Influence of habitat selection and habitat quality on the demography of a neotropical migrant songbird, the Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii)

While animals may use many habitat types, relatively few are preferred and fewer yet are superior in quality (referring to individual fitness as the measure of quality). Historical reduction in habitat quality for some wildlife species has occurred such that we may now have limited reference to original superior-quality habitats. As time passes, managers may be unaware that superior habitats are slowly disappearing and that the slow but cumulative change is significant to a species at the population level. The perception of superior-quality habitat also changes with each successive generation of managers based on their experiences. This paper raises the concern that retrospective work may often be required to determine past forest habitats and associated animal populations to avoid the risk of falling into a trap of not recognizing ever-declining habitat quality through time and relegating animals to what is in fact much poorer quality habitat than those to which they are actually best adapted. Further, the relationship between relative abundance and habitat quality may often be uncertain owing to maladaptive habitat selection by animals, inappropriate survey timing or interannual population differences. While we have begun to appreciate aspects of habitat selection for many forest species, few data are yet available that relate selected habitats to fitness of individual animals. Hence, while we may have models to predict habitat use, considerable research remains to be done to be able to predict long-term sustainability of species in managed landscapes. Key words: habitat quality, forest management, sustainability, biodiversity

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Competitor density cues for habitat quality facilitating habitat selection and investment decisions

Behavioral Ecology ◽

10.1093/beheco/arn005 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 19 (3) ◽

pp. 539-545 ◽

Cited By ~ 76

Author(s):

J. T. Forsman ◽

M. B. Hjernquist ◽

J. Taipale ◽

L. Gustafsson

Keyword(s):

Habitat Selection ◽

Habitat Quality ◽

Investment Decisions

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Microhabitat selection in the potentially endangered wolf spider Donacosa merlini (Araneae, Lycosidae): implications for spider conservation

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z08-113 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 86 (11) ◽

pp. 1280-1288 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

C. Fernández-Montraveta ◽

M. Cuadrado

Keyword(s):

Habitat Selection ◽

Habitat Quality ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Conservation Status ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Wolf Spider ◽

Distribution Area ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Ecological Requirements ◽

Trade Offs

Habitat quality affects many components of animal fitness and animals are expected to be distributed in the space accordingly. Mismatch between habitat preferences and fitness may relate to scale-dependent effects and trade-offs between costs and benefits of moving to high-quality habitats. We investigated the effects of habitat quality and habitat selection in Donacosa merlini Alderweireldt and Jocqué, 1991, a burrowing wolf spider included in the Spanish Invertebrates Red Data Book. Particularly, we compared burrow size and density and analysed the relationship between burrow presence and vegetation at two different scales. At a regional scale, we found strong differences in burrow size and density. Burrow density affected burrow aggregation, which was utmost under mean densities. At both spatial scales, burrows were found at relatively clear (or low-covered) patches, as scrubs were lower and nearest vegetation was farther from burrows than randomly expected. Our results suggest habitat selection and effects of habitat quality on the life history of D. merlini. In spite of the recent expansion of the species distribution area, our data support the need for suitable habitat management programs. Information about ecological requirements is paramount to correctly assess spider conservation status. This topic has received little attention in spite of the diversity and the relevance of spider ecological roles.

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Heterospecific song quality as social information for settlement decisions: an experimental approach in a wild bird

10.1101/748103 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Jennifer Morinay ◽

Jukka T. Forsman ◽

Blandine Doligez

Keyword(s):

Habitat Selection ◽

Habitat Quality ◽

Social Information ◽

Great Tit ◽

Social Cues ◽

Breeding Habitat ◽

Site Quality ◽

Ficedula Albicollis ◽

High Quality ◽

Local Habitat

AbstractAssessing local habitat quality via social cues provided by con- or heterospecific individuals sharing the same needs is a widespread strategy of social information use for breeding habitat selection. However, gathering information about putative competitors may involve agonistic costs. The use of social cues reflecting local habitat quality acquired from a distance, such as acoustic cues, could therefore be favoured. Bird songs are conspicuous signals commonly assumed to reliably reflect producer quality, and thereby local site quality. Birds of different species have been shown to be attracted to breeding sites by heterospecific songs, but whether they can use fine heterospecific song features as information on producer (and by extension habitat) quality remains unknown. We used a playback experiment in a wild population of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis), a species known to eavesdrop on dominant great tits’ (Parus major) presence and performance, to test whether flycatchers preferred to settle near broadcasts of a high quality great tit song (i.e. song with large repertoire size, long strophes, high song rate), a low quality great tit song or a chaffinch song (control). Among old females, aggressive ones preferred to settle near broadcasts of high quality tit song and avoided broadcasts of low quality tit song, while less aggressive females preferred to settle near broadcasts of low quality tit song. Male personality or age did not influence settlement decisions. Our results show that collared flycatcher females use great tit song quality features as information for settlement decisions, though differently depending on their own competitive ability and/or previous experience with great tit songs. Our study therefore further illustrates the complex condition-dependent use of heterospecific social information for breeding habitat selection.

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Setting Favourable Habitat Reference Values for breeding birds: general principles and examples for passerine birds

Bird Conservation International ◽

10.1017/s0959270913000488 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 24 (3) ◽

pp. 263-271 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

MATTIA BRAMBILLA ◽

CLAUDIO CELADA ◽

MARCO GUSTIN

Keyword(s):

Habitat Selection ◽

Habitat Quality ◽

Reference Values ◽

Breeding Success ◽

Suitable Habitat ◽

Distribution Models ◽

Species Population ◽

Definition Of ◽

Range Of Values

SummarySetting Favourable Reference Values (FRVs) can assist the definition of the conservation status of a species. FRVs may consider population, habitat, and range. FRVs can indicate a range of values for different parameters, which should allow the long-term persistence of a species/population. We propose a method for the definition of reference values for the habitat (FRV-H or HRV) of breeding bird species. HRV should cover habitat extent and quality, both required to ensure long-term persistence. Extent HRV should express a measure of suitable area, whereas quality HRV could be defined as the range of values for habitat variables known to affect habitat quality. To define an extent HRV, we built species distribution models (SDMs) and set extent HRV as the extent of potentially suitable habitat under a conservative approach. Quality HRV should refer to environmental determinants/correlates of occurrence and breeding success, and should be defined by the identification of the habitat factors affecting occurrence and reproduction. When habitat selection is adaptive, habitat suitability may approximate habitat quality, being correlated with breeding success. In that case, fine-scaled habitat/distribution models may be used to identify determinants/correlates of reproductive output, and such species-habitat relationships may help define quality HRV. We show examples using the Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio as a model. The use of habitat selection models, which can be made spatially explicit generating distribution models, may assist the definition of both extension and quality HRVs. Species-habitat models can allow the individuation of factors and relative values affecting species occurrence/reproduction (quality HRV), and the definition of the spatial distribution and quantity of potentially suitable habitat (extent HRV). Our approach is one of the possible ones, aiming at finding a “suitable” trade-off between affordable data and scientific precision. HRVs should be used together with population and range FRVs to assess the status of a species/population.

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