Living with aliens: the effect of an invasive shrub on avian nesting ecology

Jason Gleditsch, Penn State

April 19, 2012 @ 01:20 pm to 02:10 pm

111 Tyson Building

Many life history traits of local fauna are often determined by the habitat they utilize. Changes to this habitat via plant invasions can therefore affect multiple aspects of the ecology of native fauna. The native bird-invasive plant relationship is an important relationship to understand since birds are integral to many ecosystem processes. The abundance of invasive fruit has been found to positively influence bird abundance; however, the effect of nesting in invasives is still unclear. Here we investigate how the presence of invasive fruiting shrubs affects multiple aspects of avian nesting ecology. During the breeding season of 2011 nests were located for the entire shrub nesting community in seven locations. In addition, the nests of Dumetella carolinensis (gray catbird) were monitored and morphological measures of the pre-fledgling chicks were taken. From these data we are able to determine the impact invasive fruiting shrubs have on many aspects of avian nesting including nest site choice, predation, parental care, and nestling development.

Contact

Jason Hill
ecologyservice@psu.edu