Effects of Residential Development on Forest‐Dwelling Neotropical Migrant Songbirds

Abstract

Many bird species are in local or regional decline because of habitat loss or degradation. We attempted to disentangle the effects of residential development from the effects of forest size on forest-bird communities, with particular emphasis on Neotropical migrant species. Two variables were examined for their influence on avian diversity and abundance:forest size and the number of houses outside a forest within 100 m of the edge. We found that Neotropical migrants consistently increased in number and abundance as forest size increased. Of greater interest, we found that the number of houses surrounding a forest severely undermined its suitability for Neotropical migrants. Neotropical migrants consistently decreased in diversity and abundance as the level of adjacent development increased, regardless of forest size. The effects of development were striking: 4-ha woodlots without any nearby houses had on average a richer, more abundant Neotropical community than did 25-ha urban woodiots. No predictable pattern of change concerning development or forest size was observed for short-distance migrants or permanent residents. Current planning regulations generally permit housing right up to forest edges. This practice may prevent protection of ecological features within the forest. Threshold distances for housing developments around forests need to be determined to prevent or minimize adverse effects on features and functions within the forests.Efectos del desarrollo urbano sobre los bosques habitados por aves neotropicales migratorias

Bird communities of the Colorado Rocky Mountains along a gradient of exurban development

“…The incidence of Hammond's Flycatcher, and the Warbling Vireo, species with narrowly defined habitats, decreased with development (Table 2; Kingery, 1998). Several other studies have documented declines in native forest-interior species with development (Friesen et al, 1995;Nilon et al, 1995;Hansen and Rotella, 2000). Odell and Knight (2001) found that human-sensitive avian species declined within 180 m of homes embedded in a natural shrubland matrix in Colorado exurban settlements.…”

Factors affecting hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) attraction to rural villages in arable landscapes

“…An increase in the size of built-up areas and intensively managed farmland has resulted in biodiversity losses in both urban and rural areas in the UK (Stoate et al 2001;Foley et al 2005;Macdonald and Feber 2015). Urbanisation may be particularly detrimental to wildlife, for example through habitat loss and fragmentation (Dickman 1987;Friesen et al 1995;Lehtinen et al 1999), road mortalities and the effect of roads as barriers to movement (Forman and Alexander 1998;Huijser and Bergers 2000;Rondinini and Doncaster 2002;Baker et al 2004), human-wildlife conflict (Mosillo et al 1999;Peine 2001;Gompper 2002;Hill et al 2007;Delahay et al 2009) and predation of native species by domestic pets (Baker et al 2003;Woods et al 2003).…”

“…There are also aspects of residential areas that are beneficial for wildlife, for example, low numbers of natural predators (Eden 1985;Gering and Blair 1999;Møller 2012), the availability of supplementary food (Doncaster et al 1990;Fedriani et al 2001;Prange et al 2003;Fuller et al 2008) and altered physical conditions, such as higher temperatures due to urban warming (Eden 1985;Pickett et al 2001). There may also be Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10344-017-1113-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.…”

Ecological Conservation Through Aesthetic Landscape Planning: A Case Study of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway

“…Winter birds should be a robust indicator for local landscape changes, as they do not depend strongly on habitats across multiple regions, such as species that migrate south during the winter. Nonetheless, species such as neotropical migrants have proven to be very sensitive to land development in other studies (Ehrlich and others 1988;Friesen andothers 1995, Allen andO'Connor 2000). Should the study design of future investigations allow, we would recommend the use of both winter and summer resident bird species.…”