Population Biology Commons^™

Demographics And Habitat Selection For The Western Meadowlark (Sturnella Neglecta) In The Nebraska Sandhills, Matthew D. Giovanni

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The prairie ecosystems of the Great Plains region in North America have largely been replaced and fragmented with industrial agriculture and invasive herbaceous and woody plant species. The concurrent and large-scale suppression of wildfire and elimination of grazing by native ungulates may have further decreased the availability and quality of habitat for wildlife. Indeed, 2004 estimates indicate only 30% of historic grasslands in the Great Plains still exist, while the trends of decreased land area enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and increased land area in commercial agriculture indicate continued loss of habitat. This decrease in habitat availability continues to …