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1.
We studied the effects of anthropogenic edges on predation and parasitism of forest bird nests in an agriculturally fragmented
landscape and a continuously forested landscape in Ontario, Canada. Nesting data were collected at 1937 nests across 10 species
in the fragmented landscape from 2002–2008, and 464 nests across 4 species in the continuously forested landscape from 2006–2008.
Brood parasitism only occurred in the fragmented landscape, and was positively related to the proportion of rural grassland
and row crop habitats within 500-m of nests. Daily nest survival was negatively related to the density of roads within 500-m
of nests in the fragmented landscape, but was not influenced by distance to anthropogenic edge in either landscape. Predation
rates were higher in the fragmented landscape for Ovenbird and Rose-breasted Grosbeak nests, but did not differ between landscapes
for Veery and American Redstart nests. Uniformly high predation in the fragmented landscape may be a result of (1) matrix
predators that penetrate deep (>300 m) into the forest interior, or (2) the additive effect of forest-dependent and matrix-associated
predators that results in high predation pressure in both edge and interior habitats. Further research focused on the identification
of nest predators, their population dynamics, and habitat use is required to understand the underlying mechanisms leading
to uniformly high nest predation in fragmented landscapes. 相似文献
2.
Conservation strategies should be based on a solid understanding of processes underlying species response to landscape change.
In forests fragmented by agriculture, elevated nest predation rates have been reported in many forest bird species, especially
near edges. In intensively-managed forest landscapes, timber harvesting might also be associated with negative edge effects
or broader “context” effects on some species when the matrix provides additional resources to their major nest predators.
In this study, we hypothesized that proximity to a forest edge and proportion of cone-producing plantations will increase
nest predation risk in fragments of relatively undisturbed forest. We focused on the Brown Creeper (Certhia americana), an indicator species of late-seral forests. We compared habitat configuration and composition at four spatial scales (0.14,
0.5, 1 and 2 km) around 54 nests and related daily nest survival rate to the distance to the nearest forest edge, mean patch
size of late-seral forest (r = 141 m), proportion of non-forested lands (r = 141 m), density of maintained roads (r = 1 km), proportion of cone-producing spruce plantations (r = 2 km), and year. The best model included distance to the nearest edge and proportion of cone-producing plantations. Distance
of nests to the nearest edge was the best individual predictor of daily nest survival. A larger sample of nests showed a significant
threshold in distance to the nearest forest edge; nests located at least 100 m away were more likely to fledge young. These
results suggest that even in managed forest landscapes, matrix effects can be important and some bird species may exhibit
negative edge effects. 相似文献
3.
Landscape-scale Edge Effect in Predation Risk in Forest-farmland Mosaics of Central Europe 总被引：8，自引：1，他引：7
Avian nest predation is known to increase with the degree of forest fragmentation. A common explanation is that farmland allows
for high densities of generalist predators, and predators penetrating into the forest cause higher nest losses at forest-farmland
edges than in forest interiors. In contrast to numerous patch-level studies of forest edge effects conducted earlier, we broadened
the spatial extent to the landscape. We tested the hypothesis of increased predation near farmland over distances of >4 km
from forest–farmland edges into forest interiors in five mountain ranges in Germany, using artificial ground nests. We considered
two landscape settings: (1) Transitions between a forest matrix and a farmland matrix, and (2) farmland patches within a forest
matrix. Nest losses were not significantly higher in vicinity to a farmland matrix, but proximity to a pasture within the
forest matrix strongly increased predation risk. We speculate that these differences resulted from landscape geometry. Farmland
patches and matrix alike are highly attractive to generalist predators, and are regularly visited by red foxes from the forest.
Predators that traverse the forest and take prey along the way, will cause a concentration of predation risk towards a patch
(pasture), but not towards an adjacent matrix (farming lowlands), of feeding habitat. Contrary to previous evidence that edge
effects in nest predation level off after 50 m, nest fate was related to distance to pastures across the entire study extent
of 4.1 km. Our results suggest that landscape context and predator mobility may greatly affect spatial predation patterns. 相似文献
4.
