scholarly journals Multiscale effects of wetland availability and matrix composition on wetland breeding birds in Minnesota, USA

The Condor ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah P Saunders ◽  
Kristin A L Hall ◽  
Nina Hill ◽  
Nicole L Michel
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Habitat Management ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Matrix Composition ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Prairie Pothole ◽  
Imperfect Detection ◽  
Matrix Habitat

Abstract The increasing intensity of wetland stressors in the Upper Midwestern United States hastens the need to understand how matrix composition influences wetland bird occurrence and abundance. The optimal spatial scale for assessing species–habitat relationships is not always apparent, but may affect inference about wetland use and suitability. We developed occupancy and abundance models, accounting for imperfect detection, for 9 wetland bird species breeding in Minnesota. We evaluated land cover associations at 3 spatial scales (12.6 ha, 50.3 ha, and 4,000 ha), quantified species-specific sensitivity to wetland availability and matrix habitat composition (agricultural and developed land covers), and assessed ecoregional variation in occupancy and abundance. Amount of wetland cover was positively associated with occupancy of 89% of species and with abundance of 67% of species, but the spatial scale of support differed among species. American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus), Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), and Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata) in particular were negatively impacted by anthropogenic land uses within the surrounding matrix, indicating a need to shift wetland conservation planning from the site scale to the landscape scale to capture pertinent drivers of wetland bird habitat use. Mean expected occupancy across all species was greatest in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), suggesting that restoration efforts within this ecoregion are likely to maintain wetland bird diversity. However, given the minimal total wetland availability and predominantly agricultural matrix in the PPR, protecting wetlands and upland buffers in the Aspen Parklands or Boreal ecoregions may represent a better investment for agricultural-sensitive species such as American Bittern, Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis), and Wilson’s Snipe. Our modeling approach provides a multi-species framework for identifying habitat management priorities; future applications at broader spatial extents can continue to improve wetland bird conservation in a region with high rates of wetland loss and degradation.

scholarly journals Conserving native trees increases native bird diversity and community composition on commercial office developments

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Dyson
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Bird Communities ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Tree Protection ◽  
Matrix Habitat ◽  
Site Use

Abstract In cities, woody vegetation provides critical shelter, nesting and foraging habitat for bird species of interest. Human actions—including development and landscaping choices—determine vegetation community composition and structure, making these choices critically important to urban bird conservation. A better understanding of how bird communities are impacted by parcel-scale actions can help guide policy and management best practices to improve matrix habitat quality and quantity. Here, I examined how bird habitat use varies along a vegetation gradient created by different development and landscaping choices. I surveyed 20 commercial office developments near Seattle in the Puget Trough region of Washington, USA selected using stratified random sampling, where I quantified bird communities and observed feeding behavior. I used GLMM and PERMANOVA models with data likelihood metrics to identify the best supported variables for bird site use, along with TITAN models to identify changes in community composition along environmental gradients. I found that measures of bird effective species richness and bird community are positively influenced by the presence of more native conifers, including the presence of a stand predating development and the height and density of native conifers. Measures of the native bird community are negatively influenced by higher non-native tree density. In contrast to prior research, top-down landscape-scale variables did not explain variation in measures of the bird community on office developments. Importantly, I found that birds are associated with the same habitat on office developments as observed elsewhere. Together, my findings suggest an important role for developers, land owners, landscape architects, and tree protection policy in bird conservation.

scholarly journals Forest birds respond to the spatial pattern of exurban development in the Mid-Atlantic region, USA

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Suarez-Rubio ◽  
Todd R. Lookingbill
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Pattern ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Forest Fragmentation ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
The United States ◽  
Forest Edge ◽  
Forest Birds ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Exurban Development

