FACTORS INFLUENCING BREEDING AVIFAUNA ABUNDANCE AND HABITAT SELECTION IN THE ALPINE ECOSYSTEM OF COLORADO
Spear SL. 2017. FACTORS INFLUENCING BREEDING AVIFAUNA ABUNDANCE AND HABITAT SELECTION IN THE ALPINE ECOSYSTEM OF COLORADO. Colorado State University
Species in alpine habitat occupy high elevation areas with limited scope for upslope migration, and as a result are expected to react sensitively to climate-caused habitat alteration. Changes in temperature are causing an advancement of treeline and rearrangement of habitat and species distributions. Alpine birds in particular are predicted to be impacted by climate change, especially species that breed in and are endemic to this ecosystem. In order to understand just how sensitively alpine birds will respond if their habitat structure is altered by climate change, determining the fine-scale mechanisms driving their current relationships with alpine habitat is important.
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Spear, Shelley
- Date of Issue
- 2017
- Publisher
- Colorado State University
- Units
- ROMO
- Keywords
- alpine birds, alpine habitat, American pipit (Anthus rubescens), avifauna, climate change, horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), thesis, white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys oriantha), white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura)
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Birds