Does scale matter? The influence of threelevel spatial scales on forest bird occurrence in a tropical landscape.
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2018
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Abstract
Consequences of habitat fragmentation for species occurrence are amongst the most
important issues in landscape and conservation ecology. Empirical and theoretical studies
have demonstrated that the total amount of habitat, patch size and connectivity have nonlinear
effects on species survival on multiple spatial and temporal scales. Therefore, population
models need to incorporate multiple scales, which can be extremely valuable to
prioritizing conservation efforts in these changing landscapes. We tested how the amount
and configuration of habitat affect understory bird species occurrence using fine to broadscale
habitat features. We used playback to sample birds in 13 Atlantic Forest fragments in
Southeast Brazil. Microhabitat, local and regional landscape variables were tested against
bird occurrence. Our results demonstrate that different bird species respond to different habitat
scales. Sclerurus scansor, Xiphorhynchus fuscus, Automolus leucophthalmus, Drymophila
ochropyga, Mackenziaena leachii, and Chiroxiphia caudata were most influenced by
tree height and diameter (microhabitat characteristics), S. scansor, F. serrana and Pyriglena
leucoptera were most influenced by forest cover and red-edge reflectance(local-scale metrics)
and S. scansor, X. fuscus, D. ochropyga, P. leucoptera, F. serrana and M. leachii had
area, core area and functional connectivity index (landscape features) as stronger predictors
of species occurrence. Small forest fragments acted as corridors and increased overall
connectivity of the entire community. The most effective means of maintaining long-term
population connectivity of understory birds involves retaining both large and small areas,
including forests with different micro-habitat characteristics. No management approach
based on a single-scale would benefit all species. Implementing multiscale conservation
strategies are necessary for maintaining long-term viability of forest birds on tropical
landscapes.
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DUARTE, T. B. F. et al. Does scale matter? The influence of threelevel spatial scales on forest bird occurrence in a tropical landscape. PLoS One, v. 13, p. e0198732, 2018. Disponível em: <https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0198732>. Acesso em: 11 fev. 2019.