Effects of landscape structure on nest predation in roadsides of a midwestern agroecosystem: a multiscale analysis 总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0
Bergin Timothy M. Best Louis B. Freemark Kathryn E. Koehler Kenneth J. 《Landscape Ecology》2000,15(2):131-143
Nest predation is an important cause of mortality for many bird species, especially in grassland ecosystems where generalist predators have responded positively to human disturbance and landscape fragmentation. Our study evaluated the influence of the composition and configuration of the surrounding landscape on nest predation. Transects consisting of 10 artificial ground nests each were set up in 136 roadsides in six watersheds in south-central Iowa. Nest predation on individual roadside transects ranged from 0 to 100% and averaged 23%. The relationship of landscape structure within spatially-nested landscapes surrounding each roadside transect (within 200, 400, 800, 1200, and 1600 m of the transect line) to nest predation was evaluated by using multiple regression and canonical correlation analyses. The results of this multiscale landscape analysis demonstrated that predation on ground nests was affected by the surrounding landscape mosaic and that nest predators with different-sized home ranges and habitat affinities responded to landscapes in different ways. In general, wooded habitats were associated with greater nest predation, whereas herbaceous habitats (except alfalfa/pasture) either were associated with less nest predation or were not important. Different landscape variables were important at different spatial scales. Whereas some block-cover habitats such as woodland were important at all scales, others such as rowcrops and alfalfa/pasture were important at large scales. Some strip-cover habitats such as gravel roads and paved roads were important at small scales, but others such as wooded roadsides were important at all all scales. Most landscape metrics (e.g., mean patch size and edge density) were important at large scales. Our study demonstrated that the relationships between landscape structure and predator assemblages are complex, thus making efforts to enhance avian productivity in agricultural landscapes a difficult management goal. 相似文献
5.
We measured the activity of mammalian predators, numbers of singing male songbirds, and predation rates on nests of songbirds (152 natural, open-cup nests and 380 artificial nests) on 38 250 m transects located along various types of forest-field edges in a wildlife management area in east-central Illinois. We then related these variables to each other and to measures of the vegetative structure of our transects that we anticipated might influence predator activity or predation rates on nests of birds characteristic of edge and shrubland habitats. Mammalian predators, particularly raccoons (Procyon lotor), were abundant in the wildlife area and present on all transects surveyed. We did not find significant relationships among the variables we measured. Rather, rates of nest predation were consistently high (>70%) and generally evenly distributed around our study site. Medium-sized, generalist mammalian predators in the midwestern United States reach their highest population densities in fragmented landscapes with abundant edge habitat, particularly agricultural edges. Areas of natural habitat in these landscapes dominated by agriculture may concentrate predators and act as ecological traps for nesting birds because they attract high densities of breeding birds that are subjected to high rates of nest predation. 相似文献
6.
Scott B. Maresh Nelson Jaime J. Coon Courtney J. Duchardt James R. Miller Diane M. Debinski Walter H. Schacht 《Landscape Ecology》2018,33(10):1799-1813
Context
Humans have altered grasslands in recent decades through crop conversion, woody encroachment, and plant invasions. Concurrently, grassland birds have experienced range-wide declines. Studies have reported effects of plant invasions and land conversion on nest ecology, but few have assessed relative impacts of these changes.Objectives
We compared impacts of invasive plants and landscape context on nest survival of a grassland songbird, the dickcissel (Spiza americana). We also compared effects on parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) and tested whether parasitism affects survival.Methods
From 2013–2016, we monitored 477 dickcissel nests. We measured nest-site vegetation (including woody plants, tall fescue Schedonorus arundinaceous, and other invasive grasses) and measured landscape context at broad scales.Results
Nest survival declined with increasing tall fescue cover at nest sites, and parasitism was more common at nests with greater fescue and woody cover. Some evidence suggested a negative effect of row-crop cover within 1000 m on nest survival, but no landscape patterns unambiguously affected survival. Woodland cover and wooded-edge prevalence were associated with reduced parasitism risk. Parasitized nests had smaller clutches, failed more frequently, and produced fewer fledglings than non-parasitized nests.Conclusions
Determining the impacts of invasive plants and other anthropogenic changes on grassland birds will aid in prioritizing management to improve habitat quality. Our results indicate that optimizing landscape context around habitats may not affect dickcissel nest survival strongly, except perhaps through effects on parasitism. In contrast, controlling tall fescue and shrubs within grasslands could benefit birds by increasing nest success and reducing parasitism.7.