Housing development beyond the urban fringe (i.e., exurban development) is one of the fastest growing forms of land-use change in the United States. Exurban development’s attraction to natural and recreational amenities has raised concerns for conservation and represents a potential threat to wildlife. Although forest-dependent species have been found particularly sensitive to low housing densities, it is unclear how the spatial distribution of houses affects forest birds. The aim of this study was to assess forest bird responses to changes in the spatial pattern of exurban development and also to examine species responses when forest loss and forest fragmentation were considered. We evaluated landscape composition around North American Breeding Bird Survey stops between 1986 and 2009 by developing a compactness index to assess changes in the spatial pattern of exurban development over time. Compactness was defined as a measure of how clustered exurban development was in the area surrounding each survey stop at each time period considered. We used Threshold Indicator Taxa Analysis to detect the response of forest and forest-edge species in terms of occurrence and relative abundance along the compactness gradient at two spatial scales (400-m and 1-km radius buffer). Our results showed that most forest birds and some forest-edge species were positively associated with high levels of compactness at the larger spatial scale; the proportion of forest in the surrounding landscape also had a significant effect when forest loss and forest fragmentation were accounted for. In contrast, the spatial configuration of exurban development was an important predictor of occurrence and abundance for only a few species at the smaller spatial scale. The positive response of forest birds to compactness at the larger scale could represent a systematic trajectory of decline and could be highly detrimental to bird diversity if exurban growth continues and creates more compacted development.

scholarly journals Success in conserving the bird diversity in tropical forests through private protected areas in Western Ecuador

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-367
Author(s):  
José Guerrero-Casado ◽  
José Manuel Seoane ◽  
Nikolay Aguirre ◽  
Jeronimo Torres-Porras
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
National Level ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Specific Region ◽  
The State ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Bird Species Richness ◽  
Private Protected Areas

Private protected areas have recently attained more importance at a worldwide level as regards nature conservation. Particularly, the specific region of Western Ecuador receives hardly any protection from the State, and private reserves could, therefore, be a suitable tool to ensure the preservation of its forests and their associated wildlife biodiversity. In this work, we compare the bird species richness between private reserves and public protected areas (managed by the State) located in this region. We also show a checklist of bird species found in the Buenaventura Reserve, a private reserve located in south-western Ecuador. Our comparison shows that smaller private reserves may harbour a similar number of bird species than larger protected areas managed by the state, and they have a higher number of bird species per area. In particular, a total of 233 different bird species were registered in Buenaventura, which were distributed in 16 orders and 42 families. Three species were classified as endangered at an international level: El Oro Parakeet (Pyrrhura orcesi), El Oro Tapaculo (Scytalopus robbinsi), and the Grey-backed Hawk (Pseudastur occidentalis), and another three at a national level: the Long-wattled Umbrellabird (Cephalopterus penduliger), the Slaty-winged Foliage-gleaner (Philydor fuscipenne), and the White-vented Plumeleteer (Chalybura buffonii). Therefore, private reserves can be appreciated as a suitable conservation tool for bird conservation, and they should not be undervalued because of their smaller size. Buenaventura Reserve is a good example of how private reserves are extremely important in fragmented landscapes, as is the case with tropical forests in Western Ecuador.

scholarly journals Bird Diversity: The Potential of Avitourism Reserves for Bird Conservation in Curup Tenang, South Sumatera, Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-258
Author(s):  
Fajar Islam Sitanggang ◽  
Mokhamad Asyief Khasan Budiman ◽  
Andy Afandy
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Wildlife Habitat ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Data Bases ◽  
The Development Strategy ◽  
Ecological Values ◽  
High Diversity

Birds have a fairly wide living habitat, including water-falls. Curup Tenang is a waterfall tourism site which has a wildlife habitat suitable for birds. In The Curup Tenang tourism site, the number of visitors has decreased over years. Birds are one of the wildlife animals that have ecological values, potential tourism, and cultural values. The diversity of birds in this tourist location have not been recorded. Meanwhile, by increasing knowledge and data-bases regarding the diversity of birds in this area can be an addi-tional reference for the development strategy in the Curup Tenang tourism site so that it becomes a distinctive attraction for visitors. This study aimed to determine the diversity of birds that never been recorded before and to conduct a potential support of avitourism activities. The results of this study can be used as a guideline to study the potential of avitourism. The diversity of birds found in Curup Tenang consisted of forty-eight species belong to twenty-seven families, while three of them cited as protected bird species. This study concluded that Curup Tenang contains a high diversity of birds and it has a great potential to be developed into an attraction of tourism. 

scholarly journals Avian Health across the Landscape: Nestling Immunity Covaries with Changing Landcover

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 1150-1164 ◽  
Author(s):  
L Merrill ◽  
T E Stewart Merrill ◽  
A M Barger ◽  
T J Benson
Keyword(s):  
Immune Function ◽  
Spatial Scale ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Landscape Composition ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Age Classes ◽  
Immunological Parameters ◽  
Immune Parameters ◽  
Species Specific

