Bird communities and the structure of urban habitats

We examine relationships between bird communities and habitat structure along a gradient of urban habitats in Vancouver, B.C. Bird species diversity, evenness of species abundances, and numbers of species increase with foliage height diversity and total vegetation as they do in "natural" habitats. Few ecological niches for birds are enhanced by man-made features of the urban environment. Bird species diversity is actually inversely related to the apparent increase in habitat diversity contributed by elements of the built environment. While limited to a few niches, food provided by man has a major effect on density and distribution of birds in urban areas. Therefore, despite declining natural productivity and species diversity, total bird density does not decline across the Vancouver urban gradient. Overall, available habitat and food in highly urbanized environments strongly favour the few cavity-nesting, ground-feeding graminivorous or omnivorous bird species that have already come to dominate.

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Consistency in bird community assembly over medium-term along rural-urban gradients in Argentina

Ecological Processes ◽

10.1186/s13717-021-00302-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lucas M. Leveau

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Community Assembly ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Areas ◽

Environmental Filtering ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Community ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Assembly Rules ◽

Urban Habitats

Abstract Background The analysis of bird community assembly rules is fundamental to understand which mechanisms determine the composition of bird species in urban areas. However, the long-term variation of community assembly rules has not been analyzed yet. The objectives of this study are (1) to analyze the variation of community assembly rules along rural-urban gradients of three cities in central Argentina and (2) to compare the patterns of community assembly between two periods separated by 6 years. Bird surveys were performed along transects in urban, suburban, and rural habitats during 2011 and 2017. Departures from null models that took into account differences in species richness (standardized effect size, SES) were calculated for functional and phylogenetic diversities. Results A total of 57 species were recorded. Bird species richness was higher in suburban than in urban and rural habitats. SES of functional diversity increased over the years and was significantly lower in urban habitats than in rural habitats, showing a pattern of functional clustering in the most urbanized areas and functional randomness in rural ones. Phylogenetic diversity was higher in both suburban and urban habitats than rural ones, and the phylogenetic clustering in rural bird assemblages changed to randomness in suburban and urban habitats. Conclusions Bird communities in urban habitats were phylogenetically random and functionally clustered, evidencing environmental filtering by urbanization. In contrast, bird communities in rural areas tended to be phylogenetically clustered, evidencing that certain clades are adapted to rural areas. The processes structuring bird communities along rural-urban gradients were consistent between the 2 years compared.

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Birds in a Tropical Mosaic - the Distribution of Bird Species in Relation to Vegetation Patterns

Wildlife Research ◽

10.1071/wr9880171 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 171 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

JCZ Woinarski ◽

SC Tidemann ◽

S Kerin

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Species Composition ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Density ◽

Closed Forest ◽

Bird Distribution ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Bird Species Diversity

Wilson and Bowman (1986) classified and mapped vegetation in a complex mosaic at Howard's Peninsula, Northern Territory. The relationship of bird distribution to this vegetation classification was considered through 10 repeat censuses of 5 replicate quadrats in each of 20 vegetation units. Censusing period was April-May. 118 bird species were recorded. Closed forests (3 units), mangroves (2 units) and swamplands (3 units) all had distinctive bird species compositions, but bird species showed a relatively poor relationship with the classification of woodland and grassland units. Eucalyptus woodlands regrowing after devastation by a cyclone in 1974 had similar bird species diversity and density to undamaged woodlands, though somewhat different bird species composition. Eucalyptus woodlands with a dense shrubby understorey had significantly greater bird density and species diversity than those with open or grassy understories and their bird species composition showed appreciable association with that of closed forests. Closed forest and, less so, mangrove units had highest diversity and density (despite their relatively small proportion in the study area and in the region generally), probably because they offered a wider range of foraging possibilities.

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Effects of habitat structure and shrub encroachment on bird species diversity in arid savanna in Northern Cape province, South Africa

Ostrich ◽

10.2989/ostrich.2008.79.2.2.576 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 79 (2) ◽

pp. 133-140 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Timo Kaphengst ◽

David Ward

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Species Diversity ◽

Habitat Structure ◽

Bird Species ◽

Shrub Encroachment ◽

Northern Cape ◽

Bird Species Diversity

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Bird Species Diversity on an Andean Elevational Gradient

Ecology ◽

10.2307/1936921 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 58 (5) ◽

pp. 1007-1019 ◽

Cited By ~ 286

Author(s):

John Terborgh

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Bird Species ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

Bird Species Diversity

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Bird species diversity in Altai riparian landscapes: Wood cover plays a key role for avian abundance

Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.1002/ece3.5493 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (17) ◽

pp. 9634-9643

Author(s):

Na Li ◽

Yuehua Sun ◽

Hongjun Chu ◽

Yingjie Qi ◽

Lan Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Bird Species ◽

Avian Abundance ◽

Riparian Landscapes ◽

Bird Species Diversity

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Effects of Housing Development on Bird Species Diversity in a Forest Fragment in Ontario, Canada

Landscape Research ◽

10.1080/01426390120090175 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 407-419 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Wendy J. McWilliam ◽

Robert D. Brown

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Bird Species ◽

Housing Development ◽

Forest Fragment ◽

Bird Species Diversity

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Bird species diversity in forest understory: Analysis of mist-net samples

Oecologia ◽

10.1007/bf00345609 ◽

1976 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 373-379 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mary F. Willson ◽

David J. Moriarty

Keyword(s):

Species Diversity ◽

Bird Species ◽

Forest Understory ◽

Bird Species Diversity ◽

Mist Net

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Scale dependence of biotic homogenisation by urbanisation: a comparison of urban bird communities between central Argentina and northern Finland

European Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1515/eje-2017-0011 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 1-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Lucas M. Leveau ◽

Jukka Jokimäki ◽

Marja-Liisa Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki

Keyword(s):

Species Turnover ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Community ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Urban Habitats ◽

Suburban Areas ◽

Biotic Homogenisation ◽

Community Dissimilarity ◽

The Town

AbstractRecent studies showed contrasting results about the homogenising force of urbanisation on bird community composition at large and regional scales. We studied whether urbanisation promotes the homogenisation of wintering bird communities and if this varies when comparing towns located within a specific region and towns located in two different biomes of two countries. We used both similarity indices based on the presence/absence data and the abundance data in comparing communities. Processes governing bird community dissimilarity between urbanisation levels were examined with the partitioning of Sörensen index in species turnover and nestedness. We made bird surveys in town centres and suburban habitats of three cities located in the Pampean region of Argentina and in the boreal region of Finland using a single-visit study plot method. Rarefacted species richness did not differ amongst the town centres between the countries, but it was higher in the suburban areas of Argentina than in Finland. At the country-level comparison, we found a higher similarity amongst the town centres than amongst the suburban areas; whereas at the regional comparison, similarity between town centres was comparable to the similarity between suburban areas. The use of an abundance-based index produced a higher similarity between town centre communities of both countries than when using a presence-based index. The dissimilarity between habitats in Argentina was related to nestedness and to species turnover in Finland. Our results indicate that urban-based biotic homogenisation of bird communities is dependent on the scale used, being more evident when comparing cities of different biomes where the same and abundant bird species, such as sparrows and doves, dominate. At the regional scale, quite a high beta-diversity can still be found within urban habitats. Processes of community dissimilarity between urban habitats may differ according to the regional pool of species, being more related to nestedness toward the tropics.

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