Increasing habitat heterogeneity is widely considered to improve conditions for biodiversity. Yet benefits for native species depend on scale and the effect of heterogeneity on key processes influencing survival and reproduction. We examined the relationship between habitat heterogeneity and brood parasitism at multiple scales in a region characterized by (1) relatively high cowbird abundance, (2) high abundance of our focal species, the grassland obligate Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), (3) variation in the structure and composition of grassland habitats, and (4) a gradient of woodland cover in the landscape matrix. Tree cover at broad scales was found to have the greatest impact on parasitism while factors at finer scales were relatively unimportant. We found that for every 1 % increase in tree cover within 1 km of Grasshopper Sparrow nests, the probability of parasitism decreases by 3 %. Parasitism reduced clutch sizes and the number of Grasshopper Sparrows fledged, but survival rates were similar between non-parasitized and parasitized nests. Furthermore, simple population projection models indicated that parasitism has the greatest impact at moderate survival levels and can inhibit the resiliency of this population. Our results support the hypothesis that cowbirds prefer forest hosts, which may reduce parasitism rates on grassland birds in heterogeneous landscapes. Collectively, our findings suggest that the effect of cowbird parasitism may be greater for Grasshopper Sparrows than was previously thought. 相似文献
8.
Context
Species distributions are driven by a wide variety of abiotic and biotic factors, including nest placement for breeding individuals. As such, the spatial distribution of nests within a landscape can reflect environmental heterogeneity, habitat preferences, or even interactions with predators and other species.Objectives
We determined the extent to which environmental heterogeneity and predation risk accounted for the observed spatial distribution of nests.Methods
We assessed the spatial distribution of 112 nests of a migratory shorebird, the Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica), at Beluga River, Alaska, from 2009 to 2012, and explicitly tested for the relative influence of habitat characteristics and predation risk on nest locations. We also evaluated the effect of nest location, distance to conspecific nests, and proximity to roads on nest fate using 64 nests that were monitored through completion.Results
Hudsonian Godwit nests were clustered across the landscape despite a lack of significant spatial autocorrelation (i.e., patchiness) in vegetation characteristics at either the micro- or landscape scale. Nest fate also was not predicted by either the distance to the nearest conspecific neighbor or proximity to roads. Thus, neither habitat characteristics nor predation risk explained the clustering of godwit nests.Conclusions
These results suggest that godwits may select nest locations based more on social cues than underlying heterogeneity in vegetation or predation risk. As such, intra- and inter-specific interactions should be considered when developing management plans for species of conservation concern.9.
Measuring edge effects in complex landscapes is often confounded by the presence of different kinds of natural and anthropogenic
edges, each of which may act differently on organisms inhabiting habitat patches. In such landscapes, proportions of different
habitats surrounding nests within patches often vary and may affect nesting success independently of distance to edges. We
developed methods to measure and study the effects of multiple edges and varying habitat composition around nests on the breeding
success of the Acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens), an understory, open-cup nesting songbird. The Kaskaskia River in Southwestern Illinois was our study area and consists
of wide (>1000-m) floodplain corridors embedded in an agricultural matrix with a variety of natural (wide rivers, backwater
swamps, and oxbow lakes) and anthropogenic (internal openings, and agricultural) habitats. We also measured vegetation structure
around each nest. Nest survival increased with increasing nest concealment, and probabilities of brood parasitism increased
with increasing distances from anthropogenic and natural water-related openings surrounding nests. The magnitude of these
effects was small, probably because the landscape is saturated with nest predators and brood parasites. These results illustrate
the importance of considering both larger landscape context and details of natural and anthropogenic disturbances when studying
the effects of habitat fragmentation on wildlife. 相似文献
10.
