共查询到20条相似文献，搜索用时 375 毫秒
1.
We surveyed birds in patches of native eucalypt forest and in surrounding exotic matrix (Radiata pine forests) in south-eastern
Australia. Our objectives were: (1) to examine the influence of the width of native forest patches and the age of surrounding
pine forests on bird occurrence in patches of native forest; and (2) to verify the relationship between the use of the surrounding
pine matrix and bird species response to variation in width of patches of native forests. A total of 32 study sites (boundaries
between eucalypt and pine forests) were surveyed. Birds were counted by the area search method within 0.5-ha quadrats. Data
were analysed using generalised linear models. Wide patches of eucalypt forest supported higher species richness and greater
numbers of birds, such as foliage searchers and nectarivores, than narrow patches. Matrix age also influenced the occurrence
of some species in native patches. The abundance of species in wide and narrow patches of native forest was related to their
use of the matrix. This was true for native forests surrounded by old but not by young pine forests. We suggest that management
in wood production landscapes take into account both characteristics of native patches and the surrounding matrix. Negative
impacts of fragmentation in managed landscapes might be reduced by promoting matrix types that are suitable for bird species. 相似文献
2.
Worldwide forests fragmentation has lead to a massive increase of habitat edges, creating both negative and positive impacts on birds. While busy highways dissecting forested areas create edges which are known to reduce bird densities due to the disturbing effect of noise, the impacts of logging forest roads with low traffic volumes have rarely been studied. In this study, we compared species richness and similarity of canopy, cavity and shrub guilds of birds along low-traffic forest roads, in forest interior, and at forest edges in secondary forests in central Europe, where the forests have passed through extensive changes toward uniformly compact growths dominated by production conifers. Although we found tree diversity as positively affecting bird richness across all habitats, the bird richness along forest roads was higher than in forest interior but lower than along forest edges. The shrub guild of birds along forest roads resembled this guild along forest edges while canopy and cavity guilds at the roads were more similar to these guilds in forest interior. Forest interior had the highest probability for some guild to be absent. We conclude that low-traffic roads lead to increase of habitat heterogeneity in structurally poor forests and attract birds due to additional habitat attributes—including better light conditions—that are scarce in forest interior. Therefore, broader support for higher structural diversification of uniform plantations in central European production forests would benefit bird communities inhabiting these areas. 相似文献
3.
Changes in ecosystem structure caused by urbanization produce a reduction in photosynthetic productivity, which can lead to reductions in resource availability for birds. Here, we analyzed the relation between photosynthetic productivity and bird assemblages in a subtropical urban ecosystem, in North-Western Argentina. We used Generalized Linear Models to assess the responses of bird abundance, richness and diversity to photosynthetic productivity, vegetation cover and distance to main natural forest. We found higher bird richness and diversity with increasing photosynthetic productivity and vegetation cover, and with decreasing distance to forests; while total bird abundance was positively related to vegetation cover. When we classified bird species in different groups, based on their use of the environment, we found that species adapted to urban environments were more dependent on photosynthetic productivity, while species related to native forests were more dependent on the distance to source forests. Understanding the factors that affect bird assemblages in cities is important for the development of strategies for urban planning and conservation. 相似文献
4.
Nearctic-Neotropical migratory birds are threatened by land-use change throughout their complex annual cycles. While urbanization is an essential driver of land-use change, it is unclear how it affects migrant birds. Although migratory birds are more diverse in non-urban patches of native vegetation than in urban areas, neotropical cities can host diverse assemblages of overwintering migrant birds. Migratory birds in neotropical cities tend to be closely associated with urban green areas (UGAs). However, how their presence and abundance are affected by the habitat elements of UGAs and the urban matrix of neotropical cities is poorly understood. In this study, we compared the migratory bird species richness and abundances among UGAs and the urban matrix of the southern section of the megacity of Mexico City and native vegetation sites outside the city. Our results show that UGAs in neotropical cities provide habitats capable of maintaining complex overwintering migratory bird assemblages with local trees as critical features. We also assess the role that UGAs' characteristics play in determining migrant bird assemblages. We conducted bird censuses and measured habitat traits to determine how migrant bird assemblages are related to the habitat features of our study sites. We measured local, buffer, and spatial habitat features of each UGA. We found 23 overwintering migrant species in the three habitats, with 22 present within UGAs. Both UGAs and urban matrix sites had higher estimated species richness of migrant birds than non-urban native vegetation sites located outside the city. Only local features of UGAs affected migrant birds. While tree abundance in UGAs was positively associated with migratory bird species richness, the proportion of tree coverage was positively related to bird abundance. Our results show that UGAs in neotropical cities can maintain complex overwintering migratory bird assemblages, with trees being the most critical habitat feature. As a result, UGA management focused on maintaining trees and increasing their numbers can improve habitat conditions for migratory birds overwintering in neotropical cities. 相似文献
5.
