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- Title
Sandhill Crane Use of Riverine Roost Sites along the Central Platte River in Nebraska, USA.
- Authors
Baasch, David M.; Farrell, Patrick D.; Caven, Andrew J.; King, Kelsey C.; Farnsworth, Jason M.; Smith, Chadwin B.
- Abstract
Wide channels with short bank vegetation, access to nearby foraging habitat, shallow water areas (<30 cm deep), and absence of disturbance features are factors commonly associated with suitable roost sites for Sandhill Cranes (Antigone canadensis). However, since channel width has typically been evaluated independently of channel depth and flow, it is possible that use of narrow channels is not limited so much by a requirement for wider channels but by deeper water that flows through these narrow channels. We used a discrete-choice modeling framework and 9 years of roost location data to evaluate the influence of channel-width measures and flow per linear unit of channel width on roost-site selection by Sandhill Cranes. Roost-site selection was influenced by maximum unvegetated channel width and flow per unit length of total unvegetated channel width of all channels. The relative selection ratio increased as maximum unvegetated channel width increased to 131 m for small groups (≤500 cranes) and 275 m for large groups (>5000 cranes), but the ratio was statistically similar across a wide range of maximum unobstructed channel widths. Medium-sized Sandhill Crane groups (501–5000 cranes) were less influenced by in-channel vegetated islands, and these groups selected channels based on wide total unvegetated channel widths. Our results also suggest that flows ≤39.05 m3/s (cms; 1379 cfs) in channels that are 275 m in unvegetated width maximize selection ratios for medium and large crane groups, so flows above this level may not improve Sandhill Crane roosting habitat conditions during the spring migration and staging season within the central Platte River. While Sandhill Cranes stage within the central Platte River valley for a longer time interval in the spring, Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) also use the Platte River as a stopover point. Both species share similar indices for roosting habitat, such as unobstructed channel width and shallow water depths. The results of our investigation could be used to identify a range of flows and channel width configurations expected to generate the highest amount of suitable habitat for Sandhill Cranes roosting along the central Platte River.
- Subjects
NEBRASKA; SANDHILL crane; FORAGING behavior; WATER depth; WHOOPING crane; SELECTION indexes (Plant breeding)
- Publication
Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist, 2019, Vol 11, p1
- ISSN
1545-0228
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3398/042.011.0101