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Introduction
Catherine Lindell currently works in the Integrative Biology Department and Center for Global Change and Earth Observations at Michigan State University. Dr. Lindell and her students study the behavior and ecology of birds and how birds contribute to ecological functioning and ecosystem services. We work primarily in agricultural and restoration contexts.
Publications
Publications (84)
One of the harder things I face in my professional and personal lives is trying to put myself in another person’s shoes and see the world through their eyes. And then, I never know if I have succeeded, given the impossibility of experiencing all that someone else has encountered. However, these efforts are critical to understanding and addressing c...
Landscape enhancements such as nest boxes can attract birds to agricultural areas, where they can provide ecosystem services such as pest reduction through their consumption of crop pests. However, there are large gaps in knowledge about how birds respond to enhancements. From 2014 to 2018 we installed American Kestrel (Falco sparverius; hereafter...
High-density production has been increasing for numerous perennial crops in different parts of the world. Recent work suggests that high-density systems improve yields, fruit quality, and harvest efficiency. Yet, despite the increasing amount of acreage in high-density production, there has been surprisingly little comparative research on pest and...
Private land management is an essential component of bird conservation. How private landowners manage their farms, rangelands, forests, and yards, influences the resources and hazards birds encounter, with associated impacts on bird abundance. We describe 6 principles, based on recent research, that conservation practitioners should incorporate int...
We investigated whether context-specific behavior is responsible for the cohesion of mixed-species flocks of antshrikes and antwrens in Amazonian Peru. Antshrikes perform a behavior while spatially repositioning, to which antwrens respond by approaching. The cohesion of interspecific associations requires communication, although the mechanisms ofte...
Background:
The drivers of space use patterns of multi-species groups have been poorly studied, although mixed-species avian flocks are common throughout the world. In a mixed-species flock, multiple species move together and maintain proximity. The different species may or may not have conflicting preferences of space use. We hypothesized that th...
Bird habitat creation is often a goal of tropical forest restoration because bird-driven ecosystem services can accelerate forest recovery. However, resident tropical bird responses are not well characterized in the earliest years following restoration action. During a five-year study of the bird community in an experimental tropical forest restora...
Birds are common pests in fruit orchards. They frequently consume and damage fruit resulting in decreased yields for growers. The true extent of damage is difficult to measure. Producer surveys are often implemented to estimate damage, but the accuracy of these estimates is uncertain. We compared damage estimates obtained through field studies with...
Fruit consumption by birds is a costly problem in North America, yet basic information about the species and abundance of fruit-eating birds in fruit crops, and factors that influence abundance, are lacking. We conducted a study of fruit-eating birds in ‘Honeycrisp’ apples, blueberries, grapes, and sweet cherries in Michigan, New York, and the Paci...
Bird damage to fruit is a long-standing challenge for growers that imposes significant costs because of yield losses and grower efforts to manage birds. We measured bird damage in ‘Bluecrop’ blueberry fields and Pinot noir vineyards in 2012–2014 in Michigan to investigate how year, grower, and forest cover influenced the proportions of bird damage....
In order to potentially reduce use of environmentally damaging rodenticides, integrated Pest Management (IPM) for
rodents, or Ecologically Based Rodent Management (EBRM), proposes a more sustainable management approach using strategies
informed by an increased understanding of rodent population and community ecology, including interactions with imp...
Appendix S1. Perch installation and use
Appendix S4. Random effects in models of fruit‐eating bird abundance
Appendix S2. Excluded bird species
Appendix S3. Time of day and fruit‐eating bird activity
1. Suppression of pest species via a native predator is a regulating ecosystem service that has the potential to limit crop damage and produce economic benefits. American kestrels Falco sparverius are widespread, highly mobile, generalist predators that hunt in human-dominated habitats and have the potential to provide previously undocumented ecosy...
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195311.].
Understanding the factors that influence the presence and distribution of carnivores in human-dominated agricultural landscapes is one of the main challenges for biodiversity conservation, especially in landscapes where setting aside large protected areas is not feasible. Habitat use models of carnivore communities in rubber plantations are lacking...
