A test of the habitat amount hypothesis as an explanation for the species richness of forest bird assemblages

Torrenta, Rémi; Villard, Marc‐André

doi:10.1111/jbi.13022

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Sound empirical testing of the habitat amount hypothesis appeared only recently. Based on plant, micro‐arthropod and forest bird datasets, no support for the hypothesis was shown (Haddad et al., ; Lindgren & Cousins, ; Thiele, Kellner, Buchholz, & Schirmel, ; Torrenta & Villard, ). On the other hand, eight recent studies do show empirical support for the habitat amount hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat amount, not patch size and isolation, drives species richness of macro‐moth communities in countryside landscapes

Merckx

Miranda

Pereira

2019

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Our aim was to test whether species richness patterns are best explained by the effect of the total amount of habitat within the landscape, or instead by a combination of patch size and patch isolation effects. To this end, we jointly contrast the habitat amount hypothesis and countryside biogeography with patch size and isolation concepts from island biogeography. Location Three multi‐habitat landscapes in Peneda‐Gerês National Park, NW Portugal. Taxon Macro‐moths (Lepidoptera). Methods Light‐trapping using a semi‐nested design at 84 fixed sites which were each repeatedly sampled six times. Results Autocovariate models show that sampling sites with a higher number of forest and meadow macro‐moth species (alpha diversity) were surrounded by a higher amount of forest and meadow habitat, respectively within a 160 and 320 m radius (scale of effect). These top‐ranked models, containing only habitat amount as a significant variable, had lower Akaike's information criteria (AIC) than models (only) containing patch size and/or isolation. Complementary to this, the countryside species–area relationship (SAR) model outperforms the classic SAR model, so that the effective area of habitat explains landscape species richness (gamma diversity) across spatial scales (beta diversity) better than the classic SAR. Specifically, we show that forest macro‐moths have a higher spatial turnover than meadow macro‐moths and that, on average, there are more species in forest than in meadow habitat. Main conclusions The habitat amount hypothesis predicts alpha species richness in multi‐habitat landscapes better than do patch size and isolation while the countryside SAR predicts beta and gamma diversity better than the classic SAR. We suggest that evidence is mounting to revise the application of the classical approaches of island biogeography and metapopulation theory to conservation biogeography.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat amount, not patch size and isolation, drives species richness of macro‐moth communities in countryside landscapes

Merckx

Miranda

Pereira

2019

Journal of Biogeography

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“…There has been considerable discussion in the ecological literature concerning the relative importance for biodiversity of the amount of habitat versus the spatial configuration of that habitat (e.g. [ 48 , 49 ]). Notably, there is a general paucity of work on the reverse effect, the loss of habitat (in this case the loss of large old trees) resulting from different spatial patterns of logging (and also fire) in the surrounding landscape.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Empirical relationships between tree fall and landscape-level amounts of logging and fire

et al. 2018

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Large old trees are critically important keystone structures in forest ecosystems globally. Populations of these trees are also in rapid decline in many forest ecosystems, making it important to quantify the factors that influence their dynamics at different spatial scales. Large old trees often occur in forest landscapes also subject to fire and logging. However, the effects on the risk of collapse of large old trees of the amount of logging and fire in the surrounding landscape are not well understood. Using an 18-year study in the Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forests of the Central Highlands of Victoria, we quantify relationships between the probability of collapse of large old hollow-bearing trees at a site and the amount of logging and the amount of fire in the surrounding landscape. We found the probability of collapse increased with an increasing amount of logged forest in the surrounding landscape. It also increased with a greater amount of burned area in the surrounding landscape, particularly for trees in highly advanced stages of decay. The most likely explanation for elevated tree fall with an increasing amount of logged or burned areas in the surrounding landscape is change in wind movement patterns associated with cutblocks or burned areas. Previous studies show that large old hollow-bearing trees are already at high risk of collapse in our study area. New analyses presented here indicate that additional logging operations in the surrounding landscape will further elevate that risk. Current logging prescriptions require the protection of large old hollow-bearing trees on cutblocks. We suggest that efforts to reduce the probability of collapse of large old hollow-bearing trees on unlogged sites will demand careful landscape planning to limit the amount of timber harvesting in the surrounding landscape.

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“…The number of species in fragmented landscapes can be explained by either patch size (e.g. Torrenta & Villard, ) or habitat amount (e.g. Melo et al., ), which represents two worldviews in assessing the total area of suitable habitat.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…dead‐wood microhabitats, moss fragments), across a wide range of taxonomic groups (e.g. small and arboreal mammals, birds, vascular plants, saproxylic beetles, micro‐arthropods), have either supported (Melo, Sponchiado, Cáceres, & Fahrig, ; Rabelo, Bicca‐Marques, Aragón, & Nelson, ; Seibold et al., ) or refuted (Evju & Sverdrup‐Thygeson, ; Haddad et al., ; Torrenta & Villard, ) the HAH. Therefore, further empirical studies are needed to appraise the degree to which the HAH can be generalised to different landscape scenarios and taxonomic groups (Rabelo et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patch‐scale biodiversity retention in fragmented landscapes: Reconciling the habitat amount hypothesis with the island biogeography theory

Bueno

Peres

2019

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim:To test whether the species richness of understorey insectivorous birds on forest islands induced by a major hydroelectric dam is best explained by either the island biogeography theory (IBT) or the habitat amount hypothesis (HAH). Given the low dispersal ability of the focal species group and the hostile water matrix, we predict that the species richness will be predominantly driven by an island effect as posited by the IBT, rather than a sample area effect as posited by the HAH. Location: Forest islands within the Balbina Hydroelectric Reservoir, central Brazilian Amazonia.Taxon: Birds. Methods:We mist-netted birds at 33 forest islands (0.63-1,699 ha), totalling 874 individuals of 59 species. The size of the local landscape used to calculate the habitat amount was determined by a multi-scale analysis in which buffers around mistnet lines ranged from 50 to 2,000 m. We applied four tests to examine whether the species richness on forest islands is predominantly driven by either an island effect (island size) or a sample area effect (habitat amount). Results:From the four tests applied, one was consistent with an island effect, two were regarded as inappropriate to test the HAH, and one could not be adequately addressed due to island size being highly correlated with habitat amount in the local landscape (200-m buffer).Main conclusions: Some of the proposed ways of testing the HAH may lead to misleading conclusions. The relative importance of island size in determining the species richness of understorey insectivorous birds on forest islands is higher than that of surrounding habitat amount, thereby providing stronger support for IBT. We propose a conceptual framework, based on the degree of matrix permeability and species dispersal ability, to determine to what extent a patch-or landscape-centric worldview in landscape ecology provides the most appropriate framework to assess the effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity.

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A test of the habitat amount hypothesis as an explanation for the species richness of forest bird assemblages

Cited by 21 publications

References 53 publications

Habitat amount, not patch size and isolation, drives species richness of macro‐moth communities in countryside landscapes

Habitat amount, not patch size and isolation, drives species richness of macro‐moth communities in countryside landscapes

Empirical relationships between tree fall and landscape-level amounts of logging and fire

Patch‐scale biodiversity retention in fragmented landscapes: Reconciling the habitat amount hypothesis with the island biogeography theory

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