Bird species distributions across woodland canopy structure gradients
- 1 June 2009
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Community Ecology
- Vol. 10 (1), 99-110
- https://doi.org/10.1556/comec.10.2009.1.12
Abstract
The tree canopy characteristics of two broadleaved woods in southern England were quantified in terms of two independent measures of structure, canopy height (calculated using heights ≥ 1 m) and percentage canopy cover (derived using heights < 1 m), using airborne Light Detection and Ranging. The woods differed strikingly in structure due to their management systems; one was predominantly mature oak and the other coppice, comprising a patchwork of growth stages. Fine-scale relationships between breeding bird species distributions, determined by mapping censuses, and canopy height and canopy cover were assessed. Despite the differences in structure, species showed great consistency between the woods in their rank positions across gradients of canopy height (rank correlation between woods, r = 0.77, p < 0.001) and canopy cover (r = 0.61, p = 0.003). In both woods, and especially the mature oak (R2 > 0.90, p < 0.001), there was a positive correlation across bird species between the mean values of canopy height and canopy cover associated with the mapped locations of each species. We suggest that canopy height acts as an effective surrogate of woodland structure and can be applied as a predictor of bird community composition and distribution, at least in lowland British conditions. Species associated with young growth had narrower niche breadths, as measured by differences in canopy height and canopy cover between the two woods, than did species associated with taller canopies. Remote sensing of canopy height potentially offers a simple, effective way of assessing habitat availability for many species, at both woodland and landscape scales. This may be especially relevant for species dependent on highly transient vegetation structures associated with the early pre-canopy closure stages of forest growthKeywords
This publication has 48 references indexed in Scilit:
- Modelling relationships between birds and vegetation structure using airborne LiDAR data: a review with case studies from agricultural and woodland environmentsIbis, 2005
- Responses of woodland birds to increasing numbers of deer: a review of evidence and mechanismsForestry: An International Journal of Forest Research, 2001
- Bird Communities and Habitat as Ecological Indicators of Forest Condition in Regional MonitoringConservation Biology, 2000
- INFLUENCE OF TREEFALL GAPS ON DISTRIBUTIONS OF BREEDING BIRDS WITHIN INTERIOR OLD-GROWTH STANDS IN BIAŁOWIEŻA FOREST, POLANDOrnithological Applications, 2000
- Airborne laser scanning—present status and future expectationsISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 1999
- THE EFFECT OF VEGETATION MANAGEMENT ON BREEDING BIRD COMMUNITIES IN BRITISH COLUMBIAEcological Applications, 1998
- Effects of forest management and grazing on breeding bird communities in plantations of broadleaved and coniferous trees in western EnglandBiological Conservation, 1998
- Forest Bird Response to Regeneration Practices in Central Hardwood ForestsThe Journal of Wildlife Management, 1997
- Effects of Silvicultural Modifications of Temperate Rainforest on Breeding and Wintering Bird Communities, Prince of Wales Island, Southeast AlaskaOrnithological Applications, 1996
- Distribution of breeding songbirds in Bradfield Woods, Suffolk, in relation to vegetation and coppice managementBird Study, 1992