NEST ECOLOGY OF GRASSLAND PASSERINES ON ROAD RIGHTS-OF-WAY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS (REVISED)

The ecology of nesting by grassland passerines was studied from 1976 to 1984 along rural interstate (four-lane) and secondary rights-of-way in central Illinois (N = 593 nests). Numbers of nests and species increased with roadside width. The probability of nest survival/day on managed (seeded and unmowed) rural secondary roadsides was 0-970. The amount of vehicular traffic along secondary roadsides did not influence nest densities. With the expansion of row-crop farming in the Midwestern United States, vegetation along road rights-of-way is critical for sustaining grassland birds that nest in edges and ecotones; roadsides should be carefully managed towards this end.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, DC.
• Corporate Authors:

  Illinois Natural History Survey, Center for Wildlife Ecology

  Natural Resources Building, 615 East Peabody Drive
  Champaign, IL  United States  61820
• Authors:
  • Warner, R E
• Publication Date: 1992

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 8 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Birds; Ecosystems; Grasses; Landscape design; Roadside flora; Rural highways; Sets
• Uncontrolled Terms: Nesting
• Old TRIS Terms: Ecological effects; Vegetation selection
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; I21: Planning of Transport Infrastructure;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00721725
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 3 1996 12:00AM