Bird community responses to the edge between suburbs and reserves
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In: Oecologia, Vol. 174, No. 2, 02.2014, p. 545-557.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Bird community responses to the edge between suburbs and reserves
AU - Ikin, Karen
AU - Barton, Philip S.
AU - Knight, Emma
AU - Lindenmayer, David B.
AU - Fischer, Jörn
AU - Manning, Adrian D.
PY - 2014/2
Y1 - 2014/2
N2 - New insights into community-level responses at the urban fringe, and the mechanisms underlying them, are needed. In our study, we investigated the compositional distinctiveness and variability of a breeding bird community at both sides of established edges between suburban residential areas and woodland reserves in Canberra, Australia. Our goals were to determine if: (1) community-level responses were direct (differed with distance from the edge, independent of vegetation) or indirect (differed in response to edge-related changes in vegetation), and (2) if guild-level responses provided the mechanism underpinning community-level responses. We found that suburbs and reserves supported significantly distinct bird communities. The suburban bird community, characterised by urban-adapted native and exotic species, had a weak direct edge response, with decreasing compositional variability with distance from the edge. In comparison, the reserve bird community, characterised by woodland-dependent species, was related to local tree and shrub cover. This was not an indirect response, however, as tree and shrub cover was not related to edge distance. We found that the relative richness of nesting, foraging and body size guilds also displayed similar edge responses, indicating that they underpinned the observed community-level responses. Our study illustrates how community-level responses provide valuable insights into how communities respond to differences in resources between two contrasting habitats. Further, the effects of the suburban matrix penetrate into reserves for greater distances than previously thought. Suburbs and adjacent reserves, however, provided important habitat resources for many native species and the conservation of these areas should not be discounted from continued management strategies.
AB - New insights into community-level responses at the urban fringe, and the mechanisms underlying them, are needed. In our study, we investigated the compositional distinctiveness and variability of a breeding bird community at both sides of established edges between suburban residential areas and woodland reserves in Canberra, Australia. Our goals were to determine if: (1) community-level responses were direct (differed with distance from the edge, independent of vegetation) or indirect (differed in response to edge-related changes in vegetation), and (2) if guild-level responses provided the mechanism underpinning community-level responses. We found that suburbs and reserves supported significantly distinct bird communities. The suburban bird community, characterised by urban-adapted native and exotic species, had a weak direct edge response, with decreasing compositional variability with distance from the edge. In comparison, the reserve bird community, characterised by woodland-dependent species, was related to local tree and shrub cover. This was not an indirect response, however, as tree and shrub cover was not related to edge distance. We found that the relative richness of nesting, foraging and body size guilds also displayed similar edge responses, indicating that they underpinned the observed community-level responses. Our study illustrates how community-level responses provide valuable insights into how communities respond to differences in resources between two contrasting habitats. Further, the effects of the suburban matrix penetrate into reserves for greater distances than previously thought. Suburbs and adjacent reserves, however, provided important habitat resources for many native species and the conservation of these areas should not be discounted from continued management strategies.
KW - Ecosystems Research
KW - Community composition
KW - Conservation management
KW - Edge effects
KW - Functional guilds
KW - Protected areas
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84892837196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00442-013-2793-6
DO - 10.1007/s00442-013-2793-6
M3 - Journal articles
C2 - 24114403
AN - SCOPUS:84892837196
VL - 174
SP - 545
EP - 557
JO - Oecologia
JF - Oecologia
SN - 0029-8549
IS - 2
ER -