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1.
Effects of urbanization on ground-dwelling spiders (Araneae) were studied using pitfall traps along an urban-suburban–rural forest gradient in Debrecen (Hungary). We found that overall spider species richness was significantly higher in the urban sites compared to the suburban and rural ones. The increased diversity was due to the significantly more open-habitat species in the assemblages at the urban sites. This suggests that species from the surrounding matrix (grasslands and arable lands) penetrated the disturbed urban sites. The ratio of forest species was significantly higher in the rural sites than in the suburban and urban ones, suggesting that forest species are indeed sensitive to the disturbance caused by urbanization. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that the species composition changed remarkably along the urbanization gradient. Open-habitat spiders were associated with the urban sites of higher ground and air temperature. Forest spiders were characteristic of the rural sites with higher amount of decaying woods. Our findings suggest that the overall diversity was not the most appropriate indicator of disturbance; species with different habitat affinity should be analyzed separately to get an ecologically relevant picture of the effect of urbanization.  相似文献   

2.
The near-to-nature urban forestry concept and practices are widely recognized for urban greening, urban ecosystem restoration, urban greenspace management for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services provision. However, the regeneration and succession of urban vegetation are rarely studied due to the complex settings of the urban environment. To this end, we conducted a large-scale field investigation in the metropolitan area of Beijing, China to explore the spatial variations in plant species composition and diversity in soil seed banks, and their similarity to the aboveground vegetation to assess the potential of urban plant regeneration. Overall, 657 vegetation and soil sampling plots from 219 grids, measuring 2 km × 2 km each, were investigated within two perpendicular 10 km wide transects running across the urban center in north-south and east-west directions within the 6th Ring Road of the city. We recorded a total of 102 plant species in soil seed banks, including 13 tree species, 10 shrub species, and 79 herb species. We found that the soil seed bank species diversity and its similarity to that of the aboveground vegetation communities decreased significantly with the urbanization intensity. Higher urbanization intensity is typically associated with increased human management and a reduction in Greenspace Area (GSA). Soil seed bank species richness increased significantly when GSA exceeded 45 % and the similarity of species composition and diversity between soil seed banks and aboveground vegetation communities was the highest in forest parks. This suggests that habitats under forest park management are more conducive to plant regeneration. Soil seed bank species diversity first increased and then decreased significantly with increased distance to the city center, whereas the species similarity between the soil seed banks and the aboveground vegetation communities showed little change with the ring roads going out. The results of this study have important implications for further understanding the potential for urban vegetation regeneration and sustainability, which have significant implications for urban biodiversity conservation and restoration.  相似文献   

3.
Urbanization affects amphibian communities through habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation of habitat quality. The effects of these changes in habitat at different scales vary depending on the sensitivity of individual species. We assessed the breeding distribution of anurans along an urban–rural gradient in Shanghai, China, a region experiencing intensive urbanization. Our results showed that urban density had a significantly negative influence on the overall anuran abundance and diversity and that the responses of individual species to urbanization varied. Pond age was an overall predictor in models describing the responses of Pelophylax nigromaculatus, Fejervarya multistriata, and M. fissipes and total anuran abundance. The quality of habitat at a pond was also important, and the high abundance of Bufo gargarizans and Pelophylax plancyi was associated with ponds with aquatic vegetation coverage. Urban density showed strong negative effects on B. gargarizans, total anuran abundance, and species richness. The broad-scale landscape variables associated with forests, agricultural fields, and wetlands surrounding breeding ponds have been shown to affect anuran abundance and species richness. The response of individual species, total abundance, and species richness to urbanization reflected differences in their ecological requirements. We quantified the effects of urbanization on frogs in a rapidly urbanizing region, and our results demonstrated that both multi-spatial and temporal variables affect anurans in Shanghai. Our results emphasized the importance of anuran conservation planning in urbanized areas to preserve and/or restore terrestrial habitat and to improve connectivity between ponds and other wetlands.  相似文献   

