@article{mason_moorman_hess_sinclair_2007, title={Designing suburban greenways to provide habitat for forest-breeding birds}, volume={80}, ISSN={["1872-6062"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.landurbplan.2006.07.002}, abstractNote={Appropriately designed, greenways may provide habitat for neotropical migrants, insectivores, and forest-interior specialist birds that decrease in diversity and abundance as a result of suburban development. We investigated the effects of width of the forested corridor containing a greenway, adjacent land use and cover, and the composition and vegetation structure within the greenway on breeding bird abundance and community composition in suburban greenways in Raleigh and Cary, North Carolina, USA. Using 50 m fixed-radius point counts, we surveyed breeding bird communities for 2 years at 34 study sites, located at the center of 300-m-long greenway segments. Percent coverage of managed area within the greenway, such as trail and other mowed or maintained surfaces, was a predictor for all development-sensitive bird groupings. Abundance and richness of development-sensitive species were lowest in greenway segments containing more managed area. Richness and abundance of development-sensitive species also decreased as percent cover of pavement and bare earth adjacent to greenways increased. Urban adaptors and edge-dwelling birds, such as Mourning Dove, House Wren, House Finch, and European Starling, were most common in greenways less than 100 m wide. Conversely, forest-interior species were not recorded in greenways narrower than 50 m. Some forest-interior species, such as Acadian Flycatcher, Hairy Woodpecker, and Wood Thrush, were recorded primarily in greenways wider than 100 m. Others, including ground nesters such as Black-and-white Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Ovenbird, were recorded only in greenways wider than 300 m. Landscape and urban planners can facilitate conservation of development-sensitive birds in greenways by minimizing the width of the trail and associated mowed and landscaped surfaces adjacent to the trail, locating trails near the edge of greenway forest corridors, and giving priority to the protection of greenway corridors at least 100 m wide with low levels of impervious surface (pavement, buildings) and bare earth in the adjacent landscape.}, number={1-2}, journal={LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING}, author={Mason, Jamie and Moorman, Christopher and Hess, George and Sinclair, Kristen}, year={2007}, month={Mar}, pages={153–164} }
 @article{sinclair_hess_moorman_mason_2005, title={Mammalian nest predators respond to greenway width, landscape context and habitat structure}, volume={71}, ISSN={["0169-2046"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.landurbplan.2004.04.001}, abstractNote={Birds of conservation concern breed in suburban greenways, yet abundant populations of mammals that depredate bird nests might reduce nest success. We evaluated how three factors influenced the abundance of mammalian nest predators in thirty-four 300-m long forested greenway segments in Raleigh and Cary, North Carolina, USA: (1) the width of the forested corridor containing the greenway, (2) the land-use adjacent to the forested corridor, and (3) the habitat structure within the greenway. Forest corridor width and adjacent land-use were measured using aerial photographs. Attributes of adjacent land use included categorical measures of development intensity (low-density residential, high-density residential, office/institutional), and the proportions of forest canopy, grass, buildings, and pavement. Several measures of habitat structure within the greenway were collected in the field, including trail width and surface type, and percentage of mature forest. We measured the relative abundance of mammalian nest predators with scent-station transects, operated for five nights during the 2002 breeding bird season. Total abundance of mammalian nest predators increased significantly as forest corridor width decreased. We found no relationship between categorical measures of land-use and total abundance of mammalian nest predators. Specific attributes of the landscape adjacent to the greenway, however, did have an effect. Greenways adjacent to landscapes with fewer buildings had a higher abundance of mammalian nest predators. The abundance of individual species varied with the amount of canopy, lawn, and pavement in the adjacent landscape. Some measures of habitat structure of greenways also were correlated with the abundance of mammalian nest predators. Greenway segments with wider trails had a higher abundance of mammalian nest predators, as did segments with a higher percentage of mature forest. No habitat structure variables were significant for all species. To reduce the overall risk of avian nest predation by mammals, forested greenways should be designed with wider forest corridors and narrower, unpaved trails. Some greenway characteristics that favor high-nest predator populations also favor birds of conservation concern. Similarly, some characteristics correlated with lower predator occurrence are also correlated with lower abundance of birds of conservation concern. Thus, management of greenways and the surrounding landscape must balance reduction of predator communities with the promotion of desired bird communities and other conservation goals.}, number={2-4}, journal={LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING}, author={Sinclair, KE and Hess, GR and Moorman, CE and Mason, JH}, year={2005}, month={Mar}, pages={277–293} }