Skip to main content

Urban landscape matrix affects avian diversity in remnant vegetation fragments: Evidence from the Phoenix metropolitan region, USA

Urban Ecosystems volume 15, pages 939–959 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

Biodiversity conservation in urban areas has become increasingly important as cities have expanded to cover larger proportions of landscapes across the world. The careful planning of habitat reserves within urbanized areas has the potential to make significant contributions to regional biodiversity. We surveyed the passerine community in 15 habitat reserves within the Phoenix metropolitan region and explored the relationships between community composition and urban land uses surrounding the reserves. Diversity of different guilds was affected in substantially different ways by reserve characteristics and surrounding urban land use. Guilds responded to land use at all three scales included in the study – 200 m, 1000 m and 2500 m. The responses of four guilds, synanthropic, non-synanthropic, insectivore and feeding generalist, were well predicted by the factors considered here. Reserve characteristics (area, shape, isolation), particularly area, had effects on all four of these guilds with non-synanthropic and insectivore species responding positively to area, while synanthropic and feeding generalist species responded negatively. Land use type surrounding the reserves had significant effects on all of these guilds, except for feeding generalists. High density, high diurnal activity land uses decreased diversity, while medium density, low diurnal activity uses increased the diversity of some guilds, particularly insectivores, probably by providing supplemental habitat. This study provides new evidence from an arid urban landscape that not only reserve characteristics, but also surrounding urban land use should be considered during conservation planning, especially if non-synanthropic or insectivore species are among the targeted species.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

£ 29.95

Price includes VAT (United Kingdom)

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • Bentley JM, Catterall (1997) The use of bushland, corridors, and linear remnants by birds in Southeastern Queensland, Australia. Conserv Biol 11:1173–1189

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biamonte E, Sandoval L, Chacon E, Barrantes G (2010) Effect of urbanization on the avifauna in a tropical metropolitan area. Landscape Ecology. In press

  • Blair RB (2001) Creating a homogeneous avifauna. In: Marzluff JM, Bowman R, Donnelly R (eds) Avian ecology and conservation in an urbanizing world. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, pp 459–486

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bozdogan H (1987) Model selection and Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC): The general theory and its analytical extensions. Phsychometrika 52:345–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown DE (1994) Biotic communities: Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (1998) Model Selection and Multimodel Inference: A Practical Information-Theoretic Approach. Springer, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Buyantuyev A, Wu J (2009) Urbanization alters spatiotemporal patterns of ecosystem primary productivity: A case study of the Phoenix metropolitan region, USA. J Arid Environ 73:512–520

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buyantuyev A, Wu J (2010) Urban heat islands and landscape heterogeneity: linking spatiotemporal variations in surface temperatures to land-cover and socioeconomic patterns. Landsc Ecol 25:17–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catterall CP, Kingston MB, Park K, Sewell S (1998) Deforestation, urbanisation and seasonality: Interacting effects on a regional bird assemblage. Biol Conserv 84:65–81

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chace JF, Walsh JJ (2004) Urban effects on native avifauna: A review. Landscape and Urban Planning 74:46–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapa-Vargas L, Robinson SK (2006) Nesting success of a songbird in a complex floodplain forest landscape in Illinois, USA: Local fragmentation vs. vegetation structure. Landsc Ecol 21:525–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clergeau P, Croci S, Jokimaki J, Kaisanlahti-Jokimaki M-L, Dinetti M (2006) Avifauna homogenisation by urbanisation: Analysis at different European latitudes. Biol Conserv 127:336–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colwell R.K. 2005. EstimateS: Statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. Version 7.5. User’s Guide and application published at: http://purl.oclc.org/estimates

  • Cook WM, Faeth SH (2006) Irrigation and land use drive ground arthropod community patterns in an urban desert. Environmental Entomology 35:1532–1540

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Corman T, Wise-Gervais C (eds) (2005) Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque

    Google Scholar 

  • Donnelly R, Marzluff JM (2004) Importance of reserve size and landscape context to urban bird conservation. Conserv Biol 18:733–745

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donnelly R, Marzluff JM (2006) Relative importance of habitat quantity, structure, and spatial pattern to birds in urbanizing environments. Urban Ecosystems 9:99–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunford W, Freemark K (2005) Matrix matters: Effects of surrounding land uses on forest birds near Ottawa, Canada. Landsc Ecol 20:497–511

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ESRI 1999–2006. ArcGIS, Release 9.2. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California, USA.

