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Pale Rock Sparrow Carpospiza brachydactyla in the Mount Lebanon range: modelling breeding habitat
Author(s) -
KNIGHT CHRISTOPHER G.,
BEALE COLIN M.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
ibis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.933
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1474-919X
pISSN - 0019-1019
DOI - 10.1111/j.1474-919x.2005.00407.x
Subject(s) - sparrow , habitat , ecology , range (aeronautics) , geography , abundance (ecology) , grasshopper , population , context (archaeology) , biology , archaeology , materials science , demography , sociology , composite material
The Pale Rock Sparrow Carpospiza brachydactyla is a poorly known species with very little documentation of its breeding habitat preferences. Using detailed surveys and habitat modelling for a population in southern Lebanon's Bekaa valley, we have identified aspects of the habitat associated both temporally and spatially with breeding. Static spatial habitat modelling using three fundamentally different statistical techniques (multiple linear regression, regression trees and artificial neural networks) agreed on positive associations of breeding density with ‘pebbliness’ of ground cover and the quantity of available habitat, and a negative association with trees. Temporal associations were found between breeding and a rise in temperature and peaks in grasshopper and beetle abundance, the two main prey that we observed the birds taking. These findings are discussed in the context of Pale Rock Sparrow conservation and implications for species‐directed habitat assessment more generally.