Habitat modeling for rustic bunting (Emberiza rustica) territories in boreal Sweden

The rustic bunting (Emberiza rustica) is a bird breeding in swampy boreal forests of Russia and Fennoscandia. In the last decades, populations in Norway, Sweden and Finland have declined drastically. The factors behind this decline are not fully understood and, among other things, there is a lack of quantitative habitat data from the breeding territories. In this study, 19 habitat variables are used to model presence of rustic bunting. Swampy forests in boreal Sweden were surveyed using playback and habitat variables were measured at both presence points and randomly generated points. The data were analyzed by generating all possible GLMs with one or two variables and ranking these models according to their AICc value. The individual variables were ranked using Akaike weights. The variables broadleaf trees 3-5m tall and water surface coverage stood out as the most important: they were both included in the top model and received top scores in the Akaike weights. This study is the first to analyze rustic bunting habitat in a quantitative manner and offers a starting point for making spatial predictions of rustic bunting habitat, which is important to further understand the situation at breeding grounds