Abstract
A growing trend towards increased urbanization emphasizes the role of suburban parks in wildlife conservation. Spatial planning aimed at maintaining biological diversity and functionality must consider how changes at landscape and more local scales will influence the biotic structure of urban areas. From May 2006 to July 2010, bird surveys were conducted in three metropolitan parks in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Surveys were conducted with the goal of examining the effect of vegetation structure and adjacent land cover on the distribution and species richness of breeding birds within this park system. A total of 65 species were recorded throughout the study area. Avian species richness was linked to several habitat metrics, measured at both the local and landscape scale. Generally, species richness was highest at locations characterized by moderate forest cover. The proportion of canopy cover at survey sites related negatively to species richness and the density of understory vegetation showed a positive relationship with species diversity. Despite the influence of these three metrics, sensitivity analysis indicates that the density of understory vegetation is the most significant correlate to avian diversity within this suburban park system. Management actions aimed at providing habitat for the greatest diversity of breeding songbirds within the study area should allow for moderate canopy cover while retaining or improving the structural complexity of understory vegetatation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrams MD (2003) Where has all the white oak gone? Bioscience 53:927–939. doi: 10.1641/0006-3568(2003)053[0927:WHATWO]2.0.CO;2
Allombert S, Gaston AJ, Martin JL (2005) A natural experiment on the impact of overabundant deer on songbird populations. Biol Conserv 126:1–13. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.04.001
Alvey AA (2006) Promoting and preserving biodiversity in the urban forest. Urban For Urban Green 5:195–201. doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2006.09.003
Ausprey IJ, Rodewald AD (2011) Postfledging survivorship and habitat selection across a rural-to-urban landscape gradient. Auk 128:293–302. doi:10.1525/auk.2011.10158
Bates D, Mechler M, Bolker B (2011) lme4: linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. Retrieved from http://lme4.r-forge.r-project.org/
Betts MG, Forbes GH, Diamond AW (2007) Thresholds in songbird occurrence in relation to landscape structure. Conserv Biol 21:1046–1058. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00723.x
Bixler R (2010) 2010 Park district visitation: Statistics on visitors entering reservations, recreational visits, and program & facility attendance. Division of Research and Program Evaluation. http://staging.clemetparks.com/pdf/Bids/Attachment%205%20%20Attendance%20Report%202010.PDF. Accessed 30 October 2012
Blair RB (1996) Land use and avian species diversity along an urban gradient. Ecol Appl 6:506–519. doi:10.2307/2269387
Blair RB (2004) The effects of urban sprawl on birds at multiple levels of biological organization. Ecology and Society 9:2. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss5/art2/ Accessed 30 October 2012
Blair RB, Johnson EM (2008) Suburban habitats and their role for birds in the urban–rural habitat network: points of local invasion and extinction? Landscape Ecol 23:1157–1169. doi:10.1007/s10980-008-9267-y
Burns RM, Honkala BH (1990) Silvics of North America, Vol. 1, Conifers. Washington DC: USDA Forest Service Handbook 654.
Croci S, Butet A, Clergeau P (2008) Does urbanization filter birds on the basis of their biological traits? Condor 110:223–240. doi:10.1525/cond.2008.8409
deCalesta DS (1994) Effect of white-tailed deer on songbirds within managed forests in Pennsylvania. J Wildlife Manage 58:711–718
DeGraaf RM, Healy WM, Brooks RT (1991) Effects of thinning and deer browsing on breeding birds in New England oak woodlands. Forest Ecol Manag 41:179–191. doi:10.1016/0378-1127(91)90102-2
Devictor V, Julliard R, Clavel J, Jiguet F, Lee A, Couvet D (2008) Functional biotic homogenization of bird communities in disturbed landscapes. Global Ecol Biogeogr 17:252–261. doi:10.1111/j.1466-8238.2007.00364.x
Forsman JT, Reunanen P, Jokimäki J, Mönkkönen M (2010) The effects of small-scale disturbance on forest birds: a meta-analysis. Can J Forest Res 40:1833–1842. doi:10.1139/X10-126
Gavareski CA (1976) Relation of park size and vegetation to urban bird populations in Seattle, Washington. Condor 78:375–382
Gravel D, Canham CD, Beaudet M, Messier C (2010) Shade tolerance, canopy gaps and mechanisms of coexistence of forest trees. Oikos 199:475–484. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2009.17441.x
Greenberg CH, Lanham JD (2001) Breeding bird assemblages of hurricane-created gaps and adjacent closed canopy forest in the southern Appalachians. Forest Ecol Manag 154:251–260. doi:10.1016/S0378-1127(00)00631-9
Hamel PB, Smith WP, Twedt DJ, Woehr JR, Morris E, Hamilton RB, Cooper RJ (1996) A land manager’s guide to point counts in the Southeast. US Forest Service, Southern Research Station, New Orleans, LA
Hasse JE, Lathrop RG (2003) Land resource impact indicators of urban sprawl. Appl Geogr 23:159–175. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2003.08.002