Previous research has suggested that ducks and songbirds may benefit from prairie landscapes that consist primarily of contiguous
grasslands. However, the relative importance of landscape-level vs. local characteristics on mechanisms underlying observed
patterns is unclear. We measured effects of grassland amount and fragmentation on upland and wetland songbird and duck density
and nest success, and on some nest predators, across 16 landscapes in southern Alberta, Canada. We compared these landscape-level
effects with local-scale responses, including distance to various edges and vegetation characteristics. We also evaluated
several statistical approaches to comparing effects of habitat characteristics at multiple spatial scales. Few species were
influenced by grassland amount or fragmentation. In contrast, distance to edge and local vegetation characteristics had significant
effects on densities and nest success of many species. Previous studies that reported effects of landscape characteristics
may have detected patterns driven by local mechanisms. As a corollary, results were very sensitive to statistical model structure;
landscape level effects were much less apparent when local characteristics were included in the models. 相似文献
11.
We evaluated support for four alternate hypotheses explaining the distribution of breeding Brown-headed Cowbirds (Molothrus ater) in forests at varying distances from the forest edge in three Midwestern USA landscapes with varying amounts of forest fragmentation
(core forest area ranged from 5 to 70%). We focused on breeding cowbirds’ use of forest because of the risk of nest parasitism
to forest-dwelling hosts and to identify factors affecting breeding cowbird habitat selection. We compared distances of cowbird
locations in the forest from the forest edge (“edge distances”) to distances of random forest locations in the entire landscape
or within individual cowbird home ranges. We analyzed 1322 locations of 84 cowbirds across three landscapes. We found support
for the landscape context hypothesis that breeding cowbird preference for forest edge varied with landscape context. Ninety
percent of cowbird locations were within 150–350 m of forest edge, despite the overall availability of forest at greater distances
from edge (as far as 500–1450 m) both within cowbird home ranges and the entire forested landscape. Cowbird preference for
edge varied by landscape context largely due to differences in the availability of forest edge. In a highly fragmented forest
cowbirds utilized the entire forest and likely viewed it as “all edge.” In less fragmented forests, cowbirds preferred edge.
We consider how variation in cowbird edge preference might relate to patterns in host abundance, host diversity, and host
quality because cowbird movements indicate they are capable of using forest farther from edges. 相似文献
12.
David B. Lindenmayer Jeff T. Wood Ross B. Cunningham Mason Crane Christopher Macgregor Damian Michael Rebecca Montague-Drake 《Landscape Ecology》2009,24(8):1091-1103
We implemented a replicated before-after-control-impact (BACI) experiment to quantify vertebrate response in native forest
patches to a major change in the surrounding exotic Radiata Pine (Pinus radiata) plantation. We contrasted vertebrate occupancy of patches of native eucalypt forest where the surrounding stands of exotic
Radiata Pine (Pinus radiata) were clearfelled (termed “treatment patches”) with matched “control patches” where surrounding pine stands remained unlogged.
Different species of arboreal marsupials varied in their response to our experimental treatments. The Common Ringtail Possum
was unaffected by cutting of the surrounding pine stands, whereas all sightings of the Mountain Brushtail Possum were in control
patches. For birds, species richness was significantly reduced by 4–9 species in treatment patches. Birds with cup and dome
nests were those negatively affected by the cutting of the surrounding pine stands. They may be susceptible to altered microclimatic
conditions or increasing levels of nest predation when the surrounding pine matrix is clearfelled. Our study emphasized how
the biota inhabiting retained patches of native forest within plantation landscapes can be changed when stands of surrounding
Radiata Pine are clearfelled. In the case of birds, more species will be maintained within eucalypt patches if logging is
scheduled so that not all the surrounding pine plantation is clearfelled at once. 相似文献
13.
