Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Abstract

Land use and climate in Iowa have changed dramatically in recent decades. This study investigates the impact of these significant change in land use and climate on grassland bird species in Iowa from 2001 to 2019. Using data from the USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, the USDA’s Cropland Data Layer, and Oregon State University’s PRISM Climate Data Group, this research implements the use of generalized linear models and multi-temporal MaxEnt species distribution modeling to quantify the varied impact of land use and climate on Bobolinks, Northern Bobwhite Quail, Grey Partridge, Ring Necked Pheasant, Upland Sandpipers, Grasshopper Sparrows, and Henslow’s Sparrows. Research findings indicate that grasslands had a positive spatial impact on the abundance of most of these species, while developed areas and climate have had a negative impact on their abundance. In general, land use had a larger impact than climate on most of these bird species. However, climate had a larger impact than land use on the majority of facultative upland game bird species. Finally, when observing trends over time, land use and climate had either a negligible or negative impact on their abundance. The upland sandpiper was the only species that had a positive response to changing land use and climate in Iowa.

Year of Submission

2024

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Geography

First Advisor

Lisa Tabor

Date Original

4-2024

Object Description

1 PDF (x, 262 pages)

Language

en

Download

Comments?

Share

COinS