Date of Award

Summer 8-2012

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Program

Geography

Department

Geography

Major Professor

Peter H. Yaukey

Second Advisor

James D. Lowry

Third Advisor

Jerome J. Howard

Abstract

Metropolitan New Orleans Neighborhoods were surveyed in order to determine how bird populations responded to distance from the batture, percent canopy cover, stem counts, and understory vegetation. Surveys were conducted in the spring and summer of 2010. It was found that batture birds, urban birds, and pooled birds all had greater species richness and abundance in the spring in areas with more canopy cover, higher stem counts, more understory vegetation, and distances closer to the batture. In the summer, batture birds had greater richness and abundance in areas with more canopy cover, higher stem counts, and more understory cover. This group of birds also had greater richness nearer the batture in the summer, but there were no significant abundance tests. Urban birds showed no preferences for any of the vegetative variables, but showed some tendency to have greater richness further away from the batture. Pooled birds did not significantly respond to any of the variables during the summer. Fifteen individual species of birds were also analyzed to see how they responded to the same variables.

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.

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