Effect of landscape configuration and habitat quality on the community structure of waterbirds using a man-made habitat

Autor(es)

Perez-Garcia, Juan Manuel ^[1] ; Sebastian-Gonzalez, Esther ^{[2, 3]} ; Alexander, Karen Luisa ^[1] ; Sanchez-Zapata, Jose Antonio ^[1] ; Botella, Francisco ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Miguel Hernandez, Ecol Area, Dept Appl Biol, E-03202 Elche - Spain

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Ecol, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Stanford Univ, Dept Biol, Stanford, CA 94305 - USA

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH; v. 60, n. 6, p. 875-883, DEC 2014.
• Citações Web of Science: 9

Resumo

Species occurrence and community structure are strongly influenced by multiple factors like habitat selection, species movement capabilities, competition, or conspecific and heterospecific attractions. More specifically, in waterbird communities, previous studies have identified the importance of environmental and structural characteristics of wetlands for their occupation and use. However, the effect of the surrounding landscape configuration remains unknown. In this article, we use a large network of artificial irrigation ponds to evaluate the importance of pond features in comparison to the effect of landscape and spatial configuration on the community at three different spatial scales. Our results show that landscape configuration has relatively little influence on structure of the waterbird community. Pond features were by far the most important variables to describe waterbird abundance and richness. At the species level, we detected differences in habitat preferences relating to species-specific ecological requirements. Our results highlight the importance of using a multiscale approach to understand and predict richness and abundance in waterbird communities. Our findings emphasize the need to maintain high-quality ponds to enhance their suitability for use as breeding and foraging sites. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 13/02819-7 - Características biológicas e padrões de interação em uma rede de dispersão de sementes: inferindo as consequências de defaunação
• Beneficiário: Esther Sebastián González
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Pós-Doutorado