Patterns of spatial distribution of golden eagles across North America: How do they fit into existing landscape-scale mapping systems?

Journal of Raptor Research
By: , and 

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Abstract

Conserving wide-ranging animals requires knowledge about their year-round movements and resource use. Golden Eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) exhibit a wide range of movement patterns across North America. We combined tracking data from 571 Golden Eagles from multiple independent satellite-telemetry projects from North America to provide a comprehensive look at the magnitude and extent of these movements on a continental scale. We compared patterns of use relative to four alternative administrative and ecological mapping systems, namely Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs), U.S. administrative migratory bird flyways, Migratory Bird Joint Ventures, and Landscape Conservation Cooperatives. Our analyses suggested that eagles initially captured in eastern North America used space differently than those captured in western North America. Other groups of eagles that exhibited distinct patterns in space use included long-distance migrants from northern latitudes, and southwestern and Californian desert residents. There were also several groupings of eagles in the Intermountain West. Using this collaborative approach, we have identified large-scale movement patterns that may not have been possible with individual studies. These results will support landscape-scale conservation measures for Golden Eagles across North America.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Patterns of spatial distribution of golden eagles across North America: How do they fit into existing landscape-scale mapping systems?
Series title Journal of Raptor Research
DOI 10.3356/JRR-16-72.1
Volume 51
Issue 3
Year Published 2017
Language English
Publisher The Raptor Research Foundation
Contributing office(s) Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Description 19 p.
First page 197
Last page 215
Other Geospatial North America
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