Vegetation on and around large-scale buildings positively influences native tropical bird abundance and bird species richness

The effects of fire on the composition of a bird community were investigated in an Amazonian savanna near Alter-do-Chão, Pará (Brazil). Mist-net captures and visual counts were used to assess species richness and bird abundance pre- and post-fire in an approximately 20 ha area. Visual counts along transects were used to survey birds in an approximately 2000 ha area in a nearby area. Results using the same method of ordination analysis (multidimensional scaling) showed significant effects of fire in the 20 ha and 2000 ha areas and strongly suggest direct effects on bird community composition. However, the effects were different at different spatial scales and/or in different years, indicating that the effects of fire vary spatially and/or temporally. Bird community composition pre-fire was significantly different from that found post-fire. Using multiple regression analysis it was found that the numbers of burned and unburned trees were not significantly related to either bird species richness or bird abundance. Two months after the fire, neither bird species richness nor bird abundance was significantly related to the number of flowering trees (Lafoensia pacari) or fruiting trees (Byrsonima crassifolia). Since fire is an annual event in Alter-do-Chão and is becoming frequent in the entire Amazon, bird community composition in affected areas could be constantly changing in time and space.

Download Full-text

Does post-mining rehabilitation restore habitat equivalent to that removed by mining? A case study from the monsoonal tropics of northern Australia

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr11019 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 38 (6) ◽

pp. 482 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Susan F. Gould

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Native Forest ◽

Bird Abundance ◽

Detection Rates ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Bird Assemblages ◽

Mine Rehabilitation ◽

Forest Sites ◽

Mining Rehabilitation

Context Rehabilitation is increasingly being promoted as a strategy for minimising and even reversing biodiversity loss. Many rehabilitation strategies that aim to provide habitat focus entirely on establishing vegetation. Successful vegetation establishment, however, does not necessarily provide habitat that is ecologically equivalent to that removed by vegetation clearing. Quantitative understanding of faunal responses to rehabilitation is required if rehabilitation techniques are to be refined and deliver desired biodiversity outcomes. Aims I aimed to assess the extent to which post-mining rehabilitation restores bird habitat equivalent to that removed in the mining process on the Weipa bauxite plateau. Methods The composition, abundance and richness of bird assemblages were compared between native forest sites and a 23-year chronosequence of post-mining rehabilitation sites. Native forest sites were made up of three Weipa bauxite plateau land units, including the land unit that represents pre-mining native forest, and two land units that are considered to be potential analogues for the post-mining landscape. Key results Bird abundance and bird species richness increased with rehabilitation age. Bird species richness in the two oldest age classes of mine rehabilitation was similar to values obtained from pre-mining native forest and post-mining landscape analogue sites. The composition of bird assemblages, however, was significantly different. Of all the bird species observed, 25% occurred exclusively in native forest sites, 19% occurred exclusively in mine-rehabilitation sites, and the remaining 56% were recorded in both native forest and mine-rehabilitation sites. Site bird-detection rates were significantly related to site vegetation structure, with inter-specific differences in bird response. Conclusions Post-mining rehabilitation at Weipa has partially made up for the loss of habitat caused by clearing for mining. Twenty-three years after rehabilitation commenced, however, a clear residual impact on biodiversity remains, with a third of native forest birds absent from mine rehabilitation, including several native forest specialists. Implications Rehabilitation can partially make up for biodiversity losses caused by the initial loss of habitat. There is no evidence, however, that rehabilitation can achieve ‘no net loss’. Reliance on rehabilitation to achieve conservation outcomes does not address the fact that many fauna species require resources that are found only in mature forest.

Download Full-text

Evidence for bottom-up effects in the boreal forest: Do passerine birds respond to large-scale experimental fertilization?

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z95-264 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 73 (12) ◽

pp. 2231-2237 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Nicholas F. G. Folkard ◽

James N. M. Smith

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Boreal Forest ◽

Large Scale ◽

Bird Species ◽

Passerine Bird ◽

Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽

Bottom Up ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Point Counts ◽

The Impact

Boreal plant communities are strongly nutrient limited, and the animals of the boreal forest may therefore experience bottom-up nutrient limitation. We conducted a 5-year experimental study of the impact of aerial nitrogen fertilization on birds of the boreal forest near Kluane Lake, southwestern Yukon, to test for such bottom-up effects. Specifically, we tested if avian abundance and species richness increased after fertilization. Variable circular-plot point counts were made to estimate bird numbers and species richness each summer from 1988 to 1992. Fertilization had no effect on abundance for the first two summers, but total abundances of the seven commonest passerine bird species increased by an average of 46% over the final 3 years. Fertilization had no effect on bird species richness. Population densities and species richness were both low at Kluane compared with patterns seen in temperate forest. Yellow-rumped warblers (Dendroica coronata), dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), and Swainson's thrushes (Catharus ustulatus) dominated the passerine community at Kluane. There was only moderate spatial and temporal variation in songbird numbers on control plots over the 5-year study period.

