First-year effects of sagebrush control on two sparrows
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Published source details
Best L.B. (1972) First-year effects of sagebrush control on two sparrows. Journal of Wildlife Management, 36, 534-544.
Published source details Best L.B. (1972) First-year effects of sagebrush control on two sparrows. Journal of Wildlife Management, 36, 534-544.
Actions
This study is summarised as evidence for the following.
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Apply herbicide to mid- and understorey vegetation Action Link |
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Apply herbicide to mid- and understorey vegetation
A replicated, controlled before-and-after study in 1966-1969 in common sagebrush Artemisia tridentata shrublands in central Montana, USA (Best 1972), found that the number of breeding pairs of Brewer's sparrow Spizella breweri declined by 54% on plots completely sprayed with herbicide in 1968 (from 0.8 pairs/ha to 0.4). Vesper sparrows Pooecetes gramineus showed no response to herbicide, and neither species showed any changes on plots subject to strip spraying, partial spraying or on control plots. Plant foods (mostly grass seed) represented a greater portion, and invertebrate food a smaller portion, of both sparrow species diets on the sprayed than the unsprayed area.
