The response of birds and mixed-species bird flocks to human-modified landscapes in Sri Lanka and southern India

Goodale, Eben; Kotagama, Sarath W.; Raman, T. R. Shankar; Sidhu, Swati; Goodale, Uromi Manage; Parker, Samuel P.; Jin, Chen

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2013.08.022

Cited by 35 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In summary, we are able to use a unique, large-scale multisite study, with data on birds inside and outside of flocks, to ask novel questions about how the flock system influences the participating species' response to a gradient of land-use intensity, adding to a quickly accumulating literature on how flocks respond to anthropogenic disturbance [23,24,27,28,30]. Flocking species are particularly sensitive to disturbance, being more exclusive to forest, and flocks outside of forests are particularly important to the forest-preferring birds that remain in these areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From November 2006 to December 2007, we sampled three sites of varying elevation in Sri Lanka: Sinharaja World Heritage Reserve (SWHR), western sector, 300-500 m.a.s.l. ; SWHR, eastern sector, 900-1100 m; and Nuwara Eliya region, 1800-2000 m. At each site, we laid down eight 2 km transects: three transects were placed in relatively undisturbed forest inside protected reserves, three transects in 'buffer zones' of degraded forest and non-native timber plantations near the borders of protected reserves, and two transects in areas of intensive agri- [28].…”

Section: Materials and Methods (A) Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does mixed-species flocking influence how birds respond to a gradient of land-use intensity?

et al. 2015

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Conservation biology is increasingly concerned with preserving interactions among species such as mutualisms in landscapes facing anthropogenic change. We investigated how one kind of mutualism, mixed-species bird flocks, influences the way in which birds respond to different habitat types of varying land-use intensity. We use data from a well-replicated, large-scale study in Sri Lanka and the Western Ghats of India, in which flocks were observed inside forest reserves, in 'buffer zones' of degraded forest or timber plantations, and in areas of intensive agriculture. We find flocks affected the responses of birds in three ways: (i) species with high propensity to flock were more sensitive to land use; (ii) different flock types, dominated by different flock leaders, varied in their sensitivity to land use and because following species have distinct preferences for leaders, this can have a cascading effect on followers' habitat selection; and (iii) those forest-interior species that remain outside of forests were found more inside flocks than would be expected by chance, as they may use flocks more in suboptimal habitat. We conclude that designing policies to protect flocks and their leading species may be an effective way to conserve multiple bird species in mixed forest and agricultural landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Materials and Methods (A) Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does mixed-species flocking influence how birds respond to a gradient of land-use intensity?

et al. 2015

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“…While Fernández-Juricic (2002) found that the total bird density in fragments was a good predictor of the probability of encountering flocks, the other studies found that flocking propensity decreased in highly modified environments (very small fragments in Sridhar and Sankar 2008; and areas of intense agriculture for the studies of Sidhu et al 2010;Goodale et al 2014). In these highly disturbed areas, flocks often do not persist and flocking species are more affected than other species.…”

Section: Empirical Studies Of How Flocks Respond To Anthropogenic Dismentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The general result of this literature is that flock qualities (size in individuals, species richness, encounter rate and even network characteristics; see Mokross et al 2014 about networks) decrease as fragmentation increases, with fragments below 10 ha being especially effected (Maldonado-Coelho and Marini 2004;Mokross et al 2014). The second gradient is land-use intensity, including the effects of selective logging (Thiollay 1992(Thiollay , 1999b, various kinds of agriculture or agroforestry (Sidhu et al 2010;Zhang et al 2013;Goodale et al 2014;McDermott and Rodewald 2014;Colorado and Rodewald, in press), livestock grazing and firewood/ charcoal collection (Knowlton and Graham 2011), and urbanization (Lee et al 2005). Again, flock structure decreases as intensity of land degradation increases, most likely due to changes in the structural complexity of different habitats (Lee et al 2005;Zhang et al 2013;Colorado and Rodewald, in press), or the percentage of forest cover near the site at a landscape level (Colorado and Rodewald, in press).…”

Section: Empirical Studies Of How Flocks Respond To Anthropogenic Dismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In studying how flocks respond to anthropogenic disturbance, several studies have tried to distinguish between how disturbance affects flocks and how it affects the pool of birds at an area available to flock, by taking into account data on the overall abundance of birds in the community (Fernández-Juricic 2002;Sridhar and Sankar 2008;Sidhu et al 2010;Goodale et al 2014). While Fernández-Juricic (2002) found that the total bird density in fragments was a good predictor of the probability of encountering flocks, the other studies found that flocking propensity decreased in highly modified environments (very small fragments in Sridhar and Sankar 2008; and areas of intense agriculture for the studies of Sidhu et al 2010;Goodale et al 2014).…”

Section: Empirical Studies Of How Flocks Respond To Anthropogenic Dismentioning

confidence: 99%

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The structure of mixed-species bird flocks, and their response to anthropogenic disturbance, with special reference to East Asia

Goodale

Ding

Liu³

et al. 2015

Avian Res

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Mixed-species flocks of birds are distributed world-wide and can be especially dominant in temperate forests during the non-breeding season and in tropical rainforests year-round. We review from a community ecology perspective what is known about the structure and organization of flocks, emphasizing that flocking species tend to be those particularly vulnerable to predation, and flocks tend to be led by species that are able to act as sources of information about predators for other species. Studies on how flocks respond to fragmentation and land-use intensification continue to accumulate, but the question of whether the flock phenomenon makes species more vulnerable to anthropogenic change remains unclear. We review the literature on flocks in East Asia and demonstrate there is a good foundation of knowledge on which to build. We then outline potentially fruitful future directions, focusing on studies that can investigate how dependent species are on each other in flocks, and how such interdependencies might affect avian habitat selection in the different types of human-modified environments of this region.

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Patterns in the global diversity of mixed‐species bird flocks in relation to environmental factors

Wu,

Goodale,

et al. 2024

Biological Diversity

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Preserving biodiversity requires an understanding of how natural environments and anthropogenic factors shape the global distribution of biological diversity. Moving beyond a focus on endangered species, conservation needs to also preserve the typical interactions among species that structure communities, such as those found in mixed‐species bird flocks (MSBFs). The objective of this study is to quantify the α and β diversity of MSBFs on a global scale and explore the influence of environmental factors. Based on data compiled from 172 global publications encompassing 2095 MSBF participating bird species, we investigated the distribution patterns and influencing factors of MSBFs at different latitudes globally. The findings revealed that the species diversity of MSBFs is higher at lower latitudes. In terms of β diversity, MSBFs exhibit high‐turnover at mid to low latitudes and nested patterns at higher latitudes. Environmental factors positively influencing α and β species diversity of MSBFs included temperature and solar radiation, while wind speed and human disturbance negatively affected diversity. Based on the wide distribution and conservation significance of MSBFs, we provide quantifiable data on their global diversity patterns and suggest that future animal conservation management strategies should prioritize a community‐based approach focused on interspecific interactions.

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The response of birds and mixed-species bird flocks to human-modified landscapes in Sri Lanka and southern India

Cited by 35 publications

References 31 publications

Does mixed-species flocking influence how birds respond to a gradient of land-use intensity?

Does mixed-species flocking influence how birds respond to a gradient of land-use intensity?

The structure of mixed-species bird flocks, and their response to anthropogenic disturbance, with special reference to East Asia

Patterns in the global diversity of mixed‐species bird flocks in relation to environmental factors

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