Abstract The landscape composition of an organism’s home range or territory should influence aspects of its condition, including measures of immune function. Changes in immunocompetence arising from variation in landcover may provide important links between habitat changes and patterns of disease spread. To establish a baseline understanding for whether immune measures covary with changes in landcover, we examined associations between immunological parameters and landcover composition for adults and nestlings of five shrubland bird species. Specifically, we examined the bacteria-killing ability (BKA) of the blood plasma and profiles of the five avian leukocytes as our measures of immune function, and assessed the proportion of area around each bird’s nest that was composed of the four major landcover types in the Midwestern USA: row crop agriculture, developed, forest, and grass/shrub. We performed landcover assessments at 100 and 1000 m radius buffers to identify whether associations between habitat and immune function differed at the two spatial scales. As part of this work, we examined age and species-related immunological variation, as well as associations among the immune parameters. There was little evidence linking variation in immune function to landcover composition for the adults at either spatial scale, but there were numerous associations for nestlings, and these were stronger at the 1000 than 100 m spatial scale. The proportion of grass/shrub around the nest had the largest impact on immune function, although the effect varied by immune parameter and species. BKA and basophils were inversely associated with grass/shrub for all species, whereas lymphocytes were positively associated with grass/shrub for all species. We also documented species-level differences among adults and nestlings for BKA and all leukocytes except monocytes. As expected, we found that nestlings had reduced levels of BKA, lymphocytes, monocytes, and elevated heterophils compared with adults (except for field sparrow-Spizella pusilla-nestlings, which had higher lymphocytes). Basophils generally did not differ by age class, and eosinophils exhibited species-specific patterns, in which they were higher for nestling American robins (Turdus migratorius) and gray catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis) compared with adults, but lower in the other nestlings. Heterophils and lymphocytes were inversely associated for all species and age classes, and basophil levels were positively associated with BKA across species and age classes. Together, these findings bolster our understanding of age and species-specific variation in immune function, and provide evidence that immune measures can covary with changes in landcover.

The importance of forests along submontane stream valleys for bird conservation: The Carpathian example

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 350-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
ŁUKASZ KAJTOCH ◽  
TOMASZ WILK ◽  
RAFAŁ BOBREK ◽  
MARCIN MATYSEK
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Indicator Species ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Western Carpathians ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Lowland Rivers ◽  
Large Trees ◽  
Rare And Endangered ◽  
River Valleys

SummaryThe biodiversity and naturalness of forests that cover stream valleys in submontane areas have not been investigated as intensively as riparian forests along large lowland rivers. In this study we compared data on total bird assemblages and on selected indicator species detected in forests along submontane stream valleys (‘Vall’) with those detected in forests covering submontane slopes and tops in the foothills (‘Hill’) of the Western Carpathians, considering also environmental characteristics of the studied locations. The aim of this study was to verify the hypothesis that forests along submontane stream valleys harbour significantly richer and more diverse bird communities and that they are an important habitat for rare and threatened species. We found that the species richness, abundance of birds and bird diversity were almost twice as high in ‘Vall’ than in ‘Hill’ locations and that indicator species mostly or exclusively inhabit ‘Vall’ locations. Moreover, species diversity was highly and positively correlated with higher tree species diversity and a higher amount of large trees and dead wood, but negatively correlated with logging intensity. The results of our study confirmed that forested river valleys in submontane areas play an important role as refugia both for rare and endangered bird species as well as for the whole bird assemblage. This study is the first to present an assessment of this type of habitat for birds in the Western Carpathians. Forests along submontane stream valleys, if protected or unmanaged, could be treated as reference areas for nature and biodiversity conservation.

scholarly journals Study on Avi-fauna Diversity in Mangrove Area in Aceh Besar Post Tsunami 2004

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruskhanidar R ◽  
Muhammad Hambal
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Type ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Fragmented Habitat ◽  
Mangrove Area ◽  
Waterfowl Habitat ◽  
Survey Technique ◽  
Biodiversity Index ◽  
Mangrove Conservation

