Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T07:41:02.734Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A method for establishing bird conservation value at a landscape level

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2010

Lorenzo Fornasari ,
Elisabetta de Carli ,
Luciana Bottoni  and
Renato Massa
Lorenzo Fornasari
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Via L. Emanueli 15, 20126 Milano, Italy
Elisabetta de Carli
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Via L. Emanueli 15, 20126 Milano, Italy
Luciana Bottoni
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Via L. Emanueli 15, 20126 Milano, Italy
Renato Massa
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze dell' Ambiente e del Territorio, Via L. Emanueli 15, 20126 Milano, Italy
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

To produce conservation indices from bird community data, with the aim of identifying and comparing areas of regional conservation concern, we selected bird community samples randomly over a large study area, without including habitat features a priori in the sampling procedure. Subsequently, we subjected the samples to a cluster analysis to identify a posteriori bird communities to be indexed together with their associated habitat and distribution/abundance on a regional scale. We identified 15 bird community types and were able to characterize each of them by a community conservation index (CCI) taking into account three different components of rarity: habitat selectivity, geographical distribution, and abundance. A cluster of four communities was associated with lowland farmland and woodland; another cluster of five was found at higher average altitudes and degree of urbanization; a third one of six showed a montane distribution. This third cluster showed much higher CCI values in comparison with the first two suggesting that the index here proposed is very sensitive to a high community selectivity and a restricted distribution/abundance.

Type
Research Article
Information
Bird Conservation International , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 1997 , pp. 81 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © Birdlife International 1997

