Do Highly Modified Landscapes Favour Generalists at the Expense of Specialists? An Example using Woodland Birds

Hinsley, Shelley A.; Hill, Ross A.; Bellamy, Paul E.; Broughton, Richard K.; Harrison, N. M.; Mackenzie, Julia A.; Speakman, John R.; Ferns, Peter N.

doi:10.1080/01426390903177276

Cited by 19 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Studies of energetics in the sites presently being considered have shown that breeding birds work much harder to produce fewer offspring in urban habitats as compared to woodland [48,49]. The present study found all of the birds struggling to raise young in 2012, but the variable performance of birds in riparian and urban habitats was not very different from a typical year, whereas the early laying birds breeding at BW performed particularly poorly.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 45%

Preferred Habitat of Breeding Birds May Be Compromised by Climate Change: Unexpected Effects of an Exceptionally Cold, Wet Spring

et al. 2013

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Previous studies of the consequences for breeding birds of climate change have explored how their populations may respond to increasing temperatures. However, few have considered the likely outcome of predicted extreme conditions and the relative vulnerability of populations in different habitats. Here, we compare phenology and breeding success in great tits and blue tits over a 10 year period, including the extremely harsh conditions during spring 2012, at three sites in eastern England – mixed deciduous woodland, riparian and urban habitat. Production, measured as brood biomass, was significantly lower in 2012 compared with the previous 9 years, with the decrease in productivity relatively greatest in woodland habitat. Production was related to hatch delay, i.e. birds not initiating incubation immediately after clutch completion, which was more common in 2012 than in previous years. The best predictor of hatch delay was daytime temperature (not nighttime minimum temperature) and rainfall, which convincingly reflected low growth and activity of caterpillar prey. We found that birds breeding in riparian and urban habitats were less vulnerable to the extremes of weather than those breeding in mixed deciduous woodland.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 45%

Preferred Habitat of Breeding Birds May Be Compromised by Climate Change: Unexpected Effects of an Exceptionally Cold, Wet Spring

et al. 2013

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“…Landscape modification by human activity tends to reduce semi-natural habitat to small, scattered patches (Sala et al 2000, Hinsley et al 2009). Pressures on land use produce a fine-grained landscape within which large tracts of particular habitat types are usually rare.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Settlement in Woodland Birds in Fragmented Habitat: Effects of Natal Territory Location and Timing of Fledging

et al. 2011

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Factors such as early fledging and natal territory location have been shown to influence dispersal and settlement success of woodland birds. Early fledging allows for earlier dispersal, increasing the chances of an individual locating good quality habitat. However, for birds in fragmented woodland, the advantages of early dispersal may be modified by natal territory location in relation to the availability of suitable habitat in the surrounding landscape. Connecting habitat corridors may promote dispersal, and connectivity in landscapes is usually considered as positive, but this may not always be the case. In landscapes where habitat is highly fragmented, corridors may promote departure, but leave dispersers with little chance of success.An individual-based Spatially Explicit Population Model was used to investigate the effects of timing of fledging, natal territory location and proximity to potential dispersal corridors on local settlement rates. Modelling was based on both hypothetical and real woodlands and used marsh tit as an example woodland bird. For each modelled scenario, the number of young that settled was recorded for each territory, the overall results being expressed as the mean percentage settlement rate per territory.Territory location and edge effects were both found to influence dispersal and settlement rate. Fledging early clearly demonstrated a general advantage for local settlement success. However, territory location, in relation to the likelihood of dispersing out of the wood was found to interact with fledging order. Fledglings from internal territories had an advantage over those from edge territories and local settlement rate could be reduced by a location favourable to emigration. In general, the effect of exits was to reduce the settlement rate of early fledging young while that of later young tended to increase. In highly fragmented woodland, fledging late from a well-connected edge territory would appear to be the worst case scenario.

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“…Evidence that widowed adults will leave territories in order to seek breeding opportunities suggests that loss of one bird in a pair may lead to both birds disappearing from a wood, which will accelerate extinction within small fragments as isolation increases. Marsh Tits in highly modified landscapes such as England may, therefore, be particularly vulnerable to local extinctions as a result of the interaction between behavioural ecology and increasing habitat fragmentation (Hinsley et al 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersal, ranging and settling behaviour of Marsh TitsPoecile palustrisin a fragmented landscape in lowland England

Broughton¹,

Hill²,

Bellamy³

et al. 2010

Bird Study

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Do Highly Modified Landscapes Favour Generalists at the Expense of Specialists? An Example using Woodland Birds

Cited by 19 publications

References 53 publications

Preferred Habitat of Breeding Birds May Be Compromised by Climate Change: Unexpected Effects of an Exceptionally Cold, Wet Spring

Preferred Habitat of Breeding Birds May Be Compromised by Climate Change: Unexpected Effects of an Exceptionally Cold, Wet Spring

Local Settlement in Woodland Birds in Fragmented Habitat: Effects of Natal Territory Location and Timing of Fledging

Dispersal, ranging and settling behaviour of Marsh TitsPoecile palustrisin a fragmented landscape in lowland England

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