Home range- and colony-scale habitat models for Pinyon Jays in piñon-juniper woodlands of New Mexico, USA

Abstract

Despite the Pinyon Jay's (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus) importance as a piñon tree seed disperser and its long-term population declines, piñon-juniper habitat use by Pinyon Jays has been little studied. We created home range- and colony-scale habitat suitability models for Pinyon Jays in piñon-juniper woodlands at Kirtland Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, USA. Home range-scale models included mainly Juniper Woodland and Savanna, Piñon-Juniper, and Piñon Woodland vegetation types. Although home range-scale models at the two study sites contained similar vegetation types, we found differences between colony-scale models in habitat use and within-site diversity. Because of topographic and vegetation differences, colony-scale modeling incorporated fewer vegetation types and topographic classes for the White Sands Missile Range Study site than at Kirtland Air Force Base. Predictive colony-scale models overlapped validation colonies by 75.9% and 100% at the two study sites, indicating good model predictability. The large sizes of Pinyon Jay home ranges make year-round, home range-scale habitat management challenging. Habitat conservation focused at more limited spatial, i.e., colony, and temporal scales, revealed by multiscale modeling, could be more feasible and potentially more effective than management at the larger home range scale.

Keywords

• colony
• Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus%22%2C%22default_operator%22%3A%22AND%22%7D%7D%7D"> <span style="font-style: normal">Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus</span>
• habitat
• home range
• model
• piñon-juniper
• Pinyon Jay
• scale