Finer-scale habitat predicts nest survival in grassland birds more than management and landscape: a multi-scale perspective

1. Birds may respond to habitat at multiple scales, ranging from microhabitat structure to landscape composition. North American grassland bird distributions predominantly reside on private lands, and populations have been consistently declining. Many of these lands are enrolled in U.S. federal conservation programmes, and properly guided management policies could alleviate declines. However, more evaluative research is needed on the effects of management policies juxtaposed with other multi-scale habitat features. Furthermore, research focused on nest survival is arguably more valuable because habitat associations with avian densities can sometimes be deceptive. 2. We investigated nest survival of a grassland facultative (red-winged blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus) an obligate species (dickcissel, Spiza americana), and two nesting communities (ground and above-ground nesters) relative to management and multi-scale habitat (nest-site characteristics, in-field microhabitat, patch metrics...