Yuri Zharikov David B. Lank Falk Huettmann Russell W. Bradley Nadine Parker Peggy P. -W. Yen Laura A. Mcfarlane-Tranquilla Fred Cooke 《Landscape Ecology》2006,21(1):107-120
We studied habitat selection and breeding success in marked populations of a protected seabird (family Alcidae), the marbled
murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), in a relatively intact and a heavily logged old-growth forest landscape in south-western Canada. Murrelets used old-growth
fragments either proportionately to their size frequency distribution (intact) or they tended to nest in disproportionately
smaller fragments (logged). Multiple regression modelling showed that murrelet distribution could be explained by proximity
of nests to landscape features producing biotic and abiotic edge effects. Streams, steeper slopes and lower elevations were
selected in both landscapes, probably due to good nesting habitat conditions and easier access to nest sites. In the logged
landscape, the murrelets nested closer to recent clearcuts than would be expected. Proximity to the ocean was favoured in
the intact area. The models of habitat selection had satisfactory discriminatory ability in both landscapes. Breeding success
(probability of nest survival to the middle of the chick rearing period), inferred from nest attendance patterns by radio-tagged
parents, was modelled in the logged landscape. Survivorship was greater in areas with recent clearcuts and lower in areas
with much regrowth, i.e. it was positively correlated with recent habitat fragmentation. We conclude that marbled murrelets
can successfully breed in old-growth forests fragmented by logging. 相似文献
14.
Clinton D. Francis Juan Paritsis Catherine P. Ortega Alexander Cruz 《Landscape Ecology》2011,26(9):1269-1280
Anthropogenic noise is becoming a dominant component of soundscapes across the world and these altered acoustic conditions
may have severe consequences for natural communities. We modeled noise amplitudes from gas well compressors across a 16 km2 study area to estimate the influence of noise on avian habitat use and nest success. Using species with noise responses representative
of other avian community members, across the study area we estimated gray flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii) and western scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica) occupancy, and gray flycatcher nest success, which is highly dependent on predation by western scrub-jays. We also explore
how alternative noise management and mitigation scenarios may reduce area impacted by noise. Compressor noise affected 84.5%
of our study area and occupancy of each species was approximately 5% lower than would be expected without compressor noise.
In contrast, flycatcher nest success was 7% higher, reflecting a decreased rate of predation in noisy areas. Not all alternative
management and mitigation scenarios reduced the proportion of area affected by noise; however, use of sound barrier walls
around compressors could reduce the area affected by noise by 70% and maintain occupancy and nest success rates at levels
close to those expected in a landscape without compressor noise. These results suggest that noise from compressors could be
effectively managed and, because habitat use and nest success are only two of many ecological processes that may change with
noise exposure, minimizing the anthropogenic component of soundscapes should be a conservation priority. 相似文献
15.
V. St-Louis J. D. Forester D. Pelletier M. Bélisle A. Desrochers B. Rayfield M. A. Wulder J. A. Cardille 《Landscape Ecology》2014,29(5):831-841
Measuring landscape connectivity in ways that reflect an animal’s propensity or reluctance to move across a given landscape is key for planning effective conservation strategies. Resistance distance, based on circuit theory, is one such measure relevant for modeling how broad-scale animal movements over long time periods may lead to gene flow across the landscape. Despite the success of circuit theory in landscape genetic studies, its applicability to model finer-scale processes such as the movement patterns of individual animals within their breeding grounds (e.g., while prospecting for territories) has yet to be tested. Here, we applied both circuit models and least-cost models to understand the relationship between landscape connectivity and return time of Ovenbirds (Seiurus aurocapilla) that had been translocated at least 20 km from their home territory near Québec City, Canada. Using an iterative optimization process, we derived resistance values for three cover types (forest, edge, and open) that resulted in resistance distance values that best explained Ovenbird return times. We also identified the cover-type resistance values that yielded length of least-cost path estimates that best explained return times of the translocated birds. The circuit theory and least-cost path methods were equally supported by the data despite being based on different sets of resistance values. The optimal resistance values for calculating resistance distance indicated that for Ovenbirds, traversing a given distance of edge habitat presented a substantially greater resistance than that of open areas. On the other hand, optimized resistances of edge and open were very similar for calculating length of least-cost path. The circuit theory approach suggested that for an Ovenbird moving through fragmented habitat, the number of forest-open transitions (i.e., edge-crossings) that an individual must make is critical to understanding return times after translocation. The least-cost path approach, on the other hand, suggested that the birds strongly avoid all open areas, regardless of size. Circuit theory offers an important new approach for understanding landscapes from the perspective of individuals moving within their breeding range, at finer spatial scales and shorter time scales than have been previously considered. 相似文献
16.
