Jason D. Luscier, Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Biological Sciences SCEN 711
1 University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701-1201
(479) 575-2984

E-mail: jluscie@uark.edu

Education:

Ph.D., Biology University of Arkansas (in progress)
M.S., Biology University of Arkansas (2004)
B.S., Wildlife Biology Colorado State University (2000)
A.S., Environmental Science Berkshire Community College (1998)

Jason D. Luscier - CV

Arkansas Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Project/Research Interests:

Wintering Habitat Use and Monitoring of Rusty Blackbirds (Euphagus carolinus)

G. Hofmann

Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) populations have drastically declined over the past several decades. In order to better understand these declines, researchers from around the continent have joined together to form the International Rusty Blackbird Technical Group (IRBTG). We’ve developed a comprehensive research plan for organizing future monitoring programs and conservation strategies.  In order to better understand habitat use patterns and changes in occupancy of Rusty Blackbirds in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (LMAV), I surveyed presence/absence of Rusty Blackbirds 8 times at 89 sites during winter 2006 and 10 times at 115 sites during the winters of 2007 and 2007. Local (e.g., tree density, canopy cover, and understory ground cover) and landscape (e.g., forest age, forest type) level habitat variables were measured at each site. Also, presence of other blackbird species (and European starlings) was recorded to estimate co-occupancy rates of Rusty Blackbirds with other species. Results from these survey methods are aimed at developing a long-term monitoring program (e.g., a Rusty Blackbird Atlas Program) and making useful habitat management/conservation recommendations. 

Academic Advisor: Kimberly G. Smith

Short-term Responses of Grassland Bird Populations to Timing of Haying in Northwest Arkansas

(To access thesis, click here.)

From left to right: Nora Schubert, Elizabeth Brothers, Me, and Cora Morris.

North American grassland bird species have declined due to habitat loss and conversion from native, warm-season to non-native, cool-season grasses for cattle grazing and haying. Cool-season grasses are typically hayed at the peak of the breeding season, adversely affecting reproductive success of grassland birds. I evaluated short-term responses of grassland birds to timing of haying in Northwest Arkansas during 2 breeding seasons (2002 and 2003).

During 2002, I evaluated species richness (program SPECRICH) and nest survival (program MARK) of grassland birds in 3 unhayed (reference) fields, 1 field hayed early in the breeding season (19 May), and 1 field hayed during the middle of the breeding season (1 June) in the Wedington Unit of the Ozark National Forest. There were at least 13% more species per ha in unhayed versus mid-hayed fields during 15 to 29 May, at least 23% more species per ha in unhayed versus early hayed fields during 14 to 27 June, and at least 32% more species per ha in mid-hayed versus unhayed and at least 33% more species per ha in early versus unhayed fields during 28 June to 12 July, suggesting haying early provided better forage and cover for more species during at the end of the breeding season. Overall, there were too few data to discern a haying effect on nest survival. In order to detect more nests, I located 3 fields per treatment, in Benton and Washington counties Northwest Arkansas for the second year of the study (2003).

During 2003, I evaluated nest survival (program MARK) and bird densities (program DISTANCE) in 4 fields that were not hayed, 2 fields that were hayed early in the breeding season (26-31 May 2003), and 3 fields that were hayed late in the breeding season (17-25 June 2003) in Benton and Washington counties in Northwest Arkansas. Percent ground cover of vegetation was quantified using eCognition© (Definiens Imaging, 2000) to analyze digital photographs of ~2-m² area centered on each nest (Luscier et al. 2006). I detected only 1 nest that was initiated in fields after early haying (26 May). The best-fitting nest survival model indicated both a temporal and an early haying effect and was >400 times more plausible than models not incorporating an early haying effect. However, differences between estimates of nest survival rates based on this top model were inconclusive. There were at least 17% more Dickcissels per unhayed field than early hayed field and at least 16% more Dickcissels per late-hayed field than early hayed field after early haying, suggesting a negative effect of early haying on Dickcissel densities. Other density estimates were not different enough to detect a haying effect.

With fewer nest initiations and decreases in Dickcissels after early haying during 2003, fields in Benton and Washington counties in Northwest Arkansas should not be hayed until after the middle of June to allow for more nests to fledge young. Cooperation between federal and state managers and private landowners is essential for implementing this. For future research in these same areas, more nests will need to be located and monitored. This would require more study fields, money, and personnel. Therefore, future studies on timing of haying on grassland birds in these study areas perhaps should focus on estimating bird densities to obtain more conclusive results.

Academic Advisor: William L. Thompson

Friends of Lake Wedington

Shorebird Monitoring on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

During the summer of 2000, I monitored breeding success of the endangered Piping Plover (Charadrius melodius) in the town of Orleans on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I located nests, built predator exclosures around them, and monitored fledging success.  The year of 2000 was a particularly bad year for piping plover nest success because a late noreaster hit the coast, destroying ALL detected nests.  Most birds renested later in the season; however, it was a little too late for nestlings to fledge successfully.  I also surveyed tern colonies containing Black Skimmers (Rynchops niger), Laughing Gulls (Larus atricilla), and Common (Sterna hirundo), Roseate (S. dougallii), Arctic (S. paradisaea) and Least Terns (S. antillarum).

Adult male Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)

Scrapbook

American alligator (Alligator mississipiensis) at Lake Martin, LA - March 2002

Bald Cypress swamp at Sam Houston State Park, LA - March 2002

Great Egret (Casmerodius albus) at Lake Martin, LA - March 2002

Nutria (Myocastor coypus) at Lake Martin, LA - March 2002

These ewes were seen in the Poudre River Canyon of the Roosevelt National Forest in Colorado.  Sept. 1999.

Humpback Whale calf off the coast of Cape Cod, MA - Summer 2000

Dan Casey Memorial Causeway, Pittsfield, MA - Fall 2000



Last Updated:  5 October 2009

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