Our NSF study examines the effects of exurban development on avian communities in two structurally different habitat types (interior forest and shrubland/grassland mosaic) in the Adirondack Park of upstate New York and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem of southwestern Montana. The goal of this research is to examine how individual land ethics, and land‐use decisions, operating within a regional land‐use context, shape human impacts on biological communities, and how understanding this relationship can lead to better management and, potentially, ecologically healthier landscapes. The study will investigate: (1) how avian community structure and reproductive success relate to individual land ethics and land‐use practices in an exurban context; (2) how these bird community characteristics are controlled by localized human disturbances versus overall habitat structure as well as landscape versus local habitat characteristics; and (3) the extent to which the magnitude of these effects in diverse landscapes can be explained by the overall connectivity and resilience of the encompassing regions.
Project Report: Angry Birds: Songbirds, Noise, and Exurban Development