R code for fitted model.
(R)
Experimental spatial variograms.
(DOCX)
A key challenge of the coming decades is increasing agricultural productivity while maintaining environments that optimize ecosystem service provisioning. Crop pests are a constant challenge for farmers. Recent investigations demonstrate that vertebrates consume numerous crop pests and that this consumption often reduces crop damage, a key ecosyste...
In resident Amazonian mixed-species flocks, the pattern of attraction of transient species to nuclear Dusky-throated Antshrikes (Thamnomanes ardesiacus) and Long-winged Antwrens (Myrmotherula longipennis) and the pattern of heterospecific attraction between the nuclear species are undocumented. Patterns of attraction can help elucidate the nature o...
Recovery of animal-dependent ecosystem functions is a key component of ecological restoration on degraded tropical forest lands. One of these functions, regulation of herbivorous insects by predators, shapes tropical communities through cascading trophic effects. An improved understanding of how predation pressure on herbivorous insects varies with...
Nest boxes for predators in agricultural regions are an easily implemented tool to improve local habitat quality with potential benefits for both conservation and agriculture. The potential for nest boxes to increase raptor populations in agricultural regions is of particular interest given their positions as top predators. This study examined the...
Installation of nest boxes for a declining raptor species, the American Kestrel (Falco sparverius),
in agricultural areas may benefit both local kestrel conservation and management of prey species that cause
damage to crops. Kestrels responded quickly to the installation of 18 new nest boxes in northwestern
Michigan cherry (Prunus spp.) orchards be...
Frugivorous birds impose significant costs on tree fruit growers through direct consumption of fruit and grower efforts to manage birds. We documented factors that influenced tree fruit bird damage from 2012 through 2014 with a coordinated field study in Michigan, New York, and Washington. For sweet cherries, percent bird damage was higher in 2012...
Reforestation involves potential trade-offs: hard choices between environmental and social benefits, individual and community benefits, and among stakeholders who bear different costs and benefits. In this manuscript, we aim to show that successful long-term reforestation requires stakeholder engagement beyond planning stages and a recognition of t...
Some fruit-eating bird species commonly consume cultivated fruit. Species-specific variation in diet preferences could result in varying use of orchards and impacts on the fruit-producing industry by different bird species. However, species-specific studies of avian orchard use are lacking, particularly throughout the fruit-growing season. Our obje...
Economic impacts, risk factors, and deterrent strategies related to fruit damage by birds were investigated in a four year study across North America. Here we focus primarily on bird management strategies tested in the Pacific Northwest, including visual deterrents such as hawk-kites, inflatable tube-men, and falconry. Fields protected by professio...
‘Natural’ is a popular food marketing term. Although it is not well-defined, it refers primarily to inputs used for food processing, rather than agricultural practices. Given the market success of organic and non-GMO labeled foods, other agricultural practices may have the potential to develop ‘natural’ market niches while also addressing sustainab...
Understanding distribution patterns and multitrophic interactions is critical for managing bat- and bird-mediated ecosystem services such as the suppression of pest and non-pest arthropods. Despite the ecological and economic importance of bats and birds in tropical forests, agroforestry systems, and agricultural systems mixed with natural forest,...
We developed a partial equilibrium model to examine the welfare impacts of bird damage and its control in California wine grape production. The model incorporates the impacts of pest damage and its control and allows the impacts to vary regionally. Importantly, the model requires minimal information to apply; only elasticities, current market price...
Consumers are eating more fruit because of positive health effects, increasing the importance of fruit production in the global economy. Birds damage and consume large quantities of cultivated fruit. At the same time, birds provide recreational activities, economic activity from bird watching, and ecosystem services in the form of pest consumption....
Seed dispersal often limits tropical forest regeneration and animals disperse most rainforest tree seeds. This presents two important questions for restoration ecologists: (1) which animals are common seed dispersers? and (2) which restoration techniques attract them? Fourteen restoration sites were planted with four tree species in three designs,...
