Regional land cover patterns, changes and potential relationships with scaled quail (<i>Callipepla squamata</i>) abundance
A dramatic decline in the abundance of the scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) has been observed across most of its geographic range. In order to evaluate the influence of land cover patterns and their changes on scaled quail abundance, we examined landscape patterns and their...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Ecological Society of Korea
2015-05-01
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| Series: | Journal of Ecology and Environment |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.5141/ecoenv.2015.020 |
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| Summary: | A dramatic decline in the abundance of the scaled quail (Callipepla squamata) has been
observed across most of its geographic range. In order to evaluate the influence of land cover patterns and
their changes on scaled quail abundance, we examined landscape patterns and their changes from the 1970s to
the1990s in two large ecoregions with contrasting population trends: (1) the Rolling Plains ecoregion with a
significantly decreased scaled quail population and (2) the South Texas Plains ecoregion with a relatively
stable scaled quail population. The National Land Cover Database (NLCD) and the U.S. Geological Survey’s
(USGS) Land Use/Land Cover data were used to quantify landscape patterns and their changes based on 80
randomly located 20×20 km 2windows in each of the ecoregions. We found that landscapes in the Rolling Plains
and the South Texas Plains were considerably different in composition and spatial characteristics related to
scaled quail habitats. The landscapes in the South Texas Plains had significantly more shrubland and less
grassland-herbaceous rangeland; and except for shrublands, they were more fragmented, with greater
interspersion among land cover classes. Correlation analysis between the landscape metrics and the
quail-abundance-survey data showed that shrublands appeared to be more important for scaled quail in the
South Texas Plains, while grassland-herbaceous rangelands and pasture-croplands were essential to scaled
quail habitats in the Rolling Plains. The decrease in the amount of grassland-herbaceous rangeland and
spatial aggregation of pasture-croplands has likely contributed to the population decline of scaled quails
in the Rolling Plains ecoregion. |
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| ISSN: | 2287-8327 2287-8327 |