The Effects of Various Fertilizers on the Micro-Habitat of the Northern Bobwhite in the First Year of Fertilization

Northern bobwhite numbers have declined 75% nationally, 68% in Missouri. Native warm-season grass (NWSG) establishment is often used to combat this decline. NWSG is managed with burning and grazing; burning alone; or a burn, hay, rest rotation. Haying and/or burning recycle fewer nutrients to the soil than grazing. Under historical systems, grazing animals cycled nutrients to the soil through excrement. A study was conducted in each of two years to determine the effects of fertilizers on two NWSG establishments in relation to bobwhite habitat and diet. Treatments included: Control (no fertilizer); Mineral (68kg/ha Y1 PAN); Poultry Litter (68kg/ha Y1 PAN); Bio-solids (68kg/ha Y1 PAN); and Bio-solids (34kg/ha Y1 PAN). Bobwhite habitat assessments included percent of ground cover types, and visual obstruction. Arthropods were also sampled using a sweep net. Treatments had no effect on any ground cover type, visual obstruction readings (VOR), or total arthropod number (P\u3e0.20). Coleoptera and Homoptera number increased under the poultry and mineral fertilizer treatments, respectively, according to orthogonal contrasts. Year and/or unit effects were observed for percent bare ground (P\u3c0.04), grass (P\u3c0.001), forb+legume (P\u3c0.001), and VOR (P\u3c0.008). Year, unit, and/or sampling date affected total arthropod number by order, varying among orders. Weather, extant vegetation, and natural fluctuations of arthropod populations were most influential on vegetative ground cover, structure, and arthropod number. Fertilization treatments were found to have no effect on bobwhite micro-habitat characteristics