4.
The Neotropical region is undergoing high levels of urban expansion and harbors the greatest diversity of vascular epiphytes globally. In cities, it could be expected that the density of woody vegetation positively predicts epiphyte communities by providing substrate, resources for pollinators, and buffering microclimatic conditions. However, there is a dearth of knowledge regarding how urbanization intensity affects the diversity of vascular epiphytes. In this study, we assessed the relationship between a woody cover gradient and bromeliad species richness and community composition across a streetscape of the Neotropical city of Xalapa (Mexico). We recorded bromeliads in nine street segments and one peri-urban green space. These sites represent a gradient of woody cover ranging from 10.5% to ∼87% in a 100 m buffer, and 100% in the peri-urban green space. We recorded 824 individuals of 14 species (all from the Tillandsioideae subfamily). The most abundant species was Tillandsia recurvata and the most frequent ones were T. juncea and T. schiedeana. Results show that bromeliad species richness was positively related to the woody cover, as expected. Interestingly, community composition did not associate with the percentage of woody cover. These results suggest that additional factors such as microclimatic conditions and seed availability and/or dispersal may be key modulators on the establishment of bromeliad species. Nevertheless, wooded streets do show potential for harboring diverse bromeliad communities.  相似文献   

5.
Although urban habitats contribute to the conservation of species diversity, urbanization has significantly reduced biodiversity by causing environmental changes such as habitat loss and fragmentation. Therefore, research on urban biodiversity studies has become increasingly important. Historical heritage sites are recognized as important habitats in remnant green spaces in urban areas. We aimed to evaluate the role of historical sites in conserving biodiversity in urban areas. As the land in these historical sites is not modified, they have the potential to conserve biodiversity through continued maintenance activities such as mowing and tree cutting. In Japan, Tamagawa-josui, a waterway that runs from west to east through the Tokyo megacity (35° 40′ N, 139° 25′ E), has been recognized as a civil engineering heritage landmark that preserves water utilization technology from the early modern period (1600s, Edo-era). The present study examined the relationships between plant diversity and green space in a historic site of a megacity (i.e., Tamagawa-josui) and determined the factors that influence plant diversity. Specifically, we examined the relationships between plant species indices (species richness and species compositions) and environmental factors (management, environmental conditions, and landscape factors). The present study analyzed spatial changes in the plant species composition in Tamagawa-josui. We demonstrated that tree canopy openness was positively correlated with plant species richness, and the increased disturbance associated with developing historical sites as urban parks was negatively correlated with native plant species richness. In addition, there was significant species turnover in the plant community from upstream to downstream in Tamagawa-josui, which could largely be explained by spatial factors. We demonstrated that historical sites can provide potential habitats for the conservation of the plant species diversity, which is based on the effectiveness of the management of their vegetation.  相似文献   

6.
Pollination contributes to both human food security and the reproduction of the majority of wild plant species, but pollinators are facing a rapid decline, a major cause of which is habitat conversion and degradation due to human activities. Urbanization is one of the major types of habitat conversion, but its influence on pollination has been surprisingly mixed, ranging from markedly negative to strongly positive effects. One hypothesis proposed to explain these discrepancies is that pollinator responses to urbanization are highly dependent on the non-urban control habitat, with negative effects when the controls are natural or semi-natural areas but positive when they are intensive agricultural areas. It was also proposed that the pollination response along an agricultural-to-urban gradient is non-linear, with maximum pollination observed at an intermediate level of urbanization due to increased environmental heterogeneity. To test these two hypotheses, we selected a group of 38 sites in a peri-urban area near Paris, France, using a semi-stratified sampling strategy that ensured that all three of the urban, agricultural and semi-natural gradients were maximized. We then estimated pollination using two approaches: we evaluated the pollination success of Lotus corniculatus, a strictly entomogamous self-sterile plant species pollinated mainly by bees, and we measured the species richness of entomogamous and non-entomogamous plants, the difference in their response being expected to relate to the pollination service provided by the overall pollinator community. We found that in our study area, pollination success of L. corniculatus responds positively to the agricultural to urban gradient but not to the semi-natural to urban gradient. The diversity of both entomogamous and non-entomogamous plants is highest at sites surrounded by intermediate proportions of urban and agricultural areas. In addition, high proportions of urban areas have a negative effect on the diversity of non-entomogamous but not entomogamous plant species, suggesting that pollinators are able to partially buffer entomogamous plant species against the negative effect of urban development. Our results show the importance of urban areas in pollination conservation plans and demonstrate that the interaction between different anthropogenic land-use is an important factor for understanding pollination.  相似文献   

7.
We consider Miami-Dade County’s Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL) network of preserves as a means to conserve rare plant species in urban and suburban forest fragments. In this rapidly urbanizing landscape, upland forests are at particularly high risk of development. We examined the number of rare plant species present in preserves based on the site area, ecosystem type and management practices using the EEL database maintained by the county and a database of plant species inventories collected by the Institute for Regional Conservation. About 99% of the area of the EEL system is located in southern Miami-Dade. Pine rockland forests are primarily in the outer suburbs of the county where fire can be used most effectively for management. Hardwood hammock forests are distributed throughout the county including within the urban core. All 56 EEL forested sites under study contained at least one rare plant species. Small sites often contained high numbers of rare species per unit area, but presumably at lower population sizes. The type of upland forest was not related to the mean richness of rare or state-listed plant species. Public access was not related to the mean richness of rare plants, but was negatively associated with the richness of state-listed plant species.  相似文献   

8.
Vegetation corridors, such as street trees in urban areas, which connect patchy woodland and mitigate habitat isolation, are expected to enhance the persistence of birds in urban landscapes. However, the effectiveness of urban corridors on birds remains equivocal because vegetation corridor is often managed for human use with little consideration of wildlife. Here we compared the effects of three major corridors of varying vegetation structures (trees with a dense understory, trees with a sparse understory, and grassy areas with sparse trees) on the species richness and abundance of birds in 21 wooded patches in the center of Tokyo, Japan, during wintering and breeding seasons. Using generalized linear models and Akaike’s information criterion, we found that the effectiveness of corridors depended on the tolerance of birds to urbanization. Urban avoider species, having low tolerance to urbanization, demonstrated lower species richness and abundance in patches close to the corridor with a sparsely vegetated understory as compared with patches close to the understory-richer corridors during winter, although such an effect disappeared during the breeding season. The corridors did not have a significant effect on suburban adapter species with a high tolerance to urbanization. Our results suggest that corridors with scarce understory vegetation may limit the persistence of birds avoiding urban areas.  相似文献   

9.
Facing the trend of rapid urbanization, conserving the biodiversity of urban green spaces is a challenge, particularly in a developing region like Latin America. In this sense, it is known that urban sacred sites have significant cultural and conservation significance within cities. However, more needs to be studied about the vegetation they house. Given the scientific gap, the composition, richness and abundance of trees in urban religious sites of Arequipa established since the 16th century were examined, and temporal changes in the composition and distribution of trees between ancient and modern sites were identified. 749 trees of 54 species were recorded in 26 religious’ sites. A higher proportion of exotic species (74%) corresponds in greater quantity to fruit trees (52%). There were no significant differences in tree richness and abundance between ancient and modern sites. However, the ancient sites had higher richness (96.3%) and abundance (71.4%). Likewise, ancient sites present a preference for growing fruit trees in orchards and cloister gardens, unlike modern sites focused on increasing ornamental trees, with a predominance of conifers and palms. Despite the long history of the monuments, the size of the site and the green areas significantly influenced the richness and abundance; similarly, the care of the gardens greatly influenced a site that stored greater diversity and abundance. In this way, it is demonstrated that these culturally significant places house an important tree diversity, with species of nutritional and ornamental value for the self-provisioning of the religious and the beautification of the gardens. In addition, they contribute to environmental sustainability, providing different ecosystem services to cities with rapid population growth.  相似文献   

10.