Fabiola López-Barrera Robert H. Manson Mario González-Espinosa Adrian C. Newton 《Landscape Ecology》2007,22(2):189-203
Hard (high-contrast with pastures) and soft (low-contrast with old-fields) forest edges created by slash-and-burn agriculture
have become common landscape features in regions dominated by neotropical montane forest. However, little is know about the
impacts of such edge types on forest regeneration dynamics. The consequences of varying forest edge permeability for oak acorn
dispersal were investigated in a forest mosaic in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. Rates of acorn production and removal,
as well as the abundance and composition of small mammal seed consumers, were monitored along these different edge types (hard
vs. soft) at specific distances from forest edges into forest patches and adjacent grasslands during two consecutive years.
Results show that acorn removal declined significantly only in grasslands of sites characterised by hard edges (Logistic regression,
P < 0.05). Movements of metal-tagged acorns support the hypothesis that soft edges are more permeable to small mammals, with
rodents moving acorns up to 15 m into grasslands of sites with soft edges. In sites with hard edges, higher rates of acorn
dispersal were recorded from the forest edge towards the forest interior. Peromyscus spp. were the main acorn predators and/or dispersers of acorns present in our study sites. Rates of acorn removal during
a non-masting year were greater than the subsequent mast-seeding year (85% removal within 138 days vs. 75% within 213 days),
demonstrating that mast seeding may allow some seeds to escape predation. The implications of these results for oak dispersal
and regeneration along edges in fragmented tropical forest landscapes are discussed. 相似文献
17.
Nest locations of breeding birds are often spatially clustered. This tendency to nest together has generally been related
to a patchy distribution of nesting habitat in landscape studies, but behavioral studies of species with clustered breeding
patterns draw attention to the importance of social and biotic factors. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly apparent that
the breeding system of many territorial, migrant birds may be semi-colonial. The reasons for, and extent of, spatial clustering
in their breeding systems are not well understood. Our goal was to tease apart the influence of habitat availability and social
drivers of clustered breeding in a neotropical migrant species, the hooded warbler (Wilsonia citrina). To test alternative hypotheses related to clustered habitat or conspecific attraction, we combined a habitat classification
based on remote sensing with point pattern analysis of nesting sites. Nest locations (n = 150, 1999–2004), collected in a 1213 ha forested area of Southern Ontario (Canada), were analyzed at multiple spatial scales.
Ripley’s K and pair-correlation functions g (uni- and bivariate) were used to test whether nests were clustered merely because potential nesting habitat was also clustered,
or whether nests were additionally clustered with respect to conspecifics. Nest locations tended to be significantly clustered
at intermediate distances (particularly between 240 and 420 m). Nests were randomly distributed within available habitat at
larger distance scales, up to 1500 m. A reasonable hypothesis to explain the detected additional clustering, and one that
is consistent with the results of several behavioral studies, is that females pack their nests more tightly than the available
habitat requires to be situated closer to their neighbors’ mates. Linking spatially explicit, point pattern analysis with
strong inference based on Monte Carlo tests may bring us closer to understanding the generality and reasons behind conspecific
attraction at different spatial scales.
F. Csillag—deceased. 相似文献
18.
