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Influence of exurban development on bird species richness and diversity

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Abstract

Exurban development is an accelerating land use trend in the United States with new housing units emerging in formerly closed forests. Conservation practitioners and planners suspect exurban development alters ecological processes and biodiversity to a considerable larger extent than suspected by inhabitants of exurban development areas, but empirical support for this assertion is lacking. To examine the consequences of exurban development, we studied forest bird communities in exurban development and forests located in and around Shenandoah National Park and Massanutten