| |
| author |
Daniel Magda
| | title |
Avian richness and population dynamics in the Drew Forest during the 2023 fall migration
| | abstract |
The area surrounding Drew University, known as the Drew Forest Preserve, which
includes Zuck Arboretum and the Hepburn Woods, has been an important habitat for both
resident and migratory species of birds. Early accounts of bird populations, however, have been
spotty, anecdotal, and in some cases, all but lost to time. This study aims to compare what
historical data remains from the last hundred years of accounts and compare them to a more
comprehensive study of the present avian species richness and diversity in the Drew Forest.
The aim of this study was to determine the richness of the Drew Forest using diversity indices
such as Shannon's Diversity Index and to utilize AIC occupancy models to determine and
analyze the population dynamics between migratory species and resident species during the 2023
fall migration. Upon the completion of this study, I found 93 species of birds across 13
taxonomic orders. From these data, I was able to find that the Drew Forest had a high level of
diversity (H′ = 2.88) for the totality of the fall 2023 migration in comparison to the calculated
moderate-low level of average daily diversity (H′ = 2.16) over the course of my data collection.
The occupancy models for the selected migratory species, the Common Grackle (Quiscalus
quiscula), found that the sampling covariates of date and temperature had the largest impact on
the detection of Common Grackles. In comparison to the migratory species, the detection of the
selected resident species, the Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), was most significantly
affected by the covariate of date. In the models run on the Common Grackle data, the occupancy
was only slightly affected by the site covariates, but only with the sampling covariate of date and
time. Based on the results of this study, the Drew Forest is an important ecosystem for many
resident and migratory species of birds during the annual migrations through the area.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.S. (2024)
|
| advisor |
Tammy Windfelder
|
| full text | DMagda.pdf |
| |
