Habitat selection by northern pygmy-owls on the Olympic Peninsula, WA
Giese AR. 1999. Habitat selection by northern pygmy-owls on the Olympic Peninsula, WA. Oregon State University
From the Abstract: "Landscape level habitat alterations can have different effects on different species. Species that are more highly specialized for some important aspect of their natural history are expected to be more sensitive to habitat alteration than are those that are generalists. The Northern Pygmy-Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) has been suggested as a research and conservation prioirity due to the presumed negative effects of recent habitat alterations such as forest fragmentation and partial forest clearing. However, Pygmy-Owls are considered to be habitat and food generalists and may have an affinity for forest openings and edges. We tracked nine radio-marked male Northern Pygmy-Owls during the breeding seasons of 1996 and 1997 on the Olympic Peninsula, WA to examine three aspects of their natural history: cover type selection for foraging, nest location with respect to edges and dietary composition. ... Our results suggest that Northern Pygmy-Owls may be relatively insensitive to habitat alterations affecting prey species assemblages and relatively more sensitive to habitat alterations affecting structural characteristics."
- Type
- Academic
- Authors
- Giese, Alan
- Date of Issue
- 1999
- Publisher
- Oregon State University
- Units
- OLYM
- Keywords
- forest fragmentation, Habitat, Nest, northern pygmy owl (Glaucidium gnoma), Prey, Radiotelemetry, Thesis