Download Full-text

Tropical bird species richness is strongly associated with patterns of primary productivity captured by the Dynamic Habitat Indices

Remote Sensing of Environment ◽

10.1016/j.rse.2019.111306 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 232 ◽

pp. 111306 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Naparat Suttidate ◽

Martina L. Hobi ◽

Anna M. Pidgeon ◽

Philip D. Round ◽

Nicholas C. Coops ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Primary Productivity ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Tropical Bird ◽

Dynamic Habitat

Download Full-text

Bushland modification and styles of urban development: their effects on birds in south-east Queensland

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr96078 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 25 (1) ◽

pp. 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 100

Author(s):

Sven R. Sewell ◽

Carla P. Catterall

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Native Species ◽

Bird Species ◽

Individual Species ◽

Bird Abundance ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Forest Clearing ◽

Major Response ◽

Forest Remnants ◽

High Species Richness

Variation in bird assemblages associated with forest clearing and urbanisation in the greater Brisbane area was assessed by counting birds in sites within six habitat categories: large remnants, small remnants, no- understorey remnants, canopy suburbs (original trees present), planted suburbs, and bare suburbs. Total bird abundance and species richness were generally highest in canopy suburbs. Individual species showed many significant abundance differences among the habitat types, and were classified into three major response categories: bushland species (3 in summer, 13 in winter), tolerant species (13 in summer, 13 in winter), and suburban species (12 in summer, 11 in winter). The commonly proposed notion that urbanisation results in lowered bird species richness and increases in introduced species is broadly consistent with the observed differences between bare suburbs and large remnants. However, it does not adequately describe the situation in the planted and canopy suburbs, where there was high species richness and extremely high abundance of some native species (including noisy miners, lorikeets, friarbirds, and butcherbirds) but low abundance of a majority of the species common in the original habitats (including fantails, wrens, whistlers, and other small insectivores). Retained forest remnants are essential for the latter group. Urban plantings of prolifically flowering native species do not reverse the effects of deforestation, but promote a distinctive group of common native suburban bird species. Origins of the urban bird assemblage are discussed.

Download Full-text

Functional evenness of bird communities varies along the elevational gradient in Europe: Conservation implications

10.32942/osf.io/sx9n8 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Federico Morelli ◽

Yanina

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Elevation Gradient ◽

Bird Species ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

Negative Association ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Large Spatial Scale ◽

Functional Evenness

ContextThe negative association between elevation and species richness is a well-recognized pattern in macro-ecology. ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate changes in functional evenness of breeding bird communities along an elevation gradient in Europe. MethodsUsing the bird data from the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds we estimated an index of functional evenness which can be assumed as a measure of the potential resilience of communities.ResultsOur findings confirm the existence of a negative association between elevation and bird species richness in all European eco regions. However, we also explored a novel aspect of this relationship, important for conservation: Our findings provide evidence at large spatial scale of a negative association between the functional evenness (potential community resilience) and elevation, independent of the eco region. We also found that the Natura2000 protected areas covers the territory most in need of protection, those characterized by bird communities with low potential resilience, in hilly and mountainous areas.ConclusionsThese results draw attention to European areas occupied by bird communities characterized by a potential lower capacity to respond to strong ecological changes, and, therefore, potentially more exposed to risks for conservation.

Download Full-text

Patterns of bird species richness explained by annual variation in remotely sensed Dynamic Habitat Indices

Ecological Indicators ◽

10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107774 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 127 ◽

pp. 107774

Author(s):

Martina L. Hobi ◽

Laura S. Farwell ◽

Maxim Dubinin ◽

Dmitrij Kolesov ◽

Anna M. Pidgeon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Annual Variation ◽

Bird Species ◽

Remotely Sensed ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Dynamic Habitat

Download Full-text

Can clearcuts increase bird species richness in managed forests?

