In short, land use affects the number of birds in a given area.
From:
Robin Hide [
Sent: Wednesday, 20 January 2010 7:41 AM
To: COG line
Subject: [canberrabirds] more on land-use, vegetation and avifaunal
patterns
This new paper seems to speak
to some of the issues raised in recent emails..
Robin Hide
Camilleri, S., J. R. Thomson and R. M. Nally (2010). “The interaction between
land use and catchment physiognomy: understanding avifaunal patterns of the
Murray–Darling Basin, Australia.” Journal of Biogeography 37(2):
293 - 304.
Keywords: Australia • biodiversity • bird atlas • birds • catchment •
multivariate correlations • watershed
Abstract:
Aim We assessed whether different patterns of land use within similar physiognomic
catchments (= watersheds) produced discernible effects on avian assemblages
and, if so, whether such effects were related to particular land-use activities
(e.g. extensive cropping).
Location Murray-Darling Basin in south-eastern Australia.
Methods We used a recently (2007) published physiognomic classification of
catchments based on different stream orders as our template. We used a subset
of data from the second Birds Australia atlas to calculate reporting rates for
each species in each subcatchment. We linked these two sets of data with
proportions of major land uses within catchments to identify whether
differences in proportions of land uses altered the expected avifauna for
catchments of the same nominal physiognomic class.
Results A significant proportion of the variation in bird reporting rates was
explained by the physiognomic classification. Additional explanatory power
resulted from including an interaction matrix of land-use covariates. Livestock
grazing was a major explanatory variable in classes characterized by more
mountainous catchments. Cropping affected avifaunas consistently by producing a
more uniform assemblage.
Main conclusions The physiognomic template was an important determinant of
avifaunal composition, but its interaction with land-use variation within
physiognomic classes doubled the amount of variance explained. Within a
physiognomic class, if one identifies the 'ideal' avifaunal composition for
that class one can identify land-use mixes that are most likely to be beneficial
for the avifaunas of that class and recommend directions for large-scale
management objectives vis-à-vis mixtures of land-use types.
Copyright © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Correspondence to *Ralph Mac Nally, Australian Centre for Biodiversity, School
of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Vic. 3800, Australia.
E-mail:
