Bird species distributions across woodland canopy structure gradients

S. Hinsley; R. Hill; R. Fuller; P. Bellamy; P. Rothery

doi:10.1556/comec.10.2009.1.12

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Community Ecology

Volume/Issue:: Volume 10: Issue 1

Bird species distributions across woodland canopy structure gradients

Authors:

S. Hinsley

S. Hinsley Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Monks Wood Abbots Ripton Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 2LS UK

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R. Hill

R. Hill Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Monks Wood Abbots Ripton Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 2LS UK

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R. Fuller

R. Fuller British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) The Nunnery Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU UK

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P. Bellamy

P. Bellamy Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Monks Wood Abbots Ripton Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 2LS UK

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, and

P. Rothery

P. Rothery Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH) Monks Wood Abbots Ripton Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 2LS UK

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Pages:: 99–110

Online Publication Date:: 23 Jun 2009

Publication Date:: 01 Jun 2009

Article Category:: Journal Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1556/comec.10.2009.1.12

Keywords:: Bird habitat associations; Canopy height and cover; Forest management; Light detection and ranging (LiDAR); Remote sensing and ecology

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The tree canopy characteristics of two broadleaved woods in southern England were quantified in terms of two independent measures of structure, canopy height (calculated using heights ≥ 1 m) and percentage canopy cover (derived using heights < 1 m), using airborne Light Detection and Ranging. The woods differed strikingly in structure due to their management systems; one was predominantly mature oak and the other coppice, comprising a patchwork of growth stages. Fine-scale relationships between breeding bird species distributions, determined by mapping censuses, and canopy height and canopy cover were assessed. Despite the differences in structure, species showed great consistency between the woods in their rank positions across gradients of canopy height (rank correlation between woods, r = 0.77, p < 0.001) and canopy cover (r = 0.61, p = 0.003). In both woods, and especially the mature oak (R ² > 0.90, p < 0.001), there was a positive correlation across bird species between the mean values of canopy height and canopy cover associated with the mapped locations of each species. We suggest that canopy height acts as an effective surrogate of woodland structure and can be applied as a predictor of woodland bird composition and distribution, at least in lowland British conditions. Species associated with young growth were more restricted by habitat structure, as measured by differences in canopy height and canopy cover between the two woods, than were species associated with taller canopies. Remote sensing of canopy height potentially offers a simple, effective way of assessing habitat availability for many species, at both woodland and landscape scales. This may be especially relevant for species dependent on highly transient vegetation structures associated with the early pre-canopy closure stages of forest growth.

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Community Ecology An Interdisciplinary Journal Reporting Progress in Community and Population Studies

Print ISSN:: 1585-8553

Online ISSN:: 1588-2756

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Community Ecology
Language	English
Size	A4
Year of Foundation	2000
Volumes per Year	1
Issues per Year	3
Founder	Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245
Publisher	Akadémiai Kiadó Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245. CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible Publisher	Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN	1585-8553 (Print)
ISSN	1588-2756 (Online)