Habitat Suitability of the Yellow Rail in South-Central Manitoba: An analysis at multiple spatial scales

Kristen A. Martin1, Dr. Nicola Koper1, Dr. Micheline Manseau1,2, Ron Bazin3

1.Natural Resources Institute at the University of Manitoba2.Parks Canada3.Canadian Wildlife Service (Environment Canada)

Yellow Rail Habitat Typically associated with fine-stemmed

vegetation, shallow water, senescent vegetation cover

Yellow Rail Habitat What are the habitat requirements at

larger spatial scales?For example:-wetland size?-composition or configuration of surrounding landscape?

Research Objectives

1) To evaluate the influence of variables from multiple spatial scales on habitat suitability for yellow rails:

Landscape Patch (wetland) Plot (survey point)

Phil Thorpe, USFWS

26 documented sites (excluding Hudson Bay)

Many areas have not been surveyed

Uncertainty about distribution, abundance, & population trends

Yellow Rails in Manitoba

Map from mgmt plant

Map adapted from COSEWIC 2009, in Environment Canada. 2012. Management Plan for the Yellow Rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) in Canada [Proposed]. Species at Risk Act Management Plan Series. Environment Canada, Ottawa. iii + 23 pp.

Research Objectives

2) To investigate the distribution of yellow rails in south-central Manitoba

Study Area Non-random

wetland selection

80 study wetlands: 44 in 2010, 36 in 2011

167 survey points

Surveyed in 2011

Surveyed in 2010Basemap layer from ESRI (2010)

Methods – Yellow Rail Surveys

Two night surveys at each survey point: 23 May to 5 July Call-broadcast: 5 min passive listening, 3 min call-broadcast,

2 min passive listening

Methods – Habitat Data 3-km radius buffer

around study wetland to create each landscape

FRAGSTATS to calculate:

- Habitat Amount- Habitat Composition- Habitat Fragmentation- Habitat Configuration

Methods – Habitat Data

Vegetation Transects – 50 m long or until reached open water

Patch Scale: 3 random transects per wetland; wetland size Plot Scale: 1 transect at each survey point

Photo by D. Furutani

Methods – Data Analysis

Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) used to evaluate the effects of habitat variables on yellow rail presence

Analysis of each spatial scale conducted separately – included year*variable interactions where necessary

Best fitting model selected using Akaike’s Information Criterion corrected for small sample sizes (AICc)

Results – Yellow Rail Detections

Year

# YERA Detected Round 1

# YERA Detected Round 2

2010 88 69

2011 31 16

Yellow rails detected at:

- 47% of survey points- 44% of wetlands

Yellow rails detected

Yellow rails not detected

Results – Landscape Scale

Model Parameters

Parameter Estimates (Lower 95% CI, Upper 95% CI)

p-value AICc ΔAICc

AICc Weight

Habitat CompositionHabitat richness -0.496 (-1.007, 0.014) 0.061

100.41 0 0.434Year -6.703 (-13.384, 0.022) 0.053Habitat richness*year 0.646 (0.084, 1.207) 0.027

Habitat Amount%Marsh/fen 0.093 (0.007, 0.179) 0.038

100.84 0.43 0.350Year 2.327 (0.433, 4.222) 0.019% Marsh /fen*year -0.095 (-0.196, 0.006) 0.070

Habitat Fragmentation  Mean marsh shape 2.601 (-0.478, 5.679) 0.102 103.28 2.87 0.103

Null Intercept -0.163 (-0.620, 0.295) 0.488 104.15 3.74 0.067

Results – Landscape ScaleYear Model Parameter

Parameter Estimate (Lower 95% CI, Upper 95% CI) p-value

2010

Habitat CompositionHabitat Richness 0.149 (-0.092, 0.391) 0.213

Habitat Amount% Marsh/fen -0.002 (-0.057, 0.053) 0.938

2011

Habitat CompositionHabitat Richness -0.496 (-1.029, 0.036) 0.067

Habitat Amount% Marsh/fen 0.093 (0.003, 0.183) 0.043

Weak, positive relationship between yellow rail presence and the proportion of marsh/fen habitat in the landscape in 2011

Results – Patch ScaleModel & Parameters

Parameter Estimate (Lower 95% CI, Upper 95% CI)

p-value AICc ΔAICc

AICc Weight

GlobalWetland area 0.003 (-0.001, 0.007) 0.136

95.16 0 0.819

Water depth -0.086 (-0.181, 0.009) 0.082% Cyperaceae 0.039 (-0.020, 0.097) 0.201% Poaceae -0.013 (-0.092, 0.066) 0.752% Rush 0.149 (0.019, 0.279) 0.028Year -0.892 (-2.930, 1.136) 0.049% Cattail -0.434 (-0.929, 0.062) 0.091% Cattail*Year 0.506 (-0.012, 1.024) 0.060% Shrub -0.312 (-0.725, 0.102) 0.144% Shrub*Year 0.675 (0.014, 1.335) 0.049

Wetland Area

Wetland Area 0.003 (3.668E-05, 0.006) 0.051105.7

3 5.42 0.054

Null

Intercept -0.206 (-0.652, 0.240) 0.369109.3

6 9.05 0.009

Results – Patch Scale

YearModel Parameter

Parameter Estimate (Lower 95% CI, Upper 95% CI)

p-value

2010 Shrubs% Shrubs 0.423 (-0.190, 1.030) 0.17

2011 Shrubs% Shrubs -0.185 (-0.726, 0.350) 0.487

Weak, positive relationship between yellow rail presence and the proportion of rushes at the patch scale in both years

Results – Plot ScaleModel & Parameters

Parameter Estimates (Lower 95% CI, Upper 95% CI)

p-value AICc ΔAICc

AICc Weig

htWater Depth

Water depth -0.072 (-0.154, 0.010) 0.087185.71 0 0.272

Vegetation Composition & Water Depth% Cattail -0.107 (-0.250, 0.036) 0.147 185.7

8 0.07 0.263% Shrub -0.104 (-0.259, 0.051) 0.195Water depth -0.082 (-0.174, 0.010) 0.088

Null

Intercept -1.293 (-3.183, 0.597) 0.184186.61 0.9 0.174

Vegetation Composition % Cattail -0.121 (-0.272, 0.030) 0.120 186.6

9 0.98 0.167% Shrub -0.092 (-0.258, 0.074) 0.280No significant relationships between yellow rail presence and any of the plot scale variables

Discussion

Yellow rail presence was widespread throughout study area: 25 new sites identified

BUT...2010 & 2011 were wet years – unsure if these locations suitable in drier years

Discussion

Importance of wetlands in landscape:

- important below certain threshold? 2010: landscapes had mean of 17% marsh/fen habitat 2011: landscapes had mean of 12% marsh/fen habitat

- initial habitat selection cue?- use of multiple wetlands?

Discussion Proportion of rushes at patch scale No effect of wetland size (<1 ha to >1800

ha)

Lack of significant associations at plot scale- could be related to non-random wetland selection- different in drier years?

Recommendations Amount of marsh/fen habitat in

landscape may be important for identifying suitable yellow rail habitat

Conduct multiple spatial scale study in drier years to see if trends are consistent

“Lots” of yellow rail habitat in south-central Manitoba in wet years....

Thank You! Dr. Nicola Koper, Dr. Micheline Manseau,

Ron Bazin Manitoba Conservation SDIF Grant Manitoba Graduate Fellowship NSERC Derek Furutani Manitoba landowners