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
6.
Sarel S. Cilliers Nicholas S. G. Williams Francois J. Barnard 《Landscape Ecology》2008,23(10):1243-1256
Linear native grassland remnants in fragmented landscapes are usually at a great risk of exotic species invasion from their
edges. Changes in species distribution near habitat edges are extensively studied in ecology as knowledge about edge responses
is important to understand the development of patterns and processes in landscapes. However, elucidating robust general principles
for edge effects has been difficult as species responses to habitat edges are highly variable and dependent on a large number
of attributes which affect the function and structure of edges and therefore the distance that edge effects penetrate into
fragmented natural vegetation. The objective of this study was to investigate the generality of exotic species invasion patterns
from edges in native grassland patches surrounded by urban and rural landscapes. This was done by comparing the results of
research from Victoria, Australia with a similar study from North-West Province, South Africa. Despite their occurrence on
different continents, the grasslands are floristically and structurally similar and are dominated by the same grass species.
Invasion patterns were quantified using two spatial statistics methods; block kriging and spatially constrained clustering.
Two distinct patterns of exotic species invasion were identified in native grassland remnants in South Africa and Australia,
namely exotic species invasion from the edge where the cover of exotic species increased with increasing proximity to the
edge and a pattern that suggests that gap phase vegetation dynamics may also drive exotic species invasion at urban grasslands.
Although urbanization and weed invasions are complex processes similar patterns of exotic species invasion in urban grasslands
were found in two different continents suggesting that general patterns may occur. Implications of this for the conservation
of native grasslands in contrasting landscapes are discussed. 相似文献
7.
Matrix quality affects probability of persistence in habitat patches in landscape simulation models while empirical studies
show that both urban and agricultural land uses affect forest birds. However, due to the fact that forest bird abundance and
species richness can be strongly influenced by local habitat factors, it is difficult to analyze matrix effects without confounding
effects from such factors. Given this, our objectives were to (1) relate human-dominated land uses to forest bird abundance
and species richness without confounding effects from other factors; (2) determine the scale at which forest birds respond
to the matrix; and (3) identify whether certain bird migratory strategies or habitat associations vary in richness or abundance
as a function of urban and agriculture land uses. Birds were surveyed at a single point count site 100 m from the edge of
23 deciduous forest patches near Ottawa, Ontario. Land uses surrounding each patch were measured within increasingly large
circles from 200 to 5000 m radius around the bird survey site. Regression results suggest that effects of urban and agricultural
land uses on forest birds (1) are not uniformly positive or negative, (2) can occur at different spatial scales, and (3) differentially
affect certain groups of species. In general, agriculture appeared to affect species at a broad spatial scale (within 5 km),
while urban land use had an impact at both a narrower spatial scale (within 1.8 km) and at the broad scale. Neotropical and
short distance migrant birds seemed to be the most sensitive to land use intensification within the matrix. Limiting urban
land use within approximately 200–1800 m of forest patches would be beneficial for Neotropical migrant birds, which are species
of growing conservation concern in temperate North America. 相似文献
8.
Vergara Pablo M. Fierro Andrés Alaniz Alberto J. Carvajal Mario A. Lizama Marlene Llanos José L. 《Landscape Ecology》2021,36(1):191-208
Context
Insectivorous birds are sensitive to forest disturbances that may limit the availability of food consisting mainly of invertebrates. However, birds and invertebrates may be differently affected by forest disturbances while invertebrates may interact with disturbances.
