Certainly this *can't* be serious! If it is, I have overestimated the=20
abysmal state of "range research". And that's impossible!
SGH

Steven G. Herman
The Evergreen State College
Olympia WA 98505
(360) 866-6000, ext.6063
943-5751 (home)
hermans at elwha.evergreen.edu

On Fri, 16 May 1997, Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney wrote:

> Hi folks,
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> I received the May 1997 issue (Vol 50 No 3) of the Journal of Range Manag=
ement, published bimonthly by the Society for Range Management. In it was =
a paper from the Wisconsin pasturelands, relating to research on the effect=
s of cattle grazing on ground-nesting birds. Thought some might find it in=
teresting, so am posting the Abstract.
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> Jon. Anderson
> Olympia, Washington
> festuca at olywa.net
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> Technical Note: Comparison of simulated ground nest types for grazing/tr=
ampling research. =09Laura Paine, DJ Undersander, David W Sample, Gerald A=
Bartelt and Tracy A Schatteman. J. Range Manage. 50:231-233.
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> ABSTRACT: Ornithologists often use simulated nests consisting of game bi=
rd or domestic poultry eggs to study nest survival. Researchers investigat=
ing cattle trampling of ground nests have sometimes used clay targets inste=
ad of actual eggs to avoid the compounding effects of nest depredation. To=
determine whether livestock respond similarly to clay targets and egg nest=
s, we compared inadvertent trampling and intentional disturbance of clay ta=
rgets versus clutches of 3 pheasant eggs by Angus X Holstein heifers. Over=
all trampling levels for clay target- and egg-nests were similar (35 and 36=
%, respectively). Cattle noticed and responded to both types of nests. Wh=
en noticed, simulated nests were kicked, sniffed, licked, or picked up in t=
he mouth. Cattle disturbed an average of 25% of the clay targets and 8% of=
the egg nests during 4 trials. Our results suggest that cattle are as lik=
ely to inadvertently trample egg nests as they are clay targets, but target=
s are more likely to attract attention and are therefore disturbed more oft=
en than egg nests. The greater likelihood of intentional disturbance of cl=
ay targets by cattle reduces the confidence of extrapolating the fate of th=
is type of simulated nest to that of actual nests.
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> -- end --
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