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Grassland And Woodland Bird Occurrence And Habitat Selection In The Prairie-Forest Transition Zone Of Minnesota, Thomas Robert Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Numerous species of woodland and grassland nesting birds have experienced population declines in the midwestern United States. Habitat loss and habitat fragmentation are suspected to be two of the underlying causes for the population declines of woodland and grassland birds. The Minnesota Valley Wetland Management District (WMD) covers 14 counties in southeastern Minnesota in the transition zone between forested and prairie ecoregions. Little information is available relative to which birds are using grassland or woodland habitat within the WMD and how their presence or absence is related to the available habitat conditions. Therefore, my study objectives were to: 1) determine …