Proximity to conventional oil and gas development is associated with reduced parental care in chestnut-collared longspurs (Calcarius ornatus)
| dc.contributor.author | Ng, Christoph | |
| dc.contributor.examiningcommittee | Waterman, Jane (Biological Sciences) Ellison, Kevin (World Wildlife Fund) | en_US |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Koper, Nicola (Natural Resources Institute) | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-09-07T22:34:26Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-09-07T22:34:26Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017 | |
| dc.degree.discipline | Natural Resources Management | en_US |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Natural Resources Management (M.N.R.M.) | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | Energy extraction may affect how songbirds perceive and respond to risk during the breeding season. I examined how the parental behaviours of the chestnut-collared longspur changed with proximity to conventional oil wells and compressor stations and with proximity to roads. I also evaluated any effects of industrial noise. Although both sexes reduced parental care near physical infrastructure, males were more sensitive to industrial noise, and only females altered behaviours near roads. Fewer offspring fledged at nests near roads and these offspring fledged at a later age. The effects of noise on behaviour differed from the effects of physical infrastructure, indicating that inactive infrastructure still poses a disturbance on the landscape. These findings suggest that energy development in the grasslands increases perceived risk and influences songbirds’ reproductive strategies, likely with consequences for reproductive fitness. Mitigation measures must address all three related disturbances of physical infrastructure, roads, and noise to be successful. | en_US |
| dc.description.note | October 2017 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/1993/32510 | |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.rights | open access | en_US |
| dc.subject | Conservation | en_US |
| dc.subject | Chestnut-collared longspur | en_US |
| dc.subject | Oil and gas | en_US |
| dc.subject | Grasslands | en_US |
| dc.subject | Birds | en_US |
| dc.subject | Anthropogenic disturbance | en_US |
| dc.subject | Behavioural ecology | en_US |
| dc.subject | Prairie | en_US |
| dc.subject | Incubation | en_US |
| dc.subject | Parental care | en_US |
| dc.subject | Nest cameras | en_US |
| dc.subject | Energy infrastructure | en_US |
| dc.subject | Avian ecology | en_US |
| dc.title | Proximity to conventional oil and gas development is associated with reduced parental care in chestnut-collared longspurs (Calcarius ornatus) | en_US |
| dc.type | master thesis | en_US |