References

Andrén, H. (1994) Effects of habitat fragmentation on birds and mammals in landscapes with different proportions of suitable habitat: a review. Oikos 71: 355–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arrhenius, O. (1921). Species and area. J. Ecol. 9: 95–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bezzel, E. (1974) Vogelbestandsaufnamen in der Landschaftsplanung. Verh. Ges. Ekol. (Erlangen 1974), 103–112.Google Scholar
Bevanger, K. (1986) Number of bird species used for selection of protected areas. Fauna Norvegica Ser, C, Cinclus 10: 45–52.Google Scholar
Bischoff, N. T. and Jongman, R. H. G. (1993) Development of rural areas in Europe: the claim for nature. Preliminary and background studies (V79), Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy.Google Scholar
Blana, H. (1980) Rasterkartierung und Bestandsdichteerfassung von Brutvogeln als Grundlage für die Landschaftsplanung - ein Vergleich beider Methoden in selben Untersuchungsgebeit. Pp. 32–54 in H., Oelke, ed. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Bird Census Work, Gottingen, 1979Google Scholar
Blondel, J., Ferry, C. and Forchot, B. (1981) Point counts with unlimited distance. Stud. Avian Biol. 6: 414–420.Google Scholar
Burkey, T. V. (1989) Extinction in nature reserves: the effect of fragmentation and the importance of migration between reserve fragments. Oikos 55: 75–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connor, E. F. and McCoy, E. D. (1979) The statistics and biology of the species-area relationship. Am. Nat. 113: 791–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danielson, B. J. and Stenseth, N. C. (1992) The ecological and evolutionary implications of recruitment for competitively structured communities. Oikos 65: 34–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiedler, P. L. and Ahouse, J. J. (1992) Hierarchies of cause: toward an understanding of rarity in vascular plant species. Pp. 23–47 in Fiedler, P. L. and Jain, K. J., eds. Conservation biology: the theory and practice of nature conservation, preservation and management. New York: Chapman and Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fornasari, L. and Massa, R. (1990) Bird study and landscape planning on a large area. Pp. 203–215 in Štastný, K. and Bejcek, V., eds. Bird census and atlas studies. Prague: Proceedings of XI International Conference on Bird Census and Atlas Work.Google Scholar
Fornasari, L., Bottoni, L. and Massa, R. (1992) Atlante degli uccelli svernanti in Lombardia. Milano: Regione Lombardia e Università degli Studi di Milano.Google Scholar
Fornasari, L., Bottoni, L., and Massa, R. (1995). The second generation breeding bird atlas in Lombardy. Pp. 549–560 in Hagemeijer, E. J. M. and Verstrael, T. J., eds. Bird numbers 1992: distribution, monitoring and ecological aspects (Proceedings of 12th International Conference of IBCC and EOAC). Noordwijkerhout: Sovon.Google Scholar
Franklin, J. F. (1993) Preserving biodiversity: species, ecosystems, or landscapes? Ecol Appl. 3: 202–205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fuller, R. and Langslow, D. R. (1986) Ornithological evaluation for wildlife conservation. Pp.247–269 in Usher, M. B, ed. Wildlife conservation evaluation. London: Chapman and Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaston, K. J. and Lawton, H. (1990) Effects of scale and habitat on the relationship between regional distribution and local abundance. Oikos 58: 329–335.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gauch, H. G. (1982) Multivariate analysis in community ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gleick, J. (1987) Chaos: making a new science. New York: Viking.Google Scholar
Graber, J. V. and Graber, R. R. (1976) Environmental evaluation using birds and their habitats. Ill. Nat. Hist. Surv., Biol. Notes 97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grzybowsky, J. A. (1982) Population structure in grassland bird communities during winter. Condor 84: 137–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haila, Y. (1985) Birds as a tool in reserve planning. Ornis Fenn. 62: 96–100.Google Scholar
Hayek, L. C. (1994) Analysis of amphibian biodiversity data. Pp. 207–270 in Heyer, W. R., Donnelly, M. A., McDiarmid, R. W., Hayek, L. C. and Foster, M. S., eds. Measuring and monitoring biological diversity: standard methods for amphibians. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.Google Scholar
ICBP (1992) Putting biodiversity on the map: priority areas for global conservation. Cambridge, U.K.: International Council for Bird Preservation.Google Scholar
James, F. C. and Rathbun, S. (1981) Rarefaction, relative abundance, and diversity of avian communities. Auk 98: 785–800.Google Scholar
Jarvinen, O. (1982) Studies in island biogeography and their relevance for fauna conservation and management. Pp. 21–24 in B., Petterson, ed. Current problems in fauna conservation. Uppsala: Sverig Lantbruksuniversitet Institut Wildlife Ecology.Google Scholar
Jarvinen, O. (1985) Conservation indices in land use planning: dim prospects for a panacea. Ornis Fenn. 62: 101–106.Google Scholar
Jarvinen, O. and Rauta, (1982) Selection of conservation areas based on species composition and abundance. Pp. 21–24 in Petterson, B., ed. Current problems in fauna conservation. Uppsala: Sverig Lantbruksuniversitet Institut Wildlife Ecology.Google Scholar
Lance, G. N. and Williams, W. T. (1967) A general theory of classificatory sorting strategies. I. Hierarchical systems. Computer J. 9: 373–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebreton, J. D. and Yoccoz, N. (1987) Multivariate analysis of bird count data. Acta Oecologica Oecol. Gen. 2: 125–144.Google Scholar
MacArthur, R. H. (1971) Patterns of terrestrial bird communities. Pp. 189–221 in Farner, D. S. and King, J. R, eds. Avian biology. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar
MacArthur, R. H. (1972) Geographical ecology. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
MacArthur, R. H. and MacArthur, J. W. (1961) On bird species diversity. Ecology 42: 594–598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacArthur, R. H. and Wilson, E. O. (1967) The theory of island biogeography. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Margules, C. R. and Usher, M. B. (1981) Criteria used in assessing wildlife conservation potential: a review. Biol. Conserv. 21: 79–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Massa, R. (1993) An approach to a second generation of breeding bird atlas. Ann. Mus. R. Afr. Cent. (Zool.) 268: 361–365.Google Scholar
Massa, R. and Fedrigo, A. (1989) A new approach for a winter bird atlas by means of point counts. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 26: 207–212.Google Scholar
Massa, R., Fedrigo, A., Fornasari, L., Bottoni, L. and Vigorita, V. (1990) A random sampling design approach for winter atlas work. Pp. 137–147 in K., Štastný and V., Bejcek, eds. Bird census and atlas studies. Prague: Proceedings of the XI International Conference on Bird Census and Atlas Work.Google Scholar
May, R. M. (1976) Theoretical ecology. Principles and applications. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders.Google Scholar
Moss, D., Wyatt, B., Cornaert, M. H. and Roekaerts, M. (1991) CORINE Biotopes: the design, compilation and use of an inventory of sites of major importance for nature conservation in the European Community. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Community.Google Scholar
Noss, R. F. (1983) A regional landscape approach to mantain diversity. BioScience 33: 700–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novotny, V. (1991) Effect of habitat persistence on the relationship between geographic distribution and local abundance. Oikos 61: 431–433.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, R. J. and Fuller, R. J. (1985) Bird population responses to habitat. Pp. 197–211 in Taylor, K., Fuller, R. J. and Lack, P. C., eds. Bird census and atlas studies. Tring, Herts, U.K.: British Trust for rnithology.Google Scholar
Opdam, P., and Retel Helmrich, V. (1984) Vogelgemeenschappen van heide en hoogveen: een typologische beschrijving. Limosa 57: 47–63.Google Scholar
Petit, L. J., Petit, D. R. and Thomas, E. M. (1995) Landscape-level management of migratory birds: looking past the trees to see the forest. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 23: 420–429.Google Scholar
Pielou, E. C. (1969) An introduction to mathematical ecology. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Prendergast, J. R., Quinn, R. M., Lawton, J. H., Eversham, B. C. and Gibbons, D. W. (1993) Rare species, the coincidence of diversity hotspots and conservation strategies. Nature 365: 335–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Probst, J. R. and Crow, T. R. (1991) Integrating biological diversity and resource management. J. Forestry 89: 12–17.Google Scholar
Rotenberry, J. T. and Wiens, J. A. (1978) Nongame bird communities in northwestern rangelands. Pp. 32–46 in De Graaf, R. M., ed. Proceedings of the workshop of nongame bird habitat management in coniferous forests of the Western United States. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW-64. Portland, Oregon: Pacific Northwest Forest and Range Experiment Station.Google Scholar
Rotenberry, J. T. and Wiens, J. A. (1980) Habitat structure, patchiness and avian communities in north american steppe vegetation: a multivariate analysis. Ecology 61: 1228–1250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Routledge, R. D. (1980) Bias in estimating the diversity of large, uncensused communities. Ecology 61: 276–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Solonen, T. (1985) Agriculture and birdlife in Finland. A review. Ornis Fenn. 62: 47–55.Google Scholar
Southwood, T. R. E. (1978) Ecological methods, 2nd edn. London: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Svensson, S. (1977) Land use planning and bird census work with particular reference to the application of the point sampling method. Polish Ecol. Stud. 3: 99–117.Google Scholar
Thomas, C. D. (1994) Extinction, colonization, and metapopulations: environmental tracking by rare species. Conserv. Biol. 8: 373–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tucker, G. M. and Heath, M. F. (1994) Birds in Europe: their conservation status. Cambridge, U.K.: BirdLife International (BirdLife Conservation Series 3).Google Scholar
Urban, D. L. and Shugart, H. H. (1986) Avian demography in mosaic landscape: modelling paradigm and preliminary result. Pp. 273–279 in Verner, J., Morrison, M. L. and Ralph, C. J., eds. Wildlife 2000, modelling habitat relationships of terrestrial vertebrates. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
van der Ploeg, S. W. F. and Vlijm, L. (1978) Ecological evaluation, nature conservation and land use planning with particular reference to the methods used in The Netherlands. Biol. Conserv. 14: 197–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiens, J. A. (1989a) The ecology of bird communities, 1. Foundations and patterns. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiens, J. A. (1989b) The ecology of bird communities, 2. Process and variation. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiens, J. A., Addicott, J. F., Case, T. J. and Diamond, J. (1986) Overview: the importance of spatial and temporal scale in ecological investigations. Pp. 145–153 in Diamond, J. and Case, T. J., eds. Community ecology. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Wiens, J. A., Stenseth, N. C., Van Home, B. and Ims, R. A. (1993) Ecological mechanisms and landscape ecology. Oikos 66: 369–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar