Forest bird demography in a landscape mosaic
A tandem approach of field studies and simulation modeling was used to examine avian demography in a landscape mosaic of habitat patches. A particular goal was to attempt to account for the regional decline in abundance of a subset of bird species sensitive to forest fragmentation. Species abundance patterns in forest patches were framed as the consequence of individual birds' demographics, constrained by their landscape context; this context was partitioned to emphasize habitat availability (or area), accessibility (or isolation), and localized factors affecting reproductive success (nest predation and brood parasitism). Each of these constraints was examined in turn, to assess their relative contribution to species abundance patterns observed in landscape mosaics. A forest simulation model was used to develop a theoretical basis for the importance of microhabitat pattern in forest bird communities. Hypotheses about microhabitat variety and bird species distribution in landscapes were not supported by data from woodlots in Cadiz Township, southern Wisconsin. The hierarchical conceptual model developed in this study represents a synthetic general model, a framework that can be simplified under specified scenarios to provide predictions about bird species abundance patterns in landscape mosaics.
- Research Organization:
- Tennessee Univ., Knoxville (USA); Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Inc., TN (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76OR00033
- OSTI ID:
- 6800153
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/OR/00033-T282; ON: DE87005987
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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