Nest site selection and the effects of land use in a multi-scale approach on the distribution of a passerine in an island arid environment
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In: Journal of Arid Environments, Vol. 74, No. 11, 11.2010, p. 1408-1412.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Nest site selection and the effects of land use in a multi-scale approach on the distribution of a passerine in an island arid environment
AU - Illera, J.C.
AU - von Wehrden, H.
AU - Wehner, J.
N1 - DOI funktioniert (noch) nicht
PY - 2010/11
Y1 - 2010/11
N2 - We examine the predictive ability of habitat-species relationship models in island semi-desert environments using as model species the Canary Islands stonechat (Saxicola dacotiae), an endemic bird inhabiting the arid island of Fuerteventura. We investigated nest site selection and the effects of land use on its distribution in a multi-scale approach using nest positions obtained during three consecutive breeding seasons. We identified two environmental predictors, namely Tasseled cap 1 (a range value of land brightness) and slope, and three variables derived from human use (house densities, unpaved roads and fences) as the best predictors of occurrence of the species. Only slope had a positive and significant effect on stonechat occurrence; the rest being negative. Results were not restricted by the scale, indicating that design of special protection areas should be developed considering the landscape scale. Our results provide a robust prediction of the species distribution throughout Fuerteventura, demonstrating that our approach can also cope for the low vegetation signal within small arid regions such as islands. Future land use planning and management for the island should avoid the presence of negative impact elements such as opening new roads and new urbanisations in nearby habitats with the highest probabilities of species occurrence.
AB - We examine the predictive ability of habitat-species relationship models in island semi-desert environments using as model species the Canary Islands stonechat (Saxicola dacotiae), an endemic bird inhabiting the arid island of Fuerteventura. We investigated nest site selection and the effects of land use on its distribution in a multi-scale approach using nest positions obtained during three consecutive breeding seasons. We identified two environmental predictors, namely Tasseled cap 1 (a range value of land brightness) and slope, and three variables derived from human use (house densities, unpaved roads and fences) as the best predictors of occurrence of the species. Only slope had a positive and significant effect on stonechat occurrence; the rest being negative. Results were not restricted by the scale, indicating that design of special protection areas should be developed considering the landscape scale. Our results provide a robust prediction of the species distribution throughout Fuerteventura, demonstrating that our approach can also cope for the low vegetation signal within small arid regions such as islands. Future land use planning and management for the island should avoid the presence of negative impact elements such as opening new roads and new urbanisations in nearby habitats with the highest probabilities of species occurrence.
KW - Biology
KW - Bird-habitat relationships
KW - Canary islands stonechat
KW - Geographical information systems
KW - Landsat
KW - Maxent model
KW - Saxicola dacotiae
KW - arid environment
KW - breeding season
KW - ecological modeling
KW - endemic species
KW - environmental factor
KW - GIS
KW - land use
KW - land use planning
KW - nest site
KW - passerine
KW - population distribution
KW - protected area
KW - site selection
KW - species occurrence
KW - species-area relationship
KW - urbanization
KW - Canary Islands
KW - Fuerteventura
KW - Las Palmas
KW - Spain
KW - Aves
KW - Passeriformes
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77956232417&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/461f9dc7-c080-39dd-9d36-4bdd2366a28b/
U2 - 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2010.04.012
DO - 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2010.04.012
M3 - Journal articles
VL - 74
SP - 1408
EP - 1412
JO - Journal of Arid Environments
JF - Journal of Arid Environments
SN - 0140-1963
IS - 11
ER -