Context

The history of the landscape directly affects biotic assemblages, resulting in time lags in species response to disturbances. In highly fragmented environments, this phenomenon often causes extinction debts. However, few studies have been carried out in urban settings.

Objectives

To determine if there are time lags in the response of temperate natural grasslands to urbanization. Does it differ for indigenous species and for species indicative of disturbance and between woody and open grasslands? Do these time lags change over time? What are the potential landscape factors driving these changes? What are the corresponding vegetation changes?

Methods

In 1995 and 2012 vegetation sampling was carried out in 43 urban grassland sites. We calculated six urbanization and landscape measures in a 500 m buffer area surrounding each site for 1938, 1961, 1970, 1994, 1999, 2006, and 2010. We used generalized linear models and model selection to determine which time period best predicted the contemporary species richness patterns.

Results

Woody grasslands showed time lags of 20–40 years. Contemporary open grassland communities were, generally, associated with more contemporary landscapes. Altitude and road network density of natural areas were the most frequent predictors of species richness. The importance of the predictors changed between the different models. Species richness, specifically, indigenous herbaceous species, declined from 1995 to 2012.

Conclusions

The history of urbanization affects contemporary urban vegetation assemblages. This indicates potential extinction debts, which have important consequences for biodiversity conservation planning and sustainable future scenarios.
  相似文献   

11.
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   

12.
Understanding the impacts of landscape change on species behaviour is a major challenge in landscape ecology. A focus on the functional traits of species may improve this understanding if species with similar traits (functional guilds) are impacted by landscape change in similar ways, but this idea has not been widely tested on bat communities in urban landscapes. We examined changes in bat species richness and the activity level of species in different functional guilds within 72 residential neighbourhoods across 18 towns and cities spanning over 250,000 square km in south-eastern Australia. Species richness increased close to native vegetation, declined with increasing urbanization, and had a hump-shaped relationship with neighbourhood vegetation cover. Also, the activity level of all bat species combined peaked at mid-range values of neighbourhood vegetation cover. The activity of species in the open-adapted guild was not strongly related to any urban characteristic, but our results concur with previous findings that the activity of most open-adapted species does not appear to be negatively impacted by urbanization. Conversely, clutter-adapted species appear more sensitive to urbanization and their activity level was negatively related to urban intensity and increased closer to native vegetation, consistent with previous studies. The functional-trait approach may improve the capacity to make generalisations across different landscape contexts for clutter-adapted and open-adapted guilds, but is currently hampered for other bat species owing to variation in the behaviour of different species assigned to the same functional guild, and a lack of ecological knowledge regarding the impacts of different types of landscape change on particular species.  相似文献   

13.
Land cover change, predominantly habitat conversion to agricultural use and urbanization, has recently been recognized as the primary cause of biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems. We evaluated the relative effects of urban and agricultural landscapes on anuran species richness and the abundance of six anuran species found at breeding ponds in and around the cities of Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec. We performed six call surveys at 29 permanent focal ponds surrounded by one of three landscape contexts: primarily urban, primarily agricultural, and primarily forested. We also measured three local pond variables to control for the effects of local habitat quality in our analyses. We found that anuran species richness was significantly lower in breeding ponds in urban landscapes compared to forested and agricultural landscapes, which exhibited no significant difference in species richness. The abundances of individual anuran species were also consistently lower in urban landscapes for all species except one, which exhibited no response to landscape type. Three species had their highest abundances in ponds in forested landscapes, whereas two species had their highest abundances in ponds in agricultural landscapes. We conclude that ponds embedded in urban landscapes support lower biodiversity than ponds in agricultural settings. We suggest that landscapes composed of a mosaic of forest and open habitats surrounding wetlands would hold the highest biodiversity of these species.  相似文献   