Journal of Forest Science ◽

10.17221/787-jfs ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (No. 4) ◽

pp. 189-193

Author(s):

M. Żmihorski

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Cumulative Number ◽

Managed Forests ◽

Managed Forest ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Forest Interior ◽

Transect Counts ◽

The Difference

Clearcuts are one of the results of forest management. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of clearcuts on bird communities in a managed forest in Western Poland. I applied the method of point transect counts. 20 points were located near clearcuts (less than 100 m from the nearest clearcut) and 25 points in the forest interior. In total, 36 bird species were recorded. On average, I found 9.20 bird species at points located near clearcuts and 6.72 species at points situated in the forest interior, and the difference was significant. The cumulative number of bird species for a given number of sampling points in the vicinity of clearcuts was higher than in the forest interior. The obtained results indicate that in managed, even-aged forests the generation of clearcuts can lead to an increase in local bird species richness.

Download Full-text

Bird species richness and abundance in riparian vegetation invaded by exotic Reynoutria spp.

Biologia ◽

10.2478/s11756-013-0296-x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 69 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Lenka Hajzlerová ◽

Jiří Reif

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Riparian Vegetation ◽

Bird Species ◽

Plant Invasions ◽

Alien Plant ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

River Bank ◽

Management Actions ◽

Acrocephalus Palustris

AbstractImpacts of invasive alien plant species are threatening biodiversity worldwide and thus it is important to assess their effects on particular groups of organisms. However, such impacts were studied mostly in case of plant or invertebrate communities and our understanding the response of vertebrate species to plant invasions remains incomplete. To improve our knowledge in this respect, we studied bird communities in riparian vegetation along the rivers with different levels of Reynoutria spp. invasion in the Czech Republic. These findings will be interesting for basic ecology enhancing our knowledge of consequences of plant invasions, as well as for conservation practice. We surveyed understory bird species in 26 vegetation blocks along parts of three rivers running from the Beskydy Mountains in spring 2011. We used principal component analysis to assess vegetation structure of particular blocks and the first axis ordinated the blocks according to the degree of invasion by Reynoutria spp. Using generalized linear mixed-effects models we found that counts of Motacilla cinerea, Cinclus cinclus and Sylvia borin, as well as the total bird species richness, significantly decreased with increasing degree of Reynoutria spp. invasion, while Acrocephalus palustris showed the opposite pattern. These results suggest that Reynoutria spp. impacts negatively on the species strictly bond with river banks and habitats specialists, whereas habitat generalist species like Sylvia atricapilla were not affected. Preference of Acrocephalus palustris for Reynoutria spp. corroborates affinity of this species to large invasive herbs observed also in other studies. Our study showed that Reynoutria spp. invasion can reduce species richness of understory birds in riparian communities. Although the distribution of this plant species is still quite limited in central Europe, our results suggest that its more widespread occurrence could potentially threat some river bank bird species. Therefore, we urge for development of management actions that will act counter the Reynoutria spp. invasion.

Download Full-text

Modelling avian biodiversity using raw, unclassified satellite imagery

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2013.0197 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 369 (1643) ◽

pp. 20130197 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Véronique St-Louis ◽

Anna M. Pidgeon ◽

Tobias Kuemmerle ◽

Ruth Sonnenschein ◽

Volker C. Radeloff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Habitat Heterogeneity ◽

Bird Species ◽

Image Texture ◽

Spectral Mixture Analysis ◽

Mixture Analysis ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Habitat Composition ◽

Avian Biodiversity ◽

Spectral Mixture

Applications of remote sensing for biodiversity conservation typically rely on image classifications that do not capture variability within coarse land cover classes. Here, we compare two measures derived from unclassified remotely sensed data, a measure of habitat heterogeneity and a measure of habitat composition, for explaining bird species richness and the spatial distribution of 10 species in a semi-arid landscape of New Mexico. We surveyed bird abundance from 1996 to 1998 at 42 plots located in the McGregor Range of Fort Bliss Army Reserve. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index values of two May 1997 Landsat scenes were the basis for among-pixel habitat heterogeneity (image texture), and we used the raw imagery to decompose each pixel into different habitat components (spectral mixture analysis). We used model averaging to relate measures of avian biodiversity to measures of image texture and spectral mixture analysis fractions. Measures of habitat heterogeneity, particularly angular second moment and standard deviation, provide higher explanatory power for bird species richness and the abundance of most species than measures of habitat composition. Using image texture, alone or in combination with other classified imagery-based approaches, for monitoring statuses and trends in biological diversity can greatly improve conservation efforts and habitat management.

Download Full-text