Avian body-size clumps and the response of birds to scale-dependent landscape structure in suburban habitats

265 Pages·1997·5.1 MB·English

by  Hostetler, Mark

AVIANBODY-SIZECLUMPSANDTHERESPONSEOFBIRDSTOSCALE-
DEPENDENTLANDSCAPESTRUCTUREINSUBURBANHABITATS
By
MARKE.HOSTETLER
ADISSERTATIONPRESENTEDTOTHEGRADUATESCHOOL
OFTHEUNIVERSITYOFFLORIDAINPARTIALFULFILLMENT
OFTHEREQUIREMENTSFORTHEDEGREEOF
DOCTOROFPHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITYOFFLORIDA
1997
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
"Whatastrange(but wonderful)tripthishasbeen." Ithank
myadvisor,Dr.C.S."Buzz"Holling,forhisguidanceandsupport
throughoutthisstudy. Hisvisionandexpertiseallowedmetoask
questionsandtoconductresearchatlargescales. Makingthejump
from the certainty ofcontrolled, small-scaled experimental research
toresearchatlargescalesthatdoesnotlenditselftoexperiments
was "gut-wrenching"andcausedmuchhairlossduringthecourseof
mystudy. However,thisbrandofresearchpermittedmetoask
interestingandmeaningfulquestions. Buzztrulytaughtthis
experimentalbiologistto "embraceuncertainty." Ialsothankthe
membersofmycommittee,Drs.C.Lanciani,D.Levey,P.Frederick,
andR.Kiltiefortheirhelpfulcommentsandsuggestionsindesigning
thestudy,analyzingthedata, andeditingthemanuscript.
Ialsothankawholehostofscientiststhatprovidedmewith
suburbanbirddatatoincludeinmyanalyses:S.T.Penland(Seattle,
WA);R.M.Degraaf(AmherstandSpringfield,MA);C.W.Sexton
(Austin,TX);V.J.Lucid(Blacksburg,VA);R.W.Guth(Chicago,IL);R.
K.LancasterandW.C.Weber(Vancouver,B.C.);andG.S.Mills,J.B.J.
DunningandJ.M.Bates(Tucson,AZ). Inaddition,Ithankseveral
localbirdexpertsthathelpedmerefinemyregionalbirdlists:Jamie
Smith,RichardCannings,andChristineAdkinsofVancouver; Steve
RussellofTucson;CurtisAdkissonofBlacksburg;JeffSkriletzof
Seattle;andH.D.BohlenofChicago.
Iamgratefultomygirlfriend,MerylKlein,forhersupportand
assistanceduringthisproject. Hereternaloptimismandconfidence
helpedmethroughmanyoftheroughspots. Manythanksgotomy
colleaguesinHolling'slab,P.Marples,J.Sendzimir,G.Peterson,andL.
Gundersonfortheirconstructive comments, suggestions, andfor the
manyfruitfulinteractionsthatIhavehadwiththem. Specialthanks
goestomygoodfriendPaulMarpleswhonotonlydevelopedthe
statistical clumpanalysesusedinmyresearch,butthemanybeer
sessionsallowedmetobounceideasoffofhim,toventmy
frustrations,andtogenerallykeepchuggingondownroad.
Additional thanks tothegraduatestudents, faculty,andstaffinthe
zoologydepartment. Theinteractions thatIhavehadwiththem
helpedmebecomea matureandproductive scientist.
Iespeciallythankmyfriendsandmyfamily fortheirsupport
and encouragement. My parents, grandparents, and my brother
helpedmekeep things inperspectivethroughoutthisprocess.
TABLEOFCONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
LISTOFTABLES vii
LISTOFFIGURES x
ABSTRACT xiii
CHAPTERS
1INTRODUCTIONANDOVERVIEW 1
2DETECTIONOFHIERARCHICALLANDSCAPESTRUCTUREUSING
DISCONTINUITIESINAVIANBODY-SIZEDISTRIBUTIONS
MInettrMohedotucdhtosidonologyofClumpAnalysis 111881
ClumpAnalysesofNorthAmericanTemperateForest
Avian Communities 29
ComparisonBetweentheClumpsofaDesertandSeveral
TemperateForestAvianCommunities 33
DensitiesofSpeciesinBody-sizeClumpsofEach
Ecoregion 34
Results 35
Body-sizeClumpsoftheTemperateForestBiome 35
Amherst (TemperateForestBiome) vs.Tucson(Desert
Biome) 38
SpeciesDensitiesinEachBody-sizeClump 41
Discussion 42
Body-size ClumpMatches 43
QuantityofSpeciesinEachClump 49
RevisitingBody-sizeClumpPatterns&FutureResearch 51
Summary 55
1
3BODY-SIZECLUMPSOFNEWWORLDANDOLDWORLDAVIAN
COMMUNITIES
Introduction 58
Methods 62
Between Continents 66
WithinContinents 67
Results 67
Between Continents 67
WithinEachContinent 72
TrendsinBody-sizeClumpDistributions 72
Discussion 76
CrossContinentalBody-sizeClumpComparison 77
Within Continental Body-sizeClumpComparison 83
Future Research 85
SummaryandConclusions 86
4RESPONSESOFBIRDSTOSCALE-DEPENDENTLANDSCAPE
STRUCTURE
Introduction 88
Methods 96
Overview 96
SuburbanBirdDataSets 98
Body-size Clumps 102
MeasurementofCanopyPatchesfromAerial
Photographs 102
ExploringtheSpatialAreasandPatchSizesofBirdsin
DifferentSizeCategories 107
Results 110
BirdCountsforSuburbanSites 110
PercentTreeCanopyCoverofEachPatchSizeCategory 11
SpringSurveys: PrincipleComponentAnalyses(PCA)and
Multiple Regression Analyses 116
SummerSurveys: PrincipleComponentAnalyses (PCA)
andMultiple Regression Analyses 129
DiscTursesnidosnintheSpringandSummer 114309
AvianConservationandMetapopulationDynamics 145
ProblemswithMeasuringthe ScalesRelevanttoAvian
Species 149
BirdClumpAnalysesandGeneralizationstoOtherAvian
Communities 155
FutureResearchonDeterminingScalesRelevanttoAvian
SumSmpaecriyesandConclusions 116620
5AVIANBODY-SIZECLUMPSANDTHEIMPACTOFSUBURBAN
LANDSCAPESONAVIANCOMMUNITIES:ASYNTHESIS
Introduction 165
AvifaunaStudiesinSuburbanEnvironments 167
AvianBody-Size Clump Structureand Suburban
Landscapes 170
APPENDKA
AvifaunaofvariousecoregionsofNorthAmerica 177
APPENDKB
Newworldandoldworldavifaunaofthetemperatebiome 182
APPENDKC
Newworldandoldworldavifaunaoftheborealbiome 189
APPENDKD
Sitesanddatesofsurveysusedinthespringandsummer
data lists 194
APPENDKE
Suburbanspringbirdsurveys 196
APPENDKF
Suburbansummerbirdsurveys 203
APPENDKG
Percenttreecanopycoverforspringsurveysites 216
APPENDKH
Percenttreecanopycoverforsummersurveysites 221
LISTOFREFERENCES 225
BIOGRAPHICALSKETCH 246
LISTOFTABLES
Table page
2-1. Aqualitativevegetativeandclimaticdescriptionofsix
different ecoregionsofNorth America 32
2-2. Numberofbody-sizeclumpsdetectedforeachecoregionfrom
theGapRarityIndex 36
2-3. Sizerangeforeachofthe10avianbody-sizeclumps
determined from North American temperate forest avifauna
lists 39
2-4. Numberofspeciesrecordedforeachbird-sizecategoryfrom
NorthAmericanavifaunalists 42
3-1. ThesizerangesofEuropeanandeasternNorthAmerican
temperateforestavianbody-sizeclumps. Thenumberofspecies
ineachclumpisalsolisted 7
3-2. Thesizerangesoftemperateforestavianbody-sizeclumps
determined from Amherst, Austin, and Vancouver avifauna lists
(Chapter2)comparedtothosefromeasternNorthAmerican
temperate forest avifauna lists 71
3-3. ThesizerangesofEuropeanandeasternNorthAmerican
borealforestavianbody-sizeclumps. Thenumberofspeciesin
eachclumpisalsolisted. 74
4-1. Treecanopypatchcategoriesforeachofthefourspatialareas
(0.2 km2and 1.5km2,25.0km2,and85.0km2) 106
4-2. Birdcounts(#birds/hour)ofdifferentsizecategoriesfrom
Springbirdcensuses. Allbirdscharacterizedasprimarilytree
canopyusers* 112
4-3. Birdcounts(#birds/hour) ofdifferentsizecategoriesfrom
Summerbirdcensuses. Allbirdscharacterizedasprimarilytree
canopyusers* 114
4-4. Squaredcorrelationcoefficients (r2)forbird-sizecategories
from multiple regression equations between Springbird counts
VII
(#birds/hr) and percent tree canopy coverage at several different
scales 118
4-5. Standardizedpartialregressioncoefficients (b) forbird-size
categories frommultipleregressionanalysesofSpringbirdcounts
k(#mbi2r)ds/hr) andpercenttree canopy coverage at 1:2400 (0.2 119
4-6. Standardizedpartialregressioncoefficients(b)forbird-size
categoriesfrommultipleregressionanalyses ofSpringbirdcounts
k(#mbi2r)ds/hr) and percent tree canopy coverage at 1:2400 (1.5 120
4-7. Standardizedpartialregressioncoefficients(b)forbird-size
categoriesfrommultipleregressionanalysesofSpringbirdcounts
k(#mbi2r)ds/hr) andpercent tree canopy coverage at 1:40,000 (85.0121
4-8. Standardizedregressioncoefficient(b)forthebird-size
categoryof> 185.0gfrommultipleregressionanalysisofSpring
bird counts (#birds/hr) and percenttree canopy coverage at
1:24,000 (25.0km2) 121
4-9r.egreSsqsiuoanredcoecfofrirceileanttison(bc)oefffriocmienmtuslti(rp2l)earengdresstsiaonndarodfizPeCdApaarxtieasl
thatgavethehighestpartialregressioncoefficientsateachofthe
spatial areas during the Spring 124
4-r1e0g.ressSiqounarceodefcfoircrieelnattsio(nb)coferffoimcimenutlti(prl2e)raengdressstiaonndaorfdizPeCdApaarxteisal
thatgavethehighestpartialregressioncoefficientsateachofthe
spatial areasduringthe Spring 124
4-11. Summaryofhowbirdsrespondtocanopycoverduringthe
springseason 128
4-12. Squaredcorrelationcoefficientsforbird-sizecategoriesfrom
multiple regression equations between Summer bird counts
(#birds/hr) and percent tree canopy coverage at several different
scales 131
4-13. Standardizedpartialregressioncoefficients(b)forbird-size
categories from multipleregressionanalysesofSummerbird
counts (#birds/hr) andpercent tree canopy coverage at 1:2400
(0.2km2) 132
4-14. Standardizedpartialregressioncoefficients(b)forbird-size
categories from multipleregressionanalyses ofSummerbird
c(1o-u5ntksm2()#birds/hr) andpercenttree canopy coverage at 12400133
4-r1e5g.ressSiqounarceodefcfoircrieelnattsio(nb)coferfofimcimeunltstip(lre2)reagnrdesssitoanndoafrdiPzCeAd paaxretsial
thatgavethehighestpartialregressioncoefficientsateachofthe
spatial areas during the Spring 134
4-s16u.mmeSrusmemasaornyofhowbirdsrespondedtocanopycoverduringjth3eg
LISTOFFIGURES
Figure page
2-1. Ahypotheticaldatasetfittedwitha2modekernel
estimate. Eachclumpisdefinedbyinflectionpointsthat
givemaximalandminimalslope 24
2-2. Body-sizeclumpstructureofthreedifferentecoregionsofthe
NorthAmericantemperateforestbiome 37
2-3. Avianbody-sizeclumpstructureoftwodifferentecoregions;
Tucsonavifaunaregionallistisinthedesertbiomeandthe
Amherstavifaunaregional listisinthetemperateforest
biome 40
3-1. OutlineoftheborealforestbiomeineasternNorthAmerica
and Europe 63
3-2. OutlineofthetemperateforestbiomeineasternNorth
AmericaandEurope 64
3-3. Avianbody-sizeclumpstructureoftheeasternNorth
AmericanandtheEuropeantemperateforestbiome. North
Americanbody-sizeclump structurehas 10clumpsandthe
Europeanbody-sizeclump structurehas 7 clumps 69
3-4. Avianbody-sizeclumpstructureoftheeasternNorth
AmericanandtheEuropeanborealforestbiome. NorthAmerican
body-sizeclump structurehas 10clumps andtheEuropeanbody-
sizeclumpstructurehas9clumps 73
3-5. Avianbody-sizeclumpstructureoftheeasternNorth
Americanandthe Europeanborealandtemperateforestbiome.75
4-1. Differentscale-dependentlandscapestructuresperceivedbya
wrenandahawk 89