Diversity: Quantification and ecological evaluation in freshwater marshes |
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| Authors: | HJ Harris Mark S Milligan Gary A Fewless |
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| Institution: | University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, Green Bay, WI 54302, USA |
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| Abstract: | The primary objective of this study was to test the usefulness of two indices—edge diversity and cover type diversity—in assessing bird species diversity for breeding avian communities in freshwater coastal marshes. Bird species diversity was used in this study as an indicator of ecological quality. Permanent transects in three marshes on the bay of Green Bay, Lake Michigan, provided the basis for vegetation assessments and breeding bird censuses. Four years of field data were subjected to regression analysis. The best equation was found to be a multiple regression of bird species diversity on cover type diversity and edge diversity, showing a significant linear relationship with cover type diversity and a significant curvilinear relationship with edge diversity. Cover type diversity and edge diversity can be readily assessed from aerial imagery. The results are most applicable to ecological evaluation where objectives stress species diversity rather than single-species management. |
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