Browsing by Subject "Beaver"

Boreal lakes and wetlands that are abundant in the world are vital breeding and resting areas for birds. However, a significant part of wetlands has been globally lost due to human activity. In the study area of this research, Evo, lake habitats are somewhat stable especially in landscape level, changes are mainly lake-specific. Habitat use and its stability have been studied earlier on other bird species, such as ducks (Anas spp.) but little research exists about the matter on wader or shorebird species. This study aimed to compare the patch-scale habitat use stability of two waders; Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos) and Green Sandpiper (Tringa ochropus). The comparison was also made between the pair densities of these species. Many species are known to benefit from beaver induced floods. However, previous studies have not measured the effect of beaver before, during and after beaver flooding. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the presence and abundance of Green Sandpiper at different stages of beaver flood. This study showed that the habitat use of Common Sandpiper was more stable than that of Green Sandpiper, although both species showed variation. Pair density of Common Sandpiper was lower than Green Sandpiper’s nearly throughout the study period. Pair density of Common Sandpiper, on the contrary, showed more variation compared to Green Sandpiper’s pair density. Green Sandpipers were observed in nearly all of the beaver ponds in this study. Presence and abundance of Green Sandpiper were highest during the beaver flood, but the numbers stayed high also after the flood. It could be concluded that Common Sandpiper is a species of high site-fidelity and more prone to changes in the environment than Green Sandpiper, which seems to be able to utilize variable habitats, such as flowages regularly created by beaver in the Evo region. In previous studies, many species have been known to benefit from beaver activity, and Green Sandpiper can be seen as a species of plastic habitat use and being able to profit from surroundings altered by beaver. Therefore, this wader benefits notably from beaver floods.