Active restoration is one strategy to reverse tropical forest loss. Given the dynamic nature of climates, human populations, and other ecosystem components, the past practice of using historical reference sites as restoration targets is unlikely to result in self-sustaining ecosystems. Restoring sustainable ecological processes like pollination is...
Both birds and bats are important insect predators in tropical systems. However, the relative influence of birds and bats on insect populations and their indirect effects on leaf damage have not previously been investigated in tropical forest restoration sites. Leaf damage by herbivorous insects can negatively affect the growth and survival of trop...
Tropical land cover change has negatively affected numerous migratory bird populations. Forest restoration can augment migrant wintering habitat. However, almost no information exists about factors that influence migrant use of tropical restoration sites. We sampled migrant birds in young restoration sites in Costa Rica from February 2006 to April...
Fruit producers have identified bird damage as a critical issue that has received limited attention from researchers. A USDA study estimated that birds cost producers in 7 states tens of millions of dollars through fruit loss and management efforts. Despite these costs, research has been uncoordinated and piecemeal, leaving producers with few, well...
Identifying species responsible for crop damage is an important fi rst step in developing management strategies. Previous studies have surveyed bird species fl ying through cherry orchards but have not documented which species were consuming cherries. We conducted traditional surveys and behavioral observations in orchards of sweet cherries (Prunus...
We monitored nesting attempts of White-throated (Turdus assimilis) and Clay-colored thrushes (T. grayi) over 4 years in southern Costa Rica to compare nest success in recently abandoned coffee (Coffea spp.) plantations, pasture, and along roads. Daily mortality rates of Clay-colored Thrush nests were lower in pasture (0.054 ± 0.014) than abandoned...
1. Active restoration to rehabilitate degraded tropical lands often involves planting tree seedlings, an effective but expensive approach if large areas are planted. Planting small patches of vegetation (tens to a few hundred square metres) has recently been suggested as a more economical restoration technique that mimics natural regeneration proce...
Question: How do patch population sizes vary as a function of patch quality and landscape connectivity within heterogeneous landscapes? Model: We developed a population dynamics model to compare relative population size within patches as a function of patch quality and landscape connectivity, defining these variables from an organism's perspective....
Active and passive restoration are two important strategies to aid the recovery of large areas of deforested and degraded tropical lands. Active restoration is where management techniques such as planting seeds or seedlings are implemented, and passive restoration is when no action is taken except to cease environmental stressors such as agricultur...
We document characteristics of the previously undescribed nest, nest site, and eggs of the Ochre-breasted Antpitta (Grallaricula flavirostris). We found three nests in 1999 and 2000 in the Talamanca Mountains of southern Costa Rica. The nests were cup shaped and constructed primarily of green moss with linings of thin sticks and black rhizomorphs....
Tropical birds may differ from temperate birds in their sensitivity to forest edges. We provide predictions about the proportions of tropical and temperate species that should avoid or exploit edges, and relationships between natural-history characters and edge responses. We conducted exploratory meta-analyses from 11 studies using 287 records of 2...
Efforts to restore tropical forest in abandoned pasture are likely to be more successful when bird visitation is pro-moted because birds disperse seeds and eat herbivorous arthropods that damage leaves. Thus, it is critical to understand bird behavior in relation to different restora-tion strategies. We measured the likelihood of visitation, number...
Woodpeckers are a significant source of mortality of emerald ash borer (EAB) (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire), an Asian phloem-feeding insect first discovered in North America in 2002. However, factors that may influence woodpecker-EAB interactions have not been investigated. We collected data on woodpecker predation, EAB density and tree and site c...
Many studies investigating edge effects on forest-nesting birds have focused on nest success. Fewer have examined edge effects on other components of fitness. Nestling growth rates have been positively correlated with food availability, which may differ at edges compared to the forest interior. However, previous work has not examined growth as a fu...
We sampled lice from 2 species of Neotropical thrushes, Turdus assimilis, the white-throated robin, and T. grayi, the clay-colored robin, to document the prevalence, intensity, abundance, and species richness on each host. Sampling was conducted in 1999 in the Coto Brus Valley of southern Costa Rica using a modified dust-ruffling technique. The pre...