Forest fragmentation in Loudoun County,Virginia, USA evaluated with multitemporal Landsat imagery 总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1
In order to study forest fragmentation in the Virginia, USA Piedmont, a series of Landsat images from 1973, 1987, and 1999 covering a rapidly developing area (Loudoun County) was used to classify forest from non-forest. The classified images were analyzed using a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the spatial and temporal patterns of fragmentation, and to relate these patterns to infrared radiance provided by Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) band 6. The analysis was concentrated on eleven major watersheds of Loudoun County. The relationship between urbanized area per watershed and mean fragment size showed a strong negative decay form (r
2=0.757, p<0.0001). Analysis of four landscape metrics showed increasing fragmentation of forest cover, particularly from 1987 to 1999, as well as an increase in forest edge and shape complexity. Of the landscape metrics used, the perimeter-to-area (P/A) ratio showed the strongest relationship with mean radiance of forest patches. In addition, there was a negative, linear relationship between distance from major roads and band 6 radiance of forested pixels. Overall, the study shows that landscape metrics can convey meaningful information on biophysical changes associated with forest fragmentation at broad scales. These changes suggest that ambient temperature increases associated with urban sprawl may have important, long-term implications for ecophysiological processes. 相似文献
19.
Context
Despite the key role of biological control in agricultural landscapes, we still poorly understand how landscape structure modulates pest control at different spatial scales.Objectives
Here we take an experimental approach to explore whether bird and bat exclusion affects pest control in sun coffee plantations, and whether this service is consistent at different spatial scales.Methods
We experimentally excluded flying vertebrates from coffee plants in 32 sites in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, encompassing a gradient of forest cover at landscape (2 km radius) and local (300 m) spatial scales, and quantified coffee leaf loss, as an indicator of herbivory, and fruit set.Results
Leaf loss decreased with higher landscape forest cover, but this relation was significantly different between treatment and control plants depending on local forest cover. On the other hand, fruit set responded to the interaction between treatment and local forest cover but was not affected by landscape forest cover. More specifically, fruit set increased significantly with local forest cover in exclusion treatments and showed a non-significant decrease in open controls.Conclusions
These results suggest that services provided by flying vertebrates are modulated by processes occurring at different spatial scales. We posit that in areas with high local forest cover flying vertebrates may establish negative interactions with predaceous arthropods (i.e. intraguild predation), but this would not be the case in areas with low local forest cover. We highlight the importance of employing a multi-scale analysis in systems where multiple species, which perceive the landscape differently, are providing ecosystem services.20.
Size of a forest patch is a useful predictor of density and reproductive success of Neotropical migratory birds in much of eastern North America. Within these forested landscapes, large forest tracts appear to be sources – fragments in which surpluses of offspring are produced and can potentially colonize new fragments including woodlot sinks where reproduction fails to balance adult mortality. Within agricultural landscapes of the midwestern U.S., where forests are severely fragmented, high levels of brood parasitism by brown-headed cowbirds (Molothrus ater) and intense predation on nests generally result in low reproductive success for Neotropical migrants regardless of forest size. In some midwestern U.S. landscapes, however, the variation in reproductive success among forest fragments suggests that `source' habitat could still exist for Neotropical migrants. We used vegetation, fragment and landscape metrics to develop multivariate models that attempt to explain the variation in abundance and reproductive success of Neotropical migrants nesting in an agricultural landscape in northern Indiana, USA. We produced models that reasonably described the pattern of species richness of Neotropical migrants and the abundance of wood thrushes (Hylocichla mustelina) and several other Neotropical migrant species within 14 forest fragments. In contrast, we were unable to produce useful models of the reproductive success of wood thrushes breeding in the same forest fragments. Our results suggest that (1) abundance patterns of Neotropical migrants are probably influenced by both landscape- and fragment-scale factors; (2) multivariate analyses of Neotropical migrant abundance are not useful in modeling the corresponding patterns of reproductive success; and (3) the location of any remaining `source' habitat for Neotropical migrants breeding within agricultural landscapes in North America will be difficult to predict with indirect measures such as vegetation composition or landscape context. As a result, the potential for developing conservation strategies for Neotropical migrants will be limited without labor-intensive, direct measurements of demographic parameters. 相似文献