Living on the edge: utilising lidar data to assess the importance of vegetation structure for avian diversity in fragmented woodlands and their edges

• Published in: Landscape ecology Vol. 33; no. 6; pp. 895 - 910
• Main Authors: Melin, M., Hinsley, S. A., Broughton, R. K., Bellamy, P., Hill, R. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-06-2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abundance; Agricultural land; Agricultural management; Animal breeding; Biodiversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Birds; Breeding; Ecology; Edge effect; Environmental Management; Habitats; Landscape; Landscape Ecology; Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning; Lidar; Life Sciences; Livestock breeding; Nature Conservation; Research Article; Small mammals; Sustainable Development; Vegetation; Wildlife; Wildlife habitats; Wildlife management; Wildlife refuges; Woodlands; Forest edge; Edge effect; Habitat structure; Avian diversity; Lidar; Biodiversity; Vegetation structure; Fragmentation
• ISSN: 0921-2973; 1572-9761
• DOI: 10.1007/s10980-018-0639-7

Context
In agricultural landscapes, small woodland patches can be important wildlife refuges. Their value in maintaining biodiversity may, however, be compromised by isolation, and so knowledge about the role of habitat structure is vital to understand the drivers of diversity. This study examined how avian diversity and abundance were related to habitat structure in four small woods in an agricultural landscape in eastern England.
Objectives
The aims were to examine the edge effect on bird diversity and abundance, and the contributory role of vegetation structure. Specifically: what is the role of vegetation structure on edge effects, and which edge structures support the greatest bird diversity?
Methods
Annual breeding bird census data for 28 species were combined with airborne lidar data in linear mixed models fitted separately at (i) the whole wood level, and (ii) for the woodland edges only.
Results
Despite relatively small woodland areas (4.9–9.4 ha), bird diversity increased significantly towards the edges, being driven in part by vegetation structure. At the whole woods level, diversity was positively associated with increased vegetation above 0.5 m and especially with increasing vegetation density in the understorey layer, which was more abundant at the woodland edges. Diversity along the edges was largely driven by the density of vegetation below 4 m.
Conclusions
The results demonstrate that bird diversity was maximised by a diverse vegetation structure across the wood and especially a dense understorey along the edge. These findings can assist bird conservation by guiding habitat management of remaining woodland patches.