Semester
Fall
Date of Graduation
2001
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
Department
Wildlife and Fisheries Resources
Committee Chair
Petra Bohall Wood.
Abstract
Raptor abundance and diversity were compared between 4 treatments (grassland, shrub/pole, fragmented forest, and intact forest) over 3 seasons (migration, summer, and winter) on 3 mountaintop/valley fill mines in southern West Virginia. Habitat characteristics of Red-shouldered Hawks (Buteo lineatus) were examined at landscape and microhabitat scales. Forty-eight points were surveyed monthly (Feb. 2000--Jan. 2001) using broadcast calls. I quantified microhabitat characteristics within an 11.3 m radius plot and landscape characteristics within 1000 and 564 m buffer zones at each point. Abundance was highest in grasslands; richness did not differ among treatments. Overall, I detected a shift from a forest to a grassland raptor community. Red-shouldered Hawks were the most common woodland raptor species, occurring almost exclusively in the 2 forest treatments, particularly in the intact forest. Amount of wetland in the landscape was the key characteristic determining presence of Red-shouldered Hawks. Woody debris was positively related to their abundance.
Recommended Citation
Balcerzak, Melissa J., "Raptor abundance and diversity and red-shouldered hawk ( Buteo lineatus) habitat characteristics on reclaimed mountaintop mines in southern West Virginia" (2001). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 1346.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/1346