ObjectivesWe aim to determine: (i) the effects of forest degradation on invertebrates and insectivorous birds; (ii) the effect of the availability of invertebrates as a food source on birds; (iii) interactions between food availability and forest degradation.
MethodsWe selected 34 1-km radius landscape units, where the abundance of birds and invertebrates was sampled in the canopy and understory. Bird density as well as the abundance and richness of invertebrates were considered as dependent variables and analysed using Generalized Linear Mixed Model and Structural Equation Models. Remote-sensing indices of forest degradation were included as predictors.
ResultsEight indices of forest degradation affected canopy and understory invertebrates differently. Unlike invertebrates, bird abundance was affected by a smaller number of degradation indices, forest amounts as well as the cover of understory and canopy. Only two forest degradation indices had a comparable effect on bird abundance and invertebrates. We found causal relationships between understory invertebrates and the abundance of understory birds (all species and the small-sized ones), but also invertebrate abundance × forest cover interactions affected the abundance of a bird species.
ConclusionsOur results indicate that birds and invertebrates respond differently to forest degradation, but also provide evidence for bottom-up control by forest degradation and suggest food limitation varies with forest amounts.
相似文献9.
Landscape structure and breeding bird distribution in a sub-Mediterranean agro-ecosystem 总被引：7，自引：0，他引：7
Richness, abundance and distribution of birds were investigated in the Aulella watershed,a mountainous area of 300 km2, located in the extreme northwestern corner of Tuscany, Italy in spring and summer, 1995. The study area encompasses five
vegetation types (from Mediterranean maqui to upland beech forest) and three main land use categories (woodlands, mixed cultivated
+ urban areas, montane prairies). The recent history of land abandonment in the study area has produced a rapid expansion
of shrubland and woodland, reducing cultivated areas to small patches interspersed in a woodland matrix. Richness, abundance
and distribution of birds recorded at 414 points, randomly selected along secondary roads, and located using a Global Positioning
System (GPS), were compared with topography, vegetation type and land use in a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with a
grid cell resolution of 200 × 200 m.
Bird richness (55 species in all) and abundance are correlated: (a) negatively with the increasing altitude and increasing
distance from cultivated areas; (b) positively with the increasing distance from woodlands and mountain prairies. Slope orientation
appears to have a negligible effect on bird assemblages.
Bird richness and abundance are significantly correlated with vegetation type. Cultivated areas support the highest bird richness
and abundance that increase with patch size of the cultivated areas. Local extinction and/or reduction in within-species abundance
of birds are expected to continue if the process of land abandonment continues.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
10.
We address effects of large-scale forestry on landscape structure and the structure and composition of boreal bird communities in North Sweden. Specifically, we ask: after controlling for the effect of patch size, forest age and tree species composition, is there any residual effect attributable to the reduction in area of old forest? Pairs of landscape blocks (25 by 25 km) were selected to maximize area difference in human-induced disturbance, clear-cut as opposed to semi-natural old forest. Median distance to natural edge (wetlands, open water) from randomly selected points in forest was 250 and 200 m in high and low impact landscapes, respectively, indicating a high degree of ‘natural’ fragmentation of the pristine boreal landscape in the area. By contrast, median distance to clear-cut in uncut forest was 750 and 100 m, respectively. Clear-cuts in high impact landscapes were disproportionally more common in areas with contiguous forest land than in areas with spatially disjunct forest, implicating that forestry increases natural fragmentation of the landscape by subdividing larger forest tracts. Point counts along forestry roads showed that species richness and relative abundance of forest birds were higher in landscapes with low forestry impact. These differences can partly be explained by differences in age composition of forest and composition of tree species. After controlling for patch size, forest age and tree species composition, a significant effect of forestry impact remained for Sibirian species and the Tree pipitAnthus trivialis. Our results thus imply that this group of species and the Tree pipit may be sensitive to forest fragmentation. In contrast to previous Finnish studies, we found relatively small negative effects on relative abundance of species hypothesized to be negatively affected by large-scale clear-cutting forestry. However, our picture of the present does not contradict results from Finnish long-term population studies. Five factors may account for this: 1) clear-cut areas are not permanently transformed into other land use types, 2) planted forests are not completely inhabitable for species preferring older forest, 3) the majority of species in the regional pool are habitat generalists, 4) the region studied is still extensively covered with semi-natural forest, and 5) our study area is relatively close to contiguous boreal forest in Russia, a potential source area for taiga species. 相似文献
11.
