Restoration of Fragmented Landscapes for the Conservation of Birds: A General Framework and Specific Recommendations for Urbanizing Landscapes

Abstract

Humans fragment landscapes to the detriment of wildlife. We review why fragmentation is detrimental to wildlife (especially birds), review the effects of urbanization on birds inhabiting nearby native habitats, suggest how restoration ecologists can minimize these effects, and discuss future research needs. We emphasize the importance of individual fitness to determining community composition. This means that reproduction, survivorship, and dispersal (not simply community composition) must be maintained, restored, and monitored. We suggest that the severity of the effects of fragmentation are determined by (1) the natural disturbance regime, (2) the similarity of the anthropogenic matrix to the natural matrix, and (3) the persistence of the anthropogenic change. As a result, urbanization is likely to produce greater effects of fragmentation than either agriculture or timber harvest. Restoration ecologists, land managers, and urban planners can help maintain native birds in fragmented landscapes by a combination of short‐ and long‐term actions designed to restore ecological function (not just shape and structure) to fragments, including: (1) maintaining native vegetation, deadwood, and other nesting structures in the fragment, (2) managing the landscape surrounding the fragment (matrix), not just the fragment, (3) making the matrix more like the native habitat fragments, (4) increasing the foliage height diversity within fragments, (5) designing buffers that reduce penetration of undesirable agents from the matrix, (6) recognizing that human activity is not compatible with interior conditions, (7) actively managing mammal populations in fragments, (8) discouraging open lawn on public and private property, (9) providing statutory recognition of the value of complexes of small wetlands, (10) integrating urban parks into the native habitat system, (11) anticipating urbanization and seeking creative ways to increase native habitat and manage it collectively, (12) reducing the growing effects of urbanization on once remote natural areas, (13) realizing that fragments may be best suited to conserve only a few species, (14) developing monitoring programs that measure fitness, and (15) developing a new educational paradigm.

Edge Responses of Tropical and Temperate Birds

“…The type and quality of the matrix, largely determined by the history and intensity of land use, can strongly influence processes within the fragments (Marzluff andEwing 2001, Kupfer et al 2006). Some matrices can provide foraging or breeding habitats (Se�ercioglu et al 200�); structurally complex natural or anthropogenic matrices (i.e., tree plantations) have been found to provide the best fragment-connectivity (Gascon et al 1999, Renjifo 2001.…”

Accurate prediction of bird species richness patterns in an urban environment using Landsat‐derived NDVI and spectral unmixing

“…The rapid expansion of urban landscapes and their human populations are generating increasing interest in the patterns and processes shaping biodiversity in these human-dominated landscapes (Marzluff and Ewing 2001, Faeth et al 2005, Shochat et al 2006. Urbanization, together with the reshuffling of species by humans, is often related to a process termed biotic homogenization (Jokimaki et al 1996, Blair 2001, Lockwood and McKinney 2002, Olden 2006, where few species are becoming widespread in many parts of the globe.…”

Perda de diversidade taxonômica e funcional de aves em área urbana no sul do Brasil

“…A urbanização consiste e m uma das principais causas de mudanças na paisagem (Wilcox & Murphy, 1985), pois apresenta um estado de permanência, sem retorno da cobertura vegetal original (Marzluff & Ewing, 2001;McKinney, 2002). Neste contexto, o desafio fundamental para a conservação é entender os efeitos deste processo sobre a biodiversidade (McKinney, 2002).…”

“…A urbanização pode promover a perda de espécies através da redução e fragmentação da área disponível para as espécies nativas (McKinney, 2002), e da simplificação na estrutura vertical da vegetação presente (predomínio de cobertura de gramíneas e herbáceas em detrimento de árvores e arbustos) (Marzluff & Ewing, 2001;Toledo et al, 2012). Esses fatores combinados reduzem a área e a qualidade de habitat para animais e tendem a aumentar com a intensidade de urbanização (Alberti et al, 2001;Hahs & McDonnel, 2006).…”