Landscape-scale effects of oil and gas development on grassland passerines in southern Alberta

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dc.contributor.authorDaniel, Jody
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeGills, Darren (Biological Sciences) Walker, David (Environment and Geography)en_US
dc.contributor.supervisorKoper, Nicola (Natural Resources Institute)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2016-01-19T16:39:17Z
dc.date.available2016-01-19T16:39:17Z
dc.date.issued2015
dc.degree.disciplineNatural Resources Managementen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Natural Resources Management (M.N.R.M.)en_US
dc.description.abstractAgriculture and, more recently, oil and gas development have contributed to extensive degradation and loss of temperate grasslands. I investigated the landscape-scale effects of oil and gas development, and roads, on grassland birds in southern Alberta using abundance, clutch size and nesting success data collected from 2010-2014. I estimated: (i) the distance at which there are effects of edge, and effects of shallow gas well density, using piecewise regressions; (ii) the locations and extent of habitat affected by infrastructure for obligate grassland species– Baird’s Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii), Chestnut-collared Longspur (Calcarius ornatus) and Sprague’s Pipit (Anthus spragueii); and generalist species – Clay-colored Sparrows (Spizella pallida), Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris), Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), Vesper Sparrow (Pooecetes gramineus) and Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), and (iii) the total area affected by wells and roads. My findings suggest that the effects of roads, overall, extended to further distances than edge effects associated with natural gas wells, obligate species had more habitat affected by infrastructure than generalist species and shallow gas wells affected more habitat than did oil wells, due to their greater density on the landscape. Additionally, obligates, on average, were negatively affected by proximity to edge where as generalists were more productivity closer to edge. Reducing fragmentation caused by roads, minimizing the spread of non-native vegetation and management of cattle around gas wells could improve habitat quality for these focal species.  en_US
dc.description.noteFebruary 2016en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/31102
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectGISen_US
dc.subjectLandscape ecologyen_US
dc.subjectPrairieen_US
dc.subjectSongbirdsen_US
dc.subjectShallow gas wellsen_US
dc.subjectOil wellsen_US
dc.subjectAlbertaen_US
dc.subjectCanadaen_US
dc.subjectNesting sucessen_US
dc.subjectAbundanceen_US
dc.subjectClutch sizeen_US
dc.titleLandscape-scale effects of oil and gas development on grassland passerines in southern Albertaen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
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