Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Assessing the impact of local habitat variables and landscape context on riparian birds in agricultural, urbanized, and native landscapes

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biodiversity and Conservation Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Large tracts of natural habitat are being replaced by agriculture and urban sprawl in Mediterranean regions worldwide. We have limited knowledge about the effects of human activities on native species in these landscapes and which, if any, management practices might enhance the conservation of native biodiversity within them. Through a citizen volunteer bird-monitoring project, we compared bird abundance and species richness in northern Californian riparian zones surrounded by vineyards, urban areas, and natural areas. We assessed both local and landscape-level variables that may enhance native bird diversity in each land use type. We also demonstrate a new statistical approach, generalized estimating equations, to analyze highly variable data, such as that collected by volunteers. Avian abundance was highly correlated with both landscape context and local habitat variables, while avian richness was correlated with local habitat variables, specifically shrub richness, and percent of tree cover. In particular, shrub species richness has a strong positive correlation with riparian-preferring bird species. This suggests that active local management of riparian zones in human-dominated landscapes can increase our ability to retain native bird species in these areas.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • As S (1999) Invasion of matrix species in small habitat patches. Conservation Ecology [online] 3:1 www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol3/iss1/

  • Bennett AF (1999) Linkages in the landscape: the role of corridors and connectivity in wildlife conservation. IUCN—The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley JM, Catterall CP, Smith GC (2000) Effects of fragmentation of araucarian vine forest on small mammal communities. Conserv Biol 14:1075–1087

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bolger DT, Scott TA, Rotenberry JT (1997) Breeding bird abundance in an urbanizing landscape in coastal southern California. Conserv Biol 11:406–421

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carothers SW, Johnson RR (1975) Water management practices and their effects on nongame birds in range habitats. In: Smith DR (ed) Proceedings of the symposium on management of forest and range habitats for nongame birds. US Forest Service General Technical Report WO-1, pp 210–222

  • Chao EC (2003) S-plus correlated data library. Insightful Corporation, Seattle

    Google Scholar 

  • Clergeau P, Croci S, Jokimäki J, Kaisanlahti-Jokimäki ML, Dinetti M (2006) Avifauna homogenization by urbanization: analysis at different European latitudes. Biol Conserv 127:336–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crome F, Isaacs J, Moore L (1994) The utility to birds and mammals of remnant riparian vegetation and associated windbreaks in the tropical Queensland uplands. Pacific Conserv Biol 1:328–343

    Google Scholar 

  • Crump JR (2003) Finding a place in the country: exurban and suburban development in Sonoma County, CA. Environ Behav 35:187–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danielsen F, Burgess ND, Balmford A (2005) Monitoring matters: examining the potential of locally-based approaches. Biodivers Conserv 14(11):2507–2542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dijak WD, Thompson FR (2000) Landscape and edge effects on the distribution of mammalian predators in Missouri. J Wildl Manage 64:209–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forman RTT (1995) Land mosaics. The ecology of landscapes and regions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Gascon C, Lovejoy TE, Bierregaard RO Jr., Malcolm JR, Stouffer PC, Vasconcelos HL, Laurance WF, Zimmerman B, Tocher M, Borges S (1999) Matrix habitat and species richness in tropical forest remnants. Biol Conserv 91:223–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen AJ, Knight RL, Marzluff JM, Powell S, Brown K, Gude PH, Jones A (2005) Effects of exurban development on biodiversity: Patterns, mechanisms, and research needs. Ecol Appl 15(6):1893–1905

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanski I, Simberloff D (1997) The metapopulation approach, its history, conceptual domain, and application to conservation. In: Hanski IA, Gilpin ME (eds) Metapopulation biology: ecology, genetics, and evolution. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 6–26

  • Hardin JW, Hilbe JM (2003) Generalized estimating equations. Chapman and Hall, CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Harris LD, Hoctor T, Maehr D, Sanderson J (1996) The role of networks and corridors in enhancing the value and protection of parks and equivalent areas. In: Wright RG (ed) National parks and protected areas: their role in environmental protection. Blackwell Scientific, Cambridge, pp 173–197

  • Heath SK, Ballard G (2003) Patterns of breeding songbird diversity and occurrence in riparian habitats of the eastern Sierra Nevada. In: Faber PM (ed). California Riparian Systems: processes and floodplain management, ecology and restoration. Riparian habitat and floodplains conference proceedings, Riparian Habitat Joint Venture, Sacramento, pp 21–34

  • Heaton E, Merenlender AM (2000) Modeling vineyard expansion, potential habitat fragmentation. Calif Agric 54:12–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilty JA, Brook C, Heaton E, Merenlender AM (2006a) Forecasting the effect of land-use change on native and non-native mammalian predator distributions. Biodivers Conserv 15:2853–2871

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hilty JA, Lidicker WZ Jr., Merenlender AM (2006b) Corridor ecology: the science and practice of linking landscapes for biodiversity conservation. Island press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilty JA, Merenlender AM (2004) Use of riparian corridors and vineyards by mammalian predators in Northern California. Conserv Biol 18:126–135

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodges MF, Krementz DG (1996) Neotropical migratory breeding bird communities in riparian forests of different widths along the Altamaha River, Georgia. Wilson Bull 108:496–506

    Google Scholar 

  • Knopf FL, Sedgwick JA (1992) An experimental study of nest-site selection by yellow warblers. Condor 94:734–742

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kucera TE, Barrett RH (1995) California wildlife faces uncertain future. Calif Agric 49:23–27

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lepczyk CA (2005) Integrating published data and citizen science to describe bird diversity across a landscape. J Appl Ecol 42(4):672–677

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lock PA, Naiman RJ (1998) Effects of stream size on bird community structure in coastal temperate forests of the Pacific Northwest, USA. J Biogeogr 25:773–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manley P, Davidson C (1993) A risk analysis of Neotropical migrant birds in California, U.S. Forest Service report, Region 5, San Francisco

  • Margules CR, Pressey RL (2000) Systematic conservation planning. Nature 405:243–253

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Martin TG, McIntyr S, Catterall CP, Possingham HP (2006) Is landscape context important for riparian conservation? Birds in grassy woodland. Biol Conserv 127:201–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McIntyre S, Hobbs R (1999) A framework for conceptualizing human effects on landscapes and its relevance to management and research models. Conserv Biol 13:1282–1292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2006) Urbanization as a major cause of biotic homogenization. Biol Conserv 127:247–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merenlender AM (2000) Modeling vineyard expansion provides information on agriculture and the environment. Calif Agric 54:7–12

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merenlender A, Kremen C, Rakotondratsima M, Weiss A (1998) Monitoring impacts of natural resource extraction on lemurs of the Masoala Peninsula, Madagascar. Conservation Ecology [online], 12: www.consecol.org/vol2/iss2/art5

  • Miller JR, Wiens JA, Hobbs NT, Theobald DM (2003) Effects of human settlement on bird communities in lowland riparian areas of Colorado USA. Ecol Appl 13(4):1041–1059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Noss RF (1987) Corridors in real landscapes: a reply to Simberloff and Cox. Conserv Biol 1:159–164

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pan W (2001) Akaike’s information criterion in generalized estimating equations. Biometrics 57:120–125

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pendall R (2003) Sprawl without growth: The upstate paradox. The Brookings Institution. Center on urban and metropolitan policy survey series. 11 p

  • Perault DR, Lomolino MV (2000) Corridors and mammal community structure across a fragmented, old-growth forest landscape. Ecol Monogr 70:401–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PRBO (2002) Sonoma Creek watershed landbird inventory, a report to the EPA. PRBO Contribution Number 1096

  • Ralph CJ, Geupel GR, Pyle P, Martin TE, DeSante DF (1993) Handbook of field methods for monitoring landbirds. PSW-GTR-144. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. Albany

    Google Scholar 

  • Ralph CJ, Sauer JR, Droege S (1995) Managing and monitoring bird populations using point counts: standards and applications. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PSW-GTW-149. USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Research Station. Albany

  • RHJV (Riparian Habitat Joint Venture) (2000) Version 1.0. The Riparian Bird Conservation Plan: A strategy for reversing the decline of riparian associated birds in California. California Partners in Flight. www.prbo.org/CPIF/Riparian.html

  • Ricketts TH, Daily GC, Ehrlich PR, Fay JP (2001) Countryside biogeography of moths in a fragmented landscape: species richness in native and agricultural habitats. Conserv Biol 15:378–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders Todd A (1998) Breeding bird community composition in relation to riparian vegetation structure in the western United States. J Wildl Manage 62:461–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders DA, de Rebeira CP (1991) Values of corridors to avian populations in a fragmented landscape. In: Saunders DA, Hobbs RJ (eds). Nature conservation 2: the role of corridors. Surrey Beatty & Sons Pty Limited, Chipping Norton, New South Wales, Australia, pp 221–240

    Google Scholar 

  • Shutler D, Mullie A, Clark RG (2000) Bird communities of prairie uplands and wetlands in relation to farming practices in Saskatchewan. Conserv Biol 14:1441–1451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sieving KE, Wilson MF, DeSanto TL (2000) Defining corridor functions for endemic birds in fragmented south-temperate rainforest. Conserv Biol 14:1120–1132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spackman SC, Hughes JW (1995) Assessment of minimum stream corridor width for biological conservation: species richness and distribution along mid-order streams in Vermont, USA. Biol Conserv 71:325–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stokes ME, Davies CS, Kock GG (2000) Categorical Data Analysis Using the SAS System, 2nd edn. SAS Institute, Cary

    Google Scholar 

  • Strong TR, Bock CE (1990) Bird species distribution patterns in riparian habitats in southeastern Arizona. Condor 92:866–855

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trzcinski MK, Fahrig L, Merriam G (1999) Independent effects of forest cover and fragmentation on the distribution of forest breeding birds. Ecol Appl 9:586–593

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Twisk JWR (2003) Applied longitudinal data analysis for epidemiology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson MF, Morrison JL, Sieving KE, DeSanto TL, Santisteban L, Diaz I (2001) Patterns of predation risk and survival of bird nests in a Chilean agricultural landscape. Conserv Biol 15:447–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitacker DM, Montevecchi WA (1999) Breeding bird assemblages inhabiting riparian buffer strips in Newfoundland, Canada. J Wildl Manage 63(1):167–179

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by the EPA, grant #CD- 98984501-0. GB was supported by a grant from the California Bay Delta Authority (contract # ERP 02–P17). We would like to thank the SSCRCD, SEC, PRBO, and the University of California, Berkeley for logistical support. We would also like to thank the Sonoma Valley Vintners Association for its cooperation with access to private lands as well as all of the local volunteers that donated their time to conduct the censuses. We also thank Amy Upgren, Sarah Reed, and Emily Heaton for their assistance. PRBO Contribution #1096.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Carolina, 217 Miller Hall, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599-3275, USA

    David Luther & Jack Weiss

  2. Wildlife Conservation Society, 2023 Stadium Drive; Suite 1A, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA

    Jodi Hilty

  3. Sonoma Ecology Center, P.O. Box 1486, Eldridge, CA, 95431, USA

    Caitlin Cornwall

  4. PRBO Conservation Science, Palomarin Field Station, 999 Mesa Road, P.O. Box 1157, Bolinas, CA, 94924, USA

    Missy Wipf & Grant Ballard

Authors
  1. David Luther
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jodi Hilty
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jack Weiss
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Caitlin Cornwall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Missy Wipf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Grant Ballard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Luther.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Luther, D., Hilty, J., Weiss, J. et al. Assessing the impact of local habitat variables and landscape context on riparian birds in agricultural, urbanized, and native landscapes. Biodivers Conserv 17, 1923–1935 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9332-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9332-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation