Effect of annual rainfall and temperature on the selection of habitat and overwintering home range of grassland birds

Objective: To determine the effect of annual precipitation and winter temperature on habitat and winter home range size of two grassland birds in a native grassland of northern Durango, Mexico. Design/methodology/approach: Using telemetry techniques over four consecutive winters (2016-2019), we estimated the home range size (HR; by Kernel method), of Centronyx bairdii and Ammodramus savannarum. Likewise, we estimated the cover of grass, bush, grass, bare ground, dead vegetation, animal excrement and counted the seeds available in the soil (biomass, gr/m2) of the habitat. We compared these dependent variables with non-parametric statistics, with the minimum and maximum annual precipitation (mm) and temperature (°C) of the site. Results: The grassland sparrows used sites with equal coverage of grass, herbaceous plants, shrubs, bare ground, and others (Kruskal-Wallis, p≤0.05). In general, annual rainfall has no effect on the structure and vegetation cover. HR was negatively correlated (Sperman, p≤0.05) with annual rainfall for C. bairdii (rs=-0.90, n=45) and for A. savannarum (rs=-0.80, n=33). When the maximum temperature was higher, both species had a smaller HR. In contrast, when the minimum temperature was low, the HR increased for C. bairdii and decreased for A. savannarum. Study limitations/implications: We demonstrate the importance of considering quantifying the largest number of variables when research is required on the selection and use of grassland bird habitat. Findings/conclusions: This study allows us to increase our knowledge about the winter ecology of grassland birds and demonstrates that environmental variables such as annual rainfall and temperature influence habitat selection of C. bairdii and A. savannarum.Objective: To determine the effect of annual precipitation and winter temperature on the habitat and size of the overwintering home range of two grassland birds in a native grassland in northern Durango, Mexico. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: Using telemetry techniques during four consecutive winters (2016-2019), we estimated the size of the home range (HR; by the Kernel method) of Centronyx bairdii and Ammodramus savannarum. Likewise, the coverage of grassland, scrubland, bare soil, dead vegetation, and animal excrement was estimated and the seeds available in the soil (biomass, g m-2) of the habitat were counted. We correlated these dependent variables with non-parametric statistics, to the minimum and maximum annual rainfall (mm) and temperature (°C) of the site. Results: Grassland sparrows used sites with equitable cover of grass, herbaceous plants, shrubs, bare soil and others (Kruskal-Wallis, p≤0.05). Overall, annual precipitation has no effect on structure and vegetation cover. The HR was negatively correlated (Spearman, p≤0.05) with the annual precipitation for C. bairdii (rs=-0.90, n=45) and for A. savannarum (rs=-0.80, n=33). When the maximum temperature was higher, both species had lower HR. In contrast, when the minimum temperature was low, the HR increased for C. bairdii and decreased for A. savannarum. Study Limitations/ Implications: We demonstrated the importance of considering quantifying the greatest number of variables when research is required on the selection and use of grassland bird habitat. Findings/ Conclusions: This study allowed us to increase our knowledge about the winter ecology of grassland birds and demonstrated that environmental variables such as annual precipitation and temperature influenced the habitat selection of C. bairdii and A. savannarum