sieving, and T. A. Contreras3. 2008. An objective method for determining species participation in complex mixed-species bird flocks. Journal of Ornithology 149: 451-468.