Date of Award
12-2009
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Biological Sciences
Department
Biological Sciences
Major Professor
Howard, Jerome J.
Second Advisor
Lailvaux, Simon
Third Advisor
Billodeaux, Lauren
Abstract
Low recruitment is the largest challenge facing the recovery of the critically endangered Mississippi Sandhill Crane (Grus canadensis pulla). Lack of information on sources of nest failure hinders effective management to increase recruitment. I examined sources of nest failure for 54 nests at the Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, 2008-2009. Nest cameras identified predation as the primary source of failure, followed by flooding, abandonment, and egg inviability. Mean daily survival rate (DSR) was 0.72. The best approximating models included covariates for season date, temperature and nest age. DSR decreased with increasing season date, increasing nest age, and decreasing temperature. Hypotheses related to effects of renesting, human disturbance, precipitation, flooding, and winter rain were not supported. Because predation has been identified as a primary source of nest failure, I also monitored mammalian predators on the MSCNWR. Coyotes and raccoons were most common, with gray foxes, red foxes, domestic dogs, and bobcats also detected frequently.
Recommended Citation
Butler, Rose, "Sources of Nest Failure in Mississippi Sandhill Cranes, Grus canadensis pulla: Nest Survival Modeling and Predator Occupancy" (2009). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1014.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1014
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.