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Functional and spatial differentiation of urban bird assemblages at the landscape scale
Citation
Conole, LE and Kirkpatrick, JB, Functional and spatial differentiation of urban bird assemblages at the landscape scale, Landscape and Urban Planning, 100, (1-2) pp. 11-23. ISSN 0169-2046 (2011) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V.
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.11.007
Abstract
We studied the diversity and distribution of diurnal birds in a large city in south-eastern Australia. Approximately
220,000 bird records were extracted from the Atlas of Australian Birds project (1998–2002) for
Melbourne, and filtered on the basis of representativeness in surveys. The filtered data for 142 species
were subjected to cluster analysis to recognise assemblages, and ordination and guild analysis to determine
spatial and functional organisation. Measures of the intensity of urbanisation and environmental
characteristics of Melbourne were used to test the separation of the avifauna into broad urban tolerant
and urban avoider assemblages and subassemblages. Distribution and relative abundance of urban
tolerant birds were found to be positively associated with areas of higher urban intensity, while urban
avoiders were associated with areas of lower urban intensity in natural areas within the urban matrix
or along its periphery. Urban tolerant species are medium-sized, generalist foragers, which use cavities
and canopy sites for nesting, while urban avoiders are either small or very large, foraging specialists
(particularly insectivores), which nest on or near the ground as well as in the canopy or shrub layer. Our
study confirms that cities do include habitats that are important for a number of urban adapted birds, and
suggests ways in which conserving bird diversity can be accommodated in urban planning frameworks.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Terrestrial ecology |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Terrestrial biodiversity |
| UTAS Author: | Conole, LE (Mr Lawrence Conole) |
| UTAS Author: | Kirkpatrick, JB (Professor James Kirkpatrick) |
| ID Code: | 77761 |
| Year Published: | 2011 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 52 |
| Deposited By: | Geography and Environmental Studies |
| Deposited On: | 2012-05-24 |
| Last Modified: | 2017-10-31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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