Howell Christine A. Latta Steven C. Donovan Therese M. Porneluzi Paul A. Parks Geoffrey R. Faaborg John 《Landscape Ecology》2000,15(6):547-562
We examine the influence of both local habitat and landscape variables on avian species abundance at forested study sites situated within fragmented and contiguous landscapes. The study was conducted over a six year period (1991–1996) at 10 study sites equally divided between the heavily forested Missouri Ozarks and forest fragments in central Missouri. We found greater species richness and diversity in the fragments, but there was a higher percentage of Neotropical migrants in the Ozarks. We found significant differences in the mean number of birds detected between the central Missouri fragments and the unfragmented Ozarks for 15 (63%) of 24 focal species. We used stepwise regression to determine which of 12 local vegetation variables and 4 landscape variables (forest cover, core area, edge density, and mean patch size) accounted for the greatest amount of variation in abundance for 24 bird species. Seven species (29%) were most sensitive to local vegetation variables, while 16 species (67%) responded most strongly to one of four landscape variables. Landscape variables are significant predictors of abundance for many bird species; resource managers should consider multiple measures of landscape sensitivity when making bird population management decisions.Order of first two authors decided by coin toss 相似文献
12.
Responses of Chilean forest birds to anthropogenic habitat fragmentation across spatial scales 总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0
Although it is recognized that anthropogenic forest fragmentation affects habitat use by organisms across multiple spatial
scales, there is uncertainty about these effects. We used a hierarchical sampling design spanning three spatial scales of
habitat variability (landscape > patch > within-patch) and generalized mixed-effect models to assess the scale-dependent responses
of bird species to fragmentation in temperate forests of southern Chile. The abundances of nine of 20 bird species were affected
by interactions across spatial scales. These interactions resulted in a limited effect of within-patch habitat structure on
the abundance of birds in landscapes with low forest cover, suggesting that suitable local habitats, such as sites with dense
understory cover or large trees, are underutilized or remain unused in highly fragmented landscapes. Habitat specialists and
cavity-nesters, such as tree-trunk foragers and tapaculos, were most likely to exhibit interactions across spatial scales.
Because providing additional sites with dense understory vegetation or large habitat trees does not compensate the negative
effect of the loss of forest area on bird species, conservation strategies should ensure the retention of native forest patches
in the mixed-use landscapes. 相似文献
13.
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
14.
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
15.
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
16.
Rates of nest predation for birds vary between and within species across multiple spatial scales, but we have a poor understanding
of which predators drive such patterns. We video-monitored nests and identified predators at 120 nests of the Acadian Flycatcher
(Empidonax virescens) and the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) at eight study sites in Missouri and Illinois, USA, during 2007–2010. We used an information-theoretic approach to evaluate
hypotheses concerning factors affecting predator-specific and overall rates of predation at landscape, edge, and nest-site
scales. We found support for effects of landscape forest cover and distance to habitat edge. Predation by Brown-headed Cowbirds
(Molothrus ater) increased, and predation by rodents decreased as landscape forest cover decreased. Predation by raptors, rodents, and snakes
increased as the distance to forest edges decreased, but the effect was modest and conditional upon the top-ranked model.
Despite the predator-specific patterns we detected, there was no support for these effects on overall rates of predation.
The interactions between breeding birds, nest predators, and the landscapes in which they reside are scale-dependent and context-specific,
and may be resistant to broad conceptual management recommendations. 相似文献
17.
Philip S. Barton Karen Ikin Annabel L. Smith Christopher MacGregor David B. Lindenmayer 《Landscape Ecology》2014,29(4):703-714
Ecological theory predicting the impact of fire on ecological communities is typically focused on post-disturbance recovery processes or on disturbance-diversity dynamics. Yet the established relationship between vegetation structure and animal diversity could provide a foundation to predict the short-term effects of fire on biodiversity, but has rarely been explored. We tested the hypothesis that fire effects on bird assemblages would be moderated by increasing vegetation structure. We examined bird assemblages in burnt and unburnt sites at 1 and 6 years after a wildfire, and compared richness and composition responses among and within three structurally distinct vegetation types in the same landscape: heath, woodland and forest. We found that short-term changes in bird assemblage composition were largest in simple heath vegetation and smallest in complex forest vegetation. The short-term change in species richness was larger in forest than in heath. We also found that among-site assemblage variability was greater shortly after fire in heath and woodland vegetation compared with forest vegetation. Our results indicate that complexity in vegetation structure, particularly overstorey cover, can act as an important moderator of fire effects on bird assemblages. Mechanisms for this response include a greater loss of structure in vegetation characterised by a single low stratum, and a proportionally greater change in bird species composition despite a smaller absolute change in species richness. We discuss our results in the context of a new conceptual model that predicts contrasting richness and composition responses of bird assemblages following disturbance along a gradient of increasing vegetation structure. This model brings a different perspective to current theories of disturbance, and has implications for understanding and managing the effects of fire on biodiversity in heterogeneous landscapes. 相似文献
18.
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
19.
Vacant land, a product of population and economic decline resulting in abandonment of infrastructure, has increased substantially in shrinking cities around the world. In Cleveland, Ohio, vacant lots are minimally managed, concentrated within low-income neighborhoods, and support a large proportion of the city’s urban forest. We quantified abundance, richness, diversity, and size class of native and exotic tree species on inner-city vacant lots, inner-city residential lots, and suburban residential lots, and used i-Tree Eco to model the quantity and economic value of regulating ecosystem services provided by their respective forest assemblages. Inner-city vacant lots supported three times as many trees, more exotic than native trees, and greater tree diversity than inner-city and suburban residential lots, with the plurality of trees being naturally-regenerated saplings. The urban forest on inner-city vacant lots also had two times as much leaf area and leaf biomass, and more tree canopy cover. The quantity and monetary value of ecosystem services provided by the urban forest was greatest on inner-city vacant lots, with exotic species contributing most of that value, while native taxa provided more monetary value on residential lots. The predominately naturally-regenerated, minimally managed exotic species on vacant land provide valuable ecosystem services to inner-city neighborhoods of Cleveland, OH. 相似文献
20.
Lateral migrations of river meanders create transient, spatially transgressive edges where the advancing cutbank edge encroaches upon interior floodplain forest communities. This spatial movement of edge toward the forest interior should initiate directional changes in species composition within a forest plot as it is affected by a changing microclimate and hydrological regime. We found that cutbank edge and forest interior sites in an Iowa floodplain contained markedly different plant assemblages. Species commonly associated with later stages of succession dominated interior sites while cutbank edge sites favored secondary, successional species. Assuming that the cutbank edge sites once contained vegetation similar to that surveyed in the floodplain interior, the observed changes in community structure accompanying channel migration are suggestive of retrograde succession, or retrogression. To link cutbank erosional processes with retrogressional processes, we modified a computer simulation model already in use for floodplain environments. We incorporated the changing edge effects and compared model projections with the data collected from the field sites using detrended correspondence analysis. Without changes, the simulation projected a site compositionally similar to the sampled interior forest. When the changes were initiated, the simulated site progressively took on compositional characteristics similar to the riparian edge sites. Because we included only those forcing functions that would be initiated by cutbank erosion, the model supports the hypothesis that the spatially progressive edge effect results in a directional change in forest community composition analogous to retrogression. Our results demonstrate an interesting linkage between successional and fluvial-geomorphic processes and indicate that site dynamics may be controlled differently in landscapes where sites are progressively created and destroyed than where recurrent disturbances affect the same site. 相似文献