Hausman CE, Jaeger JF, Rocha OJ (2010) Impacts of the emerald ash borer (EAB) eradication and tree mortality: potential for a secondary spread of invasive plant species. Biol Invasions 12:2013–2023. doi:10.1007/s10530-009-9604-3
Johnson MD (2007) Measuring habitat quality: a review. Condor 109:489–504. doi:10.1650/8347.1
Legendre P, Gallagher ED (2001) Ecologically meaningful transformations for ordination of species data. Oecologia 129:271–280. doi:10.1007/s004420100716
Lorimer CG, Chapman JW, Lambert WD (1994) Tall understory vegetation as a factor in the poor development of oak seedlings beneath mature stands. J Ecol 82:227–237
Mac Nally R (2000) Regression and model-building in conservation biology, biogeography and ecology: the distinction between – and reconciliation of – ‘predictive’ and ‘explanatory’ models. Biodivers Conserv 9:655–671. doi:10.1023/A:1008985925162
Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurement. University Press, Princeton, NJ
McKinney ML Lockwood JL (1999) Biotic homogenization: a few winners replacing many losers in the next mass extinction. Trends Ecol Evol 14:450–453. doi:10.1016/S0169-5347(99)01679-1
McShea WJ, Rappole JH (2000) Managing the abundance and diversity of breeding bird populations through manipulation of deer populations. Conserv Biol 14:1161–1170. doi:10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.99210.x
Melles S, Glenn S, Martin K (2003) Urban bird diversity and landscape complexity: species environment associations along a multiscale habitat gradient. Conserv Ecol 7:5. http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol7/iss1/art5/ Accessed 30 October 2012
Mitchell MS, Rutzmoser SH, Wigley TB, Loehle C, Gerwin JA, Keyser PD, Lancia RA, Perry RW, Reynolds CJ, Thill RE, Weih R, White D, Wood PB (2006) Relationships between avian richness and landscape structure at multiple scales using multiple landscapes. Forest Ecol Manag 221:155–169. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2005.09.023
Mitchell MS, Lancia RA, Gerwin JA (2001) Using landscape-level data to predict the distribution of birds on a managed forest: effects of scale. Ecol Appl 11:1692–1708. doi:10.1890/1051-0761(2001)011[1692:ULLDTP]2.0.CO;2
Niemelä J (1999) Ecology and urban planning. Biodivers Conserv 8:119–131. doi:10.1023/A:1008817325994
Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin P, O’Hara R, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Stevens MHH, Wagner H (2010) vegan: community ecology package. R package version 1.17–4. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=vegan. Accessed 30 October 2012
Ortega-Álvarez R, MacGregor-Fors I (2009) Living in the big city: effects of urban land-use on bird community structure, diversity, and composition. Landscape Urban Plan 90:189–195. doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.11.003
Partners in Flight (2005) Global scores: All landbirds in US and Canada, by common name. http://pif.rmbo.org. Accessed 30 October 2012
R Development Core Team (2011) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. www.Rproject.org
Rhemtulla JM, Mladenoff DJ, Clayton MK (2007) Regional land-conversion in the U.S. upper Midwest: magnitude of change and limited recovery (1850–1935–1993). Landscape Ecol 22:57–75. doi:10.1007/s10980-007-9117-3
Ritchie A, Steiger JR (1990) Soil survey of Summit County. Ohio, USDA Soil Conservation Service, Washington, DC
Royo AA, Collins R, Adams MB, Kirschbaum C, Carson WP (2010) Pervasive interactions between ungulate browsers and disturbance regimes promote temperate forest herbaceous diversity. Ecology 91:93–105. doi:10.1890/08-1680.1
Runkle JR (1990) Gap dynamics in an Ohio Acer–Fagus forest and speculations on the geography of disturbance. Can J Forest Res 20:632–641. doi:10.1139/x90-085
Rush SA, Stutchbury BJ (2008) Survival of fledgling Hooded Warblers (Wilsonia citrina) in small and large forest fragments. Auk 125:183–191. doi:10.1525/auk.2008.125.1.183
Savard JPL, Clergeau P, Mennechez G (2000) Biodiversity concepts and urban ecosystems. Landscape Urban Plan 659:1–12. doi:10.1016/S0169-2046(00)00037-2
Shannon CE, Weaver W (1962) The mathematical theory of communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana
Smith AC, Fahrig L, Francis CM (2011) Landscape size affects the relative importance of habitat amount, habitat fragmentation, and matrix quality on forest birds. Ecography 34:103–113. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0587.2010.06201.x
USDA Forest Service (2005) Forest inventory and analysis national core field guide, volume 2: FIA filed methods for Phase 3 measurements, version 3.0. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC
Walsh C, MacNally R (2004) hier.part: hierarchical partitioning. R Package, version 1 · 0. http://cran.au.r-project.org Accessed 31 October 2012
Acknowledgments
We are indebted to the numerous, exceptional Cleveland Metroparks volunteers, many of whom are members of the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Society. Without their tireless efforts this project would not have been possible. We thank T. Krynak and two anonymous reviewers whose comments helped improve the quality of this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rush, S.A., Romito, T. & Robison, T.L. Avian diversity in a suburban park system: current conditions and strategies for dealing with anticipated change. Urban Ecosyst 17, 45–60 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-013-0310-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-013-0310-7