14.
The effect of urbanization on species distribution has been extensively documented, but a main challenge in urban ecology is to better understand the factors causing different distributions among species in response to urbanization. Hence, this paper aims to compare the effects of urbanization on woodland plant assemblages in two cities and to describe species responses by using several indicators. The study was carried out in the cities of Angers and Rennes (North-Western France) where 11 isolated woodlands were surveyed along an urban–rural gradient in each city. Abundance data of spontaneous species were collected from 220 quadrats. The effect of land cover (within a 500 m buffer around each woodland) on species assemblages was investigated by Canonical Correspondence Analysis. Buildings and pavement areas were the most significant predictors of species composition, and the effect of location in Angers or Rennes appeared on the second axis. More than 60% of the most frequent plant species were indicator of urban or rural location and their preferences were similar in the two cities. These lists of urban and rural indicator species were compared with Ellenberg’s indicator values and two other indicators specific to forest environment. The species which grow preferentially in urban woodlands are species which are already known to be associated with recent forests rather than ancient forests; with hedgerows rather than woodlands. The opposite pattern was observed concerning rural species. Moreover, urban indicator species have higher optima for soil pH and soil nitrogen content than rural indicator species. Different characteristics and history of forest habitat—continuity of the forest land cover, linearity of the habitat, change in adjacent land cover and land use—could select the same species, and the responses of the latter might involve different preferences concerning soil alkalinity and nutrient status.  相似文献   

15.
A central theme in landscape ecology is that of understanding the consequences of landscape heterogeneity for ecological processes. The effects of landscape heterogeneity on parasite communities are poorly understood, although it has been shown that anthropogenic impacts may contribute to outbreaks of both parasites and pathogens. We tested for effects of landcover type, composition, configuration, and urbanisation on avian diversity and avian malaria prevalence in 26 communities of wetland-associated passerines in the Western Cape of South Africa. We predicted that avian malaria prevalence would be influenced by the pattern of farmland and urban areas in the surrounding landscapes and the sizes of the wetlands in which birds were sampled. We quantified landscape pattern using a six-class simplification of the National Landcover data set at 35 × 35 m resolution and five extents of between 1 and 20 km from each wetland. The bird community was sampled using point counts and we collected blood samples from birds at each site. We screened these for malaria using PCR and molecular techniques. Passerine species richness and infection prevalence varied significantly between different landcover types. Host richness and parasite prevalence were highest in viticultural and cropping sites respectively and lowest in urban sites. Wetlands located in indigenous vegetation had intermediate numbers of bird species and intermediate parasite prevalence. Landscape composition and habitat type surrounding wetlands emerged as useful correlates of infection prevalence. Anthropogenic landscape modification appears to have both direct and indirect effects on avian communities and their associated parasite assemblages, with attendant consequences for avian health.  相似文献   

16.
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   

17.
Green spaces within urban areas provide services and benefits to human populations and habitat for a variety of species. Freshwater, in the form of rivers, canals, lakes, reservoirs and ponds, is an important component of urban greenspaces. This paper focuses on ponds; and specifically ponds within urban areas. This work is timely as during 2008 ponds were designated, in the UK, as habitats of national conservation importance. Yet, while farmland ponds have received considerable attention, there has been little work on the ecology and landscape ecology of urban ponds. Ecological data was collected from 37 ponds in the Borough of Halton (northwest England) over a period of 2 years (2005–2006). The median species richness in these ponds was 28 invertebrate species and 10 macrophyte species. A highly significant correlation was observed between pond density and species richness. The relationship between the richness of different taxa varied according to scale; becoming more significant within pond clusters than within a single pond. These findings have significance for those involved in planning and managing urban environments, further strengthening the need for functional ecological connectivity in urban areas. With pressure to increase infill development, and thus raise housing density, a greater understanding of the affect of urban design on pond ecology will be of importance to urban planners and ecologists alike.  相似文献   

18.

Context

Habitat loss and habitat fragmentation negatively affect amphibian populations. Roads impact amphibian species through barrier effects and traffic mortality. The landscape variable ‘accessible habitat’ considers the combined effects of habitat loss and roads on populations.

Objectives

The aim was to test whether accessible habitat was a better predictor of amphibian species richness than separate measures of road effects and habitat loss. I assessed how accessible habitat and local habitat variables determine species richness and community composition.

Methods

Frog and tadpole surveys were conducted at 52 wetlands in a peri-urban area of eastern Australia. Accessible habitat was delineated using a highway. Regressions were used to examine relationships between species richness and eleven landscape and local habitat variables. Redundancy analysis was used to examine relationships between community composition and accessible habitat and local habitat variables.

Results

Best-ranked models of species richness included both landscape and local habitat variables. There were positive relationships between species richness and accessible habitat and distance to the highway, and uncertain relationships with proportion cover of native vegetation and road density. There were negative relationships between species richness and concreted wetlands and wetland electrical conductivity. Four species were positively associated with accessible habitat, whereas all species were negatively associated with wetland type.

Conclusions

Barrier effects caused by the highway and habitat loss have negatively affected the amphibian community. Local habitat variables had strong relationships with species richness and community composition, highlighting the importance of both availability and quality of habitat for amphibian conservation near major roads.
  相似文献   

19.
Natural parks are comprised of preserved forested natural areas that are undergoing natural ecological processes. These areas can offer a refuge for local biodiversity and contribute substantially to ecosystem services in both rural areas with relatively low population densities, as well as high-density urban areas. Forested natural parks located in urban areas should experience more stressful environmental conditions than nearby rural areas, yet we know relatively little about how urbanization impacts tree communities within these important natural habitats. To better understand the impact of urbanization on forests, we investigated the species composition, abundance, and diversity of midstory and canopy trees as well as tree seedlings in urban and rural natural parks in and around Cleveland, Ohio. We found that both urban and rural natural parks have similar tree abundance, but midstory and canopy trees as well as tree seedling communities in the urban natural parks included higher abundances of stress-tolerant species compared to rural parks. In addition, this pattern was driven by changes in native tree species, as we observed low abundance of invasive species. More stress-resistant native species in urban areas include Quercus rubra and Prunus serotina, in contrast to rural natural parks which are dominated by Acer spp. and Fagus grandifolia. Lastly, we show that urban and rural natural parks have similar species diversity within plots, but we found higher variation in community composition among urban natural parks compared to among rural parks. Furthermore, Q. rubra and P. serotina were significantly larger in rural natural parks, indicating that both environmental stress and successional stage could drive compositional differences. Thus, we show that urbanization can have unexpected effects on plant community composition and diversity. Our study refutes the idea that these are degraded habitats, highlights the need to conserve them, and suggests that characterization of local variation in self-assembled urban tree communities will provide the most accurate picture of their management needs and potential ecosystem services.  相似文献   

20.

Context

Urbanization has altered many landscapes around the world and created novel contexts and interactions, such as the rural–urban interface.

Objectives

We sought to address how a forest patch’s location in the rural–urban interface influences which avian species choose to occur within the patch. We predicted a negative relationship between forest bird richness and urbanization surrounding the patch, but that it would be ameliorated by the area of tree cover in the patch and matrix, and that total tree-cover area would be more influential on forest bird species richness than area of tree cover in the focal patch alone.

Methods

We conducted bird surveys in 44 forest patches over 2 years in Southeast Michigan and evaluated bird presence and richness relative to patch and matrix tree cover and development density.

Results

We observed 43 species, comprised of 21 Neotropical migrants, 19 residents, and three short-distance migrants. Focal-patch tree-cover area and the matrix tree-cover area were the predominant contributors to a site’s overall forest-bird species richness at the rural–urban interface, but the addition of percent of over-story vegetation and percentage of deciduous tree cover influenced the ability of the patches to support forest species, especially Neotropical migrants. Development intensity in the matrix was unrelated to species richness and only had an effect in four species models.

Conclusions

Although small forest patches remain an important conservation strategy in developed environments, the influence of matrix tree cover suggests that landscape design decisions in surrounding matrix can contribute conservation value at the rural–urban interface.
  相似文献   

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