  • Estades CF, Temple SA (1999) Deciduous-forest bird communities in a fragmented landscape dominated by exotic pine plantations. Ecol Appl 9:573–585

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Juricic E (2000) Bird community composition patterns in urban parks of Madrid: The role of age, size and isolation. Ecol Res 15:373–383

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez-Juricic E (2001) Avian spatial segregation at edges and interiors of urban parks in Madrid, Spain. Biodivers Conserv 10:1303–1316

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fletcher RJ Jr, Hutto RL (2008) Partitioning the multi-scale effects of human activity on the occurrence of riparian forest birds. Landsc Ecol 23:727–739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garden J, McAlpine C, Peterson A, Jones D, Possingham H (2006) Review of the ecology fo Australian urban fauna: A focus on spatially explicit processes. Austral Ecology 31:126–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Germaine SS, Rosenstock SS, Schweinsburg RE, Richardson WS (1998) Relationships among breeding birds, habitat, and residential development in Greater Tucson, Arizona. Ecol Appl 8:680–691

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green DM, Baker MG (2003) Urbanization impacts on habitat and bird communities in a Sonoran desert ecosystem. Landsc Urban Plan 36:225–239

    Google Scholar 

  • Gotelli NJ, Colwell RK (2001) Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol Lett 4:379–391

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm NB, Faeth SH, Golubiewski NE, Redman CL, Wu J, Bai X, Briggs JM (2008) Global change and the ecology of cities. Science 319:756–760

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Haila Y, Hanski IK, Raivio S (1993) Turnover of breeding birds in small forest fragments: The “Sampling” colonization hypothesis corroborated. Ecology 74:714–725

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamer TL, Flather CH, Noon BR (2006) Factors associated with grassland bird species richness: The relative roles of grassland area, landscape structure, and prey. Landsc Ecol 21:569–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hodgson P, French K, Major RE (2007) Avian movement across abrupt ecological edges: Differential responses to housing density in an urban matrix. Landscape and Urban Planning 79:266–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hostetler M, Holling CS (2000) Detecting the Scales at which birds respond to structure in urban landscapes. Urban Ecosystems 4:25–54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hostetler M, Knowles-Yanez K (2003) Land use, scale, and bird distributions in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Landscape and Urban Planning 62:55–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenerette GD, Wu JG (2001) Analysis and simulation of land-use change in the central Arizona-Phoenix region, USA. Landsc Ecol 16:611–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnston RF (2001) Synanthropic Birds of North America. In: Marzluff JM, Bowman R, Donnelly R (eds) Avian Ecology and Conservation in an Urbanizing World. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, pp 49–67

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Katti M. 2000. Bird Point Count, General Survey Protocol. Central Arizona Phoenix—Long Term Ecological Research Protocols, Phoenix, AZ, USA

  • Kristan WB III, Lynam AJ, Price MV, Rotenberry JT (2003) Alternative causes of edge-abundance relationships in birds and small mammals of California coastal sage scrub. Ecography 26:29–44

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luck M, Wu J (2002) A gradient analysis of urban landscape: A case study from the Phoenix metropolitan region, Arizona, USA. Landsc Ecol 17:327–339

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur RH, Wilson EO (1967) The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ

    Google Scholar 

  • Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG). 2000. Maricopa County land use map

  • Marzluff JM (2001) Worldwide urbanization and its effects on birds. In: Marzluff JM, Bowman R, Donnelly R (eds) Avian Ecology and Conservation in and Urbanizing World. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA, pp 19–48

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Marzluff JM (2005) Island biogeography for an urbanizing world: how extinction and colonization may determine biological diversity in human-dominated landscapes. Urban Ecosystems 8:157–177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGarigal K, McComb WC (1995) Relationships between landscape structure and breeding birds in the Oregon Coast Range. Ecol Monogr 65:235–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melles S, Glenn S, Martin K (2003) Urban bird diversity and landscape complexity: Species-environment associations along a multiscale habitat gradient. Conservation Ecology 7: online

  • Mills GS, Dunning JB Jr, Bates JM (1989) Effects of urbanization on breeding bird community structure in southwestern desert habitats. Condor 91:416–428

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell MS, Rutzmoser SH, Wigley TB, Loehle C, Gerwin JA, Keyser PD, Lancia RA, Perry R, Reynolds CJ, Thill RE, Weih R, White D, Wood PB (2006) Relationships between avian richness and landscape structure at multiple scales using multiple landscapes. For Ecol Manag 221:155–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moritz C, Hutchins J, Knowles-Yanez K, Bucchin M, McCartney PH, Redman CL (1998) Landuse Classification for 1912, 1934, 1955, 1975, and 1995 based available data including U.S. Soil Conservation Service air photos, USGS topographic maps, Glendale Historical Society, Salt River Project historical agricultural data, and Arizona Department of Water Resoures historical agricutlural data. CAP-LTER Dataset

  • Mortberg UM (2001) Resident bird species in urban forest remnants; landscape and habitat perspectives. Landsc Ecol 16:193–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons H, French K, Major RE (2003) The influence of remnant bushland on the composition of suburban bird assemblages in Australia. Landscape and Urban Planning 66:43–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parsons H, Major RE, French K (2006) Species interaction and habitat associations of birds inhabiting urban areas of Sydney Australia. Austral Ecology 31:217–227

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt A, Lill A (2006) Composition and conservation value of bird assemblages of urban ‘habitat islands’: Do pedestrian traffic and landscape variables exert an influence? Urban Ecosystems 9:83–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Recher HF, Seventy DL (1991) Long term Changes in the Relative Abundances of Birds in Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia. Conserv Biol 5:90–97

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Renjifo LM (2001) Effect of natural and anthropogenic landscape matrices on the abundance of subandean bird species. Ecol Appl 11:14–31

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodewald AD, Vitz AC (2005) Edge- and Area-Sensitivity of Shrubland Birds. J Wildl Manag 69:681–688

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders H (1968) Marine benthic diversity: a comparative study. Am Nat 102:243–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saunders DA, Hobbs RJ, Margules CR (1991) Biological Consequences of Ecosystem Fragmentation: A Review. Conserv Biol 5:18–32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stefanov W (1998) Land cover classification for the CAP LTER study region using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data for 1985, 1990, 1993 and 1998. CAP-LTER Dataset

  • Stiles A (2006) Structure and distribution of Sonoran desert vegetation in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Master’s Thesis, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

  • Stratford JA, Robinson WD (2005) Distribution of neotropical migratory bird species across an urbanizing landscape. Urban Ecosystems 8:59–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tait CJ, Daniels CB, Hill RS (2005) Changes in species assemblages within the Adelaide metropolitan area, Australia, 1836–2002. Ecol Appl 15:346–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bureau United States Census (2001) Ranking Tables for Metropolitan Areas: 1990 and 2000. Retrieved on November 22:2011

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren TL, Betts MG, Diamond AW, Forbes GJ (2005) The influence of local habitat and landscape composition on cavity-nesting birds in a forested mosaic. For Ecol Manag 214:331–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wethered R, Lawes MJ (2005) Nestedness of bird assemblages in fragmented Aformontane forest: the effect of plantation forestry in the matrix. Biol Conserv 123:125–137

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiens JA (1995) Habitat fragmentation: island vs. landscape perspectives on bird conservation. pp. S97-S104

  • Wu J (2009) Ecological dynamics in fragmented landscapes. In: Levin SA (ed) The princeton guide to ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, pp 438–444

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874601, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4601, USA

    Jennifer Litteral

  2. School of Life Sciences & School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 874601, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4601, USA

    Jianguo Wu

Authors
  1. Jennifer Litteral
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jianguo Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer Litteral.

Appendix A

Appendix A

Table 5

Table 5 The diversity of guilds defined by feeding habits and synanthropy were especially well predicted by reserve characteristics and land use types, as indicated by adjusted r2 (Adj. r2) values above 0.65. According to the information theorectic approach, the Akaike weight (wi), represents the possibility that of all possible models the model in question is the true model. When adding the wi of the best models (as determined by lowest AIC value), we can be 95% confident that the true model is within the set when the sum of all wi values within the set are greater than or equal to 0.95(Bozdogan 1987). The models above are the 95% confidence sets of models for the diversity of synanthropic, non-synanthropic, feeding generalist and insectivore guilds at each scale
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Litteral, J., Wu, J. Urban landscape matrix affects avian diversity in remnant vegetation fragments: Evidence from the Phoenix metropolitan region, USA. Urban Ecosyst 15, 939–959 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0245-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0245-4

Keywords

  • Urban ecology
  • Habitat fragmentation
  • Avian
  • Nesting guilds
  • Feeding guilds
  • Urban land use
  • Habitat reserve
  • Synanthropy