 The research was conducted after tsunami destroyed mangrove in Aceh Besar coastal area, whichserves as waterfowl habitat. This study was aimed to find out bird diversity and abundant after tsunamidisaster. The study was conducted in Kecamatan Mesjid Raya, Aceh Besar, focusing on bird biodiversityand its number based on habitat type, using count dot survey technique. The study revealed that as manyas eight waterfowl species from four families were found. The variety of bird species in the researchlocation was low, ie; 1.2196 for fish pond, 1.7257 for muddy land, and 1.2528 for vegetation area. The lowlevel of biodiversity indicated fragmented habitat in the mangrove area.Keywords: mangrove conservation, bird biodiversity index, bird conservation

scholarly journals Composition and structure of bird communities in vegetational gradients of Bodoquena Mountains, western Brazil

2016 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 211-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
MAURICIO N. GODOI ◽  
FRANCO L. SOUZA ◽  
RUDI R. LAPS ◽  
DANILO B. RIBEIRO
Keyword(s):  
Vegetation Type ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Bird Communities ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Bird Conservation ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Bird Abundance ◽  
Point Counts ◽  
Composition And Structure

ABSTRACT The informations of bird species distribution in different habitats and the structure of their communities are crucial for bird conservation. We tested the differences in composition, richness and abundance of birds in different phytophysiognomies at Bodoquena Mountains, western Brazil, and we demonstrated the variations in richness and abundance of birds between different trophic groups. Sampling was conducted between July 2011 and June 2012 in 200 point counts arranged in the study area. A total of 3350 contacts were obtained belonging to 156 bird species. Woodland savannas, seasonal forests and arboreal savannas had higher bird abundance and richness, while riparian forests, clean pastures and dirty pastures had smaller values of these parameters. The bird community was organized according to local vegetational gradient, with communities of forests, open areas and savannas, although many species occurred in more than one vegetation type. The insectivorous, omnivorous, frugivorous and gramnivorous birds composed most of the community. These data showed how important environmental heterogeneity is to bird communities. Furthermore, the presence of extensive patches of natural habitats, the small distance between these patches and the permeability of pastures, with high arboreal and shrubby cover, are indicated as important factors to maintain the bird diversity.

Survey on Bird Species and Analysis on Bird Diversity in the Central Kunlun Mountains in the Early Winter

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-235
Author(s):  
Ming MA ◽  
Bao-wen HU ◽  
Yu MEI ◽  
Thomas McCarthy
Keyword(s):  
Bird Species ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Early Winter ◽  
Kunlun Mountains

scholarly journals Diversity and host assemblage of avian haemosporidians in different terrestrial ecoregions of Peru

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luz Garcia-Longoria ◽  
Jaime Muriel ◽  
Sergio Magallanes ◽  
Zaira Hellen Villa-Galarce ◽  
Leonila Ricopa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Host Community ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
New Host ◽  
Parasite Richness ◽  
Haemosporidian Parasites ◽  
Avian Haemosporidians ◽  
Host Parasite

Abstract Characterizing the diversity and structure of host-parasite communities is crucial to understanding their eco-evolutionary dynamics. Malaria and related haemosporidian parasites are responsible for fitness loss and mortality in bird species worldwide. However, despite exhibiting the greatest ornithological biodiversity, avian haemosporidians from Neotropical regions are quite unexplored. Here, we analyse the genetic diversity of bird haemosporidian parasites (Plasmodium and Haemoproteus) in 1,336 individuals belonging to 206 bird species to explore for differences in diversity of parasite lineages and bird species across five well-differentiated Peruvian ecoregions. We detected 70 different haemosporidian lineages infecting 74 bird species. We showed that 25 out of the 70 haplotypes had not been previously recorded. Moreover, we also identified 81 new host – parasite interactions representing new host records for these haemosporidian parasites. Our outcomes revealed that the effective diversity (as well as the richness, abundance, and Shannon-Weaver index) for both birds and parasite lineages was higher in Amazon basin ecoregions. Furthermore, we also showed that ecoregions with greater diversity of bird species also had high parasite richness, hence suggesting that host community is crucial in explaining parasite richness. Generalist parasites were found in ecoregions with lower bird diversity, implying that the abundance and richness of hosts may shape the exploitation strategy followed by haemosporidian parasites. These outcomes reveal that Neotropical region is a major reservoir of unidentified haemosporidian lineages. Further studies analysing host distribution and specificity of these parasites in the tropics will provide important knowledge about phylogenetic relationships, phylogeography, and patterns of evolution and distribution of haemosporidian parasites.

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