Animals are key members of ecosystems, contributing to processes like pollination, seed dispersal, and herbivory. Incorporating measures of animal behavior into evalua-tions of restoration success will provide critical informa-tion that is not available from animal species composition and richness estimates derived from the documentation of species...
Many studies investigating edge effects on forest-nesting birds have focused on nest success. Fewer have examined edge effects on other components of fitness. Nestling growth rates have been positively correlated with food availability, which may differ at edges compared to the forest interior. However, previous work has not examined growth as a fu...
Predicting the consequences of land-cover change on tropical biotas is a pressing task. However, testing the applicability of models developed with data from one region to another region has rarely been done. Bird faunas were sampled along 3.0-km routes in southern Costa Rica (Coto Brus) to develop statistical models to describe the abundance and r...
Most work on the effects of land-cover change on tropical birds has focused on forest-interior birds because these species are assumed to be the most severely affected by forest loss. However, even species that use human-altered habitat types may be severely affected by forest loss. White-throated Robins (Turdus assimilis) frequently nest in coffee...
We used radiotelemetry to study behavior of White-throated Robins (Turdus assimilis) during the postfledging dependent period. The study was conducted in a mixed agricultural and forested landscape in southern Costa Rica from March through August of 2001 and 2002. A transmitter was attached to one fledgling per brood (n = 53). Each bird was located...
We used radiotelemetry to study behavior of White-throated Robins (Turdus assimilis) during the postfledging dependent period. The study was conducted in a mixed agricultural and forested landscape in southern Costa Rica from March through August of 2001 and 2002. A transmitter was attached to one fledgling per brood (n = 53). Each bird was located...
We used radiotelemetry to study behavior of White-throated Robins (Turdus assimilis) during the postfledging dependent period. The study was conducted in a mixed agricultural and forested landscape in southern Costa Rica from March through August of 2001 and 2002. A transmitter was attached to one fledgling per brood (n = 53). Each bird was located...
Our understanding of why tropical forest species differ in their ability to inhabit agroecosystems is limited, despite the link between this ability and the likelihood of population decline for species inhabiting regions undergoing widespread conversion of forest to agriculture. We used logistic regression and data from southern Costa Rica to devel...
We determined if the daily mortality rate (dmr) for artificial clutches of Zebra Finch (Taeniopy, gia guttata) and Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) eggs matched the dmr of real clutches of the White-throated Robin (Turdus assimilis), in Costa Rica. In 2002 we found and monitored robin nests until fledging or failure After each nesting attempt end...
We investigated avian nest distribution and success in understory forest, sun coffee plantations, and pasture in southern Costa Rica. Nest searching occurred in plantations and forest in 1999 and 2000 and in pastures in 2000. Nests were monitored until they failed or fledged young. Antbirds (Tham-nophilidae) were the most common understory forest n...
Egg type is one factor that is likely to influence the results from artificial nest experiments. Here I document predation rates on Japanese Quail (Coturnix japonica) and the much smaller Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) eggs on the edge and interior of a tropical forest in Costa Rica. Predation rates on finch eggs were the same on the edge and in...
I recorded and analyzed vocalizations of Synallaxis albescens from three populations in Venezuela, two continental and one island, to assess the extent of geographic variation for a species of the family Furnariidae. Previous work on geographic variation in suboscines has focused on species of the Tyrannidae. I also tested the sound environment hyp...
The acceptability of a nest to more than one species and the convergence of species on a nest niche is demonstrated through nest usurpation. I compiled examples of nest usurpation from the literature to examine patterns regarding the species and nest sites that tend to be usurped, those species likely to be usurpers, and the habitats in which usurp...
AnSTRACT.--From 1990 through 1993, I examined the interactions among a group of bird species in central Venezuela that use the multichambered stick nests of the Plain-fronted Thornbird (Phacellodomus rufifrons). Eleven species besides thornbirds, referred to as associates, used thornbird nests as nest sites and, in some cases, roost sites. During t...