Importance of area and habitat heterogeneity to bird assemblages in temperate forest fragments

Freemark, Kathryn E.; Merriam, H. Gray

doi:10.1016/0006-3207(86)90002-9

Cited by 350 publications

(207 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Our results show that the size of the surveyed area can influence the number of species collected, especially when the landscape contains heterogeneous habitats (see also MacArthur and Wilson 1967, Freemark and Merriam 1986, Silveira and Godínez 1996. In large surveys, data should be collected from small, standard sampling plots that can be replicated across larger areas.…”

Section: Sampling Effort and Areamentioning

confidence: 70%

Variation in Native Bee Faunas and its Implications for Detecting Community Changes

Williams¹,

Minckley²,

Silveira³

2001

254

205

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Changes in flower-visiting insect populations or communities that result from human impacts can be documented by measuring spatial or temporal trends, or by comparing abundance or species composition before and after disturbance. The level of naturally occurring variation in populations and communities over space and time will dictate the sampling effort required to detect human-induced changes. We compiled a set of existing surveys of the bee faunas of natural communities from around the world to examine patterns of abundance and richness. We focused on a subset of these studies to illustrate variation in bee communities among different sites and within sites over different spatial and temporal scales. We used examples from our compilation and other published studies to illustrate sampling approaches that maximize the value of future sampling efforts. Existing studies suggest that bee faunas are locally diverse, highly variable in space and time, and often rich in rare species. All of these attributes indicate that intense sampling among sites and years will be required to differentiate changes due to specific impacts from the natural dynamics of populations and communities. Given the limits on Conservation Ecology: Variation in Native Bee Faunas and Its Implication... http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol5/iss1/art7/ 1 of 21 9/26/2008 12:12 AM time and funding for studying bees, approaches that maximize information for effort must be sought for future studies.Reliable information on population and community changes may be gleaned from examining "functional groups" rather than entire faunas. Regardless of the purpose of the study, standardized sampling protocols using replicated designs will increase the value of data. Standardization permits statistical testing of changes in bee populations and communities, and allows for rigorous comparison between studies.

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Section: Sampling Effort and Areamentioning

confidence: 70%

Variation in Native Bee Faunas and its Implications for Detecting Community Changes

Williams¹,

Minckley²,

Silveira³

2001

254

205

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For instance, the dispersal of birds from larger forests in the region may determine the bird assemblages of other smaller forest "patches" (Freemark andMerriam 1986, Hinsley et al 1996). Dispersing individuals may be more likely to settle near their natal area or near conspecifics, which may increase their chances of finding or attracting a mate (Austen et al 2001).…”

Section: Speculation: Natal Dispersal Landscape Complementation Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban Bird Diversity and Landscape Complexity: Species-environment Associations Along a Multiscale Habitat Gradient

Melles¹,

Glenn²,

Martin³

2003

381

264

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ABSTRACT. For birds in urban environments, the configuration of local habitat within the landscape may be as critical as the composition of the local habitat itself. We examined the relative importance of environmental attributes (e.g., tree cover, composition, and number of tree species) measured at different spatial scales in relation to urban bird species richness and abundance. We expected that some bird species and nesting guilds would have a closer association with landscape-level features (within 1000 m), such as proximity to large forested areas, than with local-scale habitat measures (within 50 m). To investigate this, avian community data were collected at 285 point-count stations in 1997 and 1998 along four roadside transects located in Vancouver and Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Transects (5-25 km in length) bisected three large parks (>324 ha) and proceeded along residential streets in urban and suburban areas. In total, 48 bird species were observed, including 25 common species. Species richness declined in relation to a gradient of increasing urbanization, as measured by local-and landscape-level habitat features. We further examined the significance and importance of local-vs. landscapelevel habitat attributes using logistic regression and found that both scales explained the presence/absence distributions of residential birds. Local-scale habitat features such as large coniferous trees, berry-producing shrubs, and freshwater streams were of particular importance in estimating the likelihood of finding bird species. Landscape measures, particularly forest cover (within 500 m) and park area (measured at different scales as a function of distance from point-count stations) significantly improved likelihood estimations based solely on local-scale habitat features. Our results suggest that both local-and landscape-scale resources were important in determining the distribution of birds in urban areas. Parks, reserves, and the surrounding residential areas should be integrated into urban planning and development designs to maintain resident avifauna and overall species diversity in urban environments.

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“…Although the relationship between forest structure and bird abundance (e.g. Freemark and Merriam, 1986;Sekercioglu, 2002;Rosenwald et al, 2011), as well as the predation of caterpillars by birds has been widely examined (e.g. Holmes, 1990;Mols and Visser, 2007), we lack knowledge on how the whole system of forest -birds -caterpillar damage functions and how the service birds provide can be maintained and improved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of forest heterogeneity on the efficiency of caterpillar control service provided by birds in temperate oak forests

Bereczki

Odór

Csóka

et al. 2014

Forest Ecology and Management

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Controlling herbivore insects by insectivorous birds is a major ecosystem service, nevertheless little is known about how local habitat features and forest management influence the efficiency of this service and about how the pest control service birds provide can be maintained and improved. We conducted an experiment in temperate oak forests in the Mátra Mountains, northern Hungary to measure bird predation rate of artificial caterpillars resembling winter moth (Operophtera brumata L.) larvae, to evaluate the relationships among insectivorous bird communities, caterpillar populations and leaf damage caused by caterpillars and to assess the effect of forest heterogeneity on these processes. We found, that structurally heterogeneous forests maintained a significantly higher abundance of insectivorous birds.Especially the tree size heterogeneity increased bird abundance. The rate of bird predation was positively related to the abundance of insectivorous birds as well as to caterpillar abundance, which indicates that birds were able to respond to caterpillar density. We were not able to demonstrate a direct negative effect of bird predation on caterpillar abundance and a positive effect of caterpillar abundance on leaf damage. Structurally heterogeneous forests, however, suffered from less leaf damage than did homogeneous forests, which result may indicates that the higher activity of insectivorous birds in heterogeneous stands resulted in 3 lower activity of insect herbivores. Thus, we concluded that forest management can contribute to the mitigation of insect damages by maintaining the suitability of forest stands to the insectivorous bird communities through the maintenance of high stand heterogeneity and the presence of some key elements (e.g. retention tree groups, tree diversity, shrub layer).

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Importance of area and habitat heterogeneity to bird assemblages in temperate forest fragments

Cited by 350 publications

References 32 publications

Variation in Native Bee Faunas and its Implications for Detecting Community Changes

Variation in Native Bee Faunas and its Implications for Detecting Community Changes

Urban Bird Diversity and Landscape Complexity: Species-environment Associations Along a Multiscale Habitat Gradient

Effects of forest heterogeneity on the efficiency of caterpillar control service provided by birds in temperate oak forests

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