Roost sites of chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) form large-scale spatial networks

Several biodiversity-centered metrics exist to quantify the importance of landscape and habitat features for conservation efforts. However, for species whose habitat use is not quantified by these metrics, such as those in urban areas, we need a method to best identify features for targeted conservation efforts. We investigated the use of social network analysis (SNA) to identify and quantify these critical habitat features. We used SNA to identify network existence in chimney swift (Chaetura pelagica) roost usage, quantify the importance of each roost site, and evaluate the impact of the loss of key sites. We identified a network consisting of ten chimney swift roosts in southern Nova Scotia, Canada, and found that 76% of swifts used more than one roost throughout the breeding season. We also isolated three key (most connected) roost sites. We evaluated the effect of loss of these key sites on the network by using a Wilcoxon-Pratt signed-rank test and by analyzing the structure of the subsequent network. We found that connections between roosts and the structure of the network were significantly affected by the loss of these key sites. Our results show that SNA is a valuable tool that can identify key sites for targeted conservation efforts for species that may not be included in conservation efforts focused purely on biodiversity.