NEAFWA 2018

AUTHORS: Katharine Lewis, Dr. Christopher Rota, Dr. James Anderson - West Virginia University Division of Forestry and Natural Resources Wildlife and Fisheries Resources

ABSTRACT. Wetlands established or restored on private land through the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) can act as important wintering habitat for a myriad of avian species. Often, avian use of a site is an indication of the functional ability of its ecosystem services. In West Virginia, there are 24 wetland conservation easements established through ACEP. By studying the avian occupancy, richness and abundance at these sites and a set of reference sites located on public land, we evaluated the ACEP wetland sites functional ability as avian habitat and determined the effectiveness of current conservation practices. Our specific objectives were to study the influence habitat associations and interspecific interactions had on Passereillidae and Anatidae occupancy of ACEP wetland sites during the winters of 2016-2017 and 2017-2018. Our results indicate that Anatidae species did not typically use the ACEP wetland sites, in part due to the small size and isolation of the sites. Nine Passereillidae species were detected across the wetland sites, and were associated with wetland size and the vegetative structure of the sites. Occupancy of some species such as the song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) and the swamp sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) differed according to whether the wetland was an ACEP site located on private land or a reference site located on public land, indicating a potential difference in wetlands in West Virginia based on where the wetland is located within the landscape.