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Long-term bird colonization and turnover in restored woodlands

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Abstract

The long-term effectiveness of restored areas for biodiversity is poorly known for the majority of restored ecosystems worldwide. We quantified temporal changes in bird occurrence in restoration plantings of different ages and geometries, and compared observed patterns with a reference dataset from woodland remnants on the same farms as our plantings. Over time, bird species richness remained unchanged in spring but exhibited modest increases in winter. We found that wider plantings supported significantly greater bird species richness in spring and winter than narrow plantings. There was no evidence of a significant interaction between planting width and time. We recorded major temporal changes in the occurrence of a range of individual species that indicated a clear turnover of species as plantings matured. Our results further revealed marked differences in individual species occurrence between plantings and woodland remnants. Life-history attributes associated with temporal changes in the bird assemblage were most apparent in winter survey data, and included diet, foraging and nesting patterns, movement behaviour (e.g. migratory vs. dispersive), and body size. Differences in bird assemblages between plantings of different ages suggest that it is important that farms support a range of age classes of planted woodland, if the aim is to maximize the number of native bird species in restored areas. Our data also suggest that changes in the bird species occupying plantings of different ages can be anticipated in a broadly predictable way based on planting geometry (especially width) and key life-history attributes, particularly movement patterns and habitat and diet specialisation.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported through grants from the Australian Research Council, Murray Local Land Services and Riverina Local Land Services. Field assistance was provided by D. Blair, L. McBurney, C. MacGregor, D. Florance and G. Kay. C. Shepherd assisted with manuscript preparation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    David B. Lindenmayer, P. W. Lane, P. S. Barton, Mason Crane, Karen Ikin, Damian Michael & Sachiko Okada

  2. ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    David B. Lindenmayer & Karen Ikin

  3. National Environmental Science Program Threatened Species Recovery Hub, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    David B. Lindenmayer, Karen Ikin & Damian Michael

Authors
  1. David B. Lindenmayer
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  2. P. W. Lane
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  3. P. S. Barton
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  4. Mason Crane
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  5. Karen Ikin
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  6. Damian Michael
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  7. Sachiko Okada
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Correspondence to David B. Lindenmayer.

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Communicated by David Hawksworth.

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Lindenmayer, D.B., Lane, P.W., Barton, P.S. et al. Long-term bird colonization and turnover in restored woodlands. Biodivers Conserv 25, 1587–1603 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1140-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1140-8

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