Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T12:59:56.542Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Edge effects in the avifaunal community of riparian rain-forest tracts in Tropical North Queensland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2016

Montague H. C. Neate-Clegg ,
Emily C. Morshuis  and
Cristina Banks-Leite
Montague H. C. Neate-Clegg*
Affiliation:
Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
Emily C. Morshuis
Affiliation:
Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
Cristina Banks-Leite
Affiliation:
Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot SL5 7PY, UK
*
1Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Most evidence suggests anthropogenic edges negatively affect rain-forest bird communities but little has been done to test this in Australasia. In this study, avifaunal detection frequency, species richness and community composition were compared between the edge and interior and between flat and more complex-shaped edges of riparian rain-forest tracts in Tropical North Queensland. The detection frequency and richness of guilds based on diet, foraging strata and habitat specialism were also compared. This study detected 15.1% more birds at the rain-forest edge compared with the interior but no difference in species richness. Edge shape had no effect on detection frequency or richness. Many guilds (subcanopy, closed forest, frugivorous and insectivorous species) experienced increased detection frequency at the edge relative to the interior, but for some guilds this response was reduced (habitat generalists) or reversed (understorey and mixed-flock species) along complex edges. Overall community composition was affected by edge distance but not by edge shape. Edge habitat was shorter and had more open canopy than the interior, supporting habitat-based explanations for the observed avifaunal edge effects. These results suggest generally positive edge effects in Australian rain-forest bird communities, possibly reflecting local resource distributions or a disturbance-tolerant species pool.

Keywords

Australian birdsavian guildcommunity compositiondisturbancehabitat losspoint countspecies richness
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , July 2016 , pp. 280 - 289
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

BANKS-LEITE, C., EWERS, R. M. & METZGER, J. P. 2010. Edge effects as the principal cause of area effects on birds in fragmented secondary forest. Oikos 119:918–926.Google Scholar
BANKS-LEITE, C., EWERS, R. M. & METZGER, J. P. 2012. Unraveling the drivers of community dissimilarity and species extinction in fragmented landscapes. Ecology 93:2560–2569.Google Scholar
BANKS-LEITE, C., PARDINI, R., BOSCOLO, D., CASSANO, C. R., PUETTKER, T., BARROS, C. S. & BARLOW, J. 2014. Assessing the utility of statistical adjustments for imperfect detection in tropical conservation science. Journal of Applied Ecology 51:849–859.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
BATES, D., MAECHLER, M., BOLKER, B. M. & WALKER, S. C. 2014. Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4. Journal of Statistical Software 67:1–48.Google Scholar
CANADAY, C. 1996. Loss of insectivorous birds along a gradient of human impact in Amazonia. Biological Conservation 77:63–77.Google Scholar
CANADAY, C. & RIVADENEYRA, J. 2001. Initial effects of a petroleum operation on Amazonian birds: terrestrial insectivores retreat. Biodiversity and Conservation 10:567–595.Google Scholar
DEL HOYO, J., ELLIOTT, A., SARGATAL, J., CHRISTIE, D. A. & DE JUANA, E. (eds.). 2015. Handbook of the birds of the world. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.Google Scholar
DEVICTOR, V., JULLIARD, R. & JIGUET, F. 2008. Distribution of specialist and generalist species along spatial gradients of habitat disturbance and fragmentation. Oikos 117:507–514.Google Scholar
DIDHAM, R. K. 1995. The influence of edge effects and forest fragmentation on leaf-litter invertebrates in Central Amazonia. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America 76:69.Google Scholar
DIXON, P. 2003. VEGAN, a package of R functions for community ecology. Journal of Vegetation Science 14:927–930.Google Scholar
EWERS, R. M. & BANKS-LEITE, C. 2013. Fragmentation impairs the microclimate buffering effect of tropical forests. PLoS ONE 8:e58093.Google Scholar
GILL, F. & DONSKER, D. (Eds.) 2015. IOC world bird list (v 6.1). www.worldbirdnames.org.Google Scholar
HARPER, K. A., MASCARUA-LOPEZ, L., MACDONALD, S. E. & DRAPEAU, P. 2007. Interaction of edge influence from multiple edges: examples from narrow corridors. Plant Ecology 192:71–84.Google Scholar
HAUSMANN, F., CATTERALL, C. P. & PIPER, S. D. 2005. Effects of edge habitat and nest characteristics on depredation of artificial nests in fragmented Australian tropical rainforest. Biodiversity and Conservation 14:2331–2345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
JOHNSON, D. D. P. & MIGHELL, J. S. 1999. Dry-season bird diversity in tropical rainforest and surrounding habitats in north-east Australia. Emu 99:108–120.Google Scholar
KAHANA, L. W., MALAN, G. & SYLVINA, T. J. 2013. Forest bird diversity and edge effects on three glade types at Mount Meru Game Reserve, Tanzania. International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation 5:715–728.Google Scholar
KARR, J. R. & FREEMARK, K. E. 1983. Habitat selection and environmental gradients: dynamics in the "stable" tropics. Ecology 64:1481–1494.Google Scholar
LAURANCE, S. G. W. 2004. Responses of understory rain forest birds to road edges in Central Amazonia. Ecological Applications 14:1344–1357.Google Scholar
LAURANCE, S. G. W., STOUFFER, P. C. & LAURANCE, W. F. 2004. Effects of road clearings on movement patterns of understory rainforest birds in central Amazonia. Conservation Biology 18: 1099–1109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LAURANCE, S. G. W., JONES, D., WESTCOTT, D., MCKEOWN, A., HARRINGTON, G. & HILBERT, D. W. 2013. Habitat fragmentation and ecological traits influence the prevalence of avian blood parasites in a tropical rainforest landscape. PLoS ONE 8:e76227.Google Scholar
LAURANCE, W. F., LOVEJOY, T. E., VASCONCELOS, H. L., BRUNA, E. M., DIDHAM, R. K., STOUFFER, P. C., GASCON, C., BIERREGAARD, R. O., LAURANCE, S. G. & SAMPAIO, E. 2002. Ecosystem decay of Amazonian forest fragments: a 22-year investigation. Conservation Biology 16:605–618.Google Scholar
LAURANCE, W. F., NASCIMENTO, H. E. M., LAURANCE, S. G., ANDRADE, A. C., FEARNSIDE, P. M., RIBEIRO, J. E. L. & CAPRETZ, R. L. 2006a. Rain forest fragmentation and the proliferation of successional trees. Ecology 87:469–482.Google Scholar
LAURANCE, W. F., NASCIMENTO, H. E. M., LAURANCE, S. G., ANDRADE, A. C., RIBEIRO, J. E. L. S., GIRALDO, J. P., LOVEJOY, T. E., CONDIT, R., CHAVE, J., HARMS, K. E. & D'ANGELO, S. 2006b. Rapid decay of tree-community composition in Amazonian forest fragments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 103:19010–19014.Google Scholar
MALCOLM, J. R. 1994. Edge effects in Central Amazonian forest fragments. Ecology 75:2438–2445.Google Scholar
MENKE, S., BOHNING-GAESE, K. & SCHLEUNING, M. 2012. Plant-frugivore networks are less specialized and more robust at forest-farmland edges than in the interior of a tropical forest. Oikos 121:1553–1566.Google Scholar
MORADI, H. V., MOHAMMED, Z., MOHD, A. B. & EBIL, Y. 2010. Insectivorous birds and environmental factors across an edge-interior gradient in tropical rainforest of Malaysia. International Journal of Zoological Research 6:131–145.Google Scholar
MURCIA, C. 1995. Edge effects in fragmented forests – implications for conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 10:58–62.Google Scholar
NAMS, V. O. 2012. Shape of patch edges affects edge permeability for meadow voles. Ecological Applications 22:1827–1837.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
NASCIMENTO, H. E. M. & LAURANCE, W. F. 2004. Biomass dynamics in Amazonian forest fragments. Ecological Applications 14: S127–S138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NEWMARK, W. D. 2001. Tanzanian forest edge microclimatic gradients: dynamic patterns. Biotropica 33:2–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PARADIS, E., CLAUDE, J. & STRIMMER, K. 2004. APE: analysis of phylogenetics and evolution in R language. Bioinformatics 20:289–290.Google Scholar
PERON, G. & CROCHET, P.-A. 2009. Edge effect and structure of mixed-species bird flocks in an Afrotropical lowland forest. Journal of Ornithology 150:585–599.Google Scholar
PIZZEY, G. & KNIGHT, F. 2012. The field guide to the birds of Australia. HarperCollins, Sydney. 608 pp.Google Scholar
POHLMAN, C. L., TURTON, S. M. & GOOSEM, M. 2007. Edge effects of linear canopy openings on tropical rain forest understory microclimate. Biotropica 39:62–71.Google Scholar
PORENSKY, L. M. & YOUNG, T. P. 2013. Edge-effect interactions in fragmented and patchy landscapes. Conservation Biology 27:509–519.Google Scholar
QUINTELA, C. E. 1985. Forest fragmentation and differential use of natural and man-made edges by understory birds in central Amazonia. Thesis, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
RESTREPO, C. 1995. Edges, fruits, frugivores, and seed dispersal in a Neotropical montane forest. Dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.Google Scholar
RESTREPO, C. & GOMEZ, N. 1998. Responses of understory birds to anthropogenic edges in a Neotropical montane forest. Ecological Applications 8:170–183.Google Scholar
RIES, L. & SISK, T. D. 2004. A predictive model of edge effects. Ecology 85:2917–2926.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RITTENHOUSE, C. D., PIDGEON, A. M., ALBRIGHT, T. P., CULBERT, P. D., CLAYTON, M. K., FLATHER, C. H., HUANG, C., MASEK, J. G. & RADELOFF, V. C. 2010. Avifauna response to hurricanes: regional changes in community similarity. Global Change Biology 16:905–917.Google Scholar
ROSLI, Z., ZAKARIA, M., MOHD, A., YUSUF, A., JAMES, G. & KHAIRULMAZMI, A. 2012. Response of upperstorey birds to the environmental variables at different distances from the edge of an isolated forest reserve in Malaysia. Asia Life Sciences 21:65–84.Google Scholar
SAUNDERS, D. A., HOBBS, R. J. & MARGULES, C. R. 1991. Biological consequences of ecosystem fragmentation – a review. Conservation Biology 5:18–32.Google Scholar
ŞEKERCIOḠLU, Ç. H., EHRLICH, P. R., DAILY, G. C., AYGEN, D., GOEHRING, D. & SANDÍ, R. F. 2002. Disappearance of insectivorous birds from tropical forest fragments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 99:263–267.Google Scholar
STOUFFER, P. C. & BIERREGAARD, R. O. 1995a. Effects of forest fragmentation on understory hummingbirds in Amazonian Brazil. Conservation Biology 9:1085–1094.Google Scholar
STOUFFER, P. C. & BIERREGAARD, R. O. 1995b. Use of amazonian forest fragments by understory insectivorous birds. Ecology 76:2429–2445.Google Scholar
TRACEY, J. G. 1982. The vegetation of the humid tropical region of North Queensland. CSIRO, Melbourne. 124 pp.Google Scholar
WILLIAMS, S. E. & PEARSON, R. G. 1997. Historical rainforest contractions, localized extinctions and patterns of vertebrate endemism in the rainforests of Australia's wet tropics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B – Biological Sciences 264:709–716.Google Scholar
WILLIAMS, S. E., PEARSON, R. G. & WALSH, P. J. 1996. Distributions and biodiversity of the terrestrial vertebrates of Australia's Wet Tropics: a review of current knowledge. Pacific Conservation Biology 2:327–362.Google Scholar
YOUNG, A. & MITCHELL, N. 1994. Microclimate and vegetation edge effects in a fragmented podocarp-broadleaf forest in New Zealand. Biological Conservation 67:63–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar