Abstract
Golden-cheeked Warblers (Dendroica chrysoparia) use a variety of cues for
selecting appropriate habitat. This study examined habitat variables associated with
Golden-cheeked Warbler habitat choice in territories and non-territory areas in
fragmented Ashe juniper (Jumperus ashei) patches on the Kerr Wildlife Management
Area. The point-centered quarter method was used to gather vegetational data. Woody
vegetational characteristics in both the canopy (> 1.5 m) and understory (< 1.5 m) in territory (n = 25) and non-territory (n - 25) areas were analyzed through stepwise
(backwards) logistic regression. The normal approximation to the Mann-Whitney U test
was used to examine differences between territory and non-territory areas. Canopy and
understory statistics were handled separately. Differences in territory and non-territory
areas were found to be a combination of woody plant structure and species composition.
Territory areas had greater patch size, less total density of all plants, greater mean area
per plant, and greater mean canopy coverage per plant in both the canopy and understory.
Canopy in territories had fewer individual plants, a greater point-to-plant distance, less
mean total canopy coverage for all species, and less mean total density than non-territory
areas while territory understories had a greater number of plants, relatively equal pointto-plant distance, greater mean total canopy coverage for all species, and less mean total
density than non-territory areas. The logistic regression model was tested for
discrimination and calibration by ROC analysis mid the Hosmer and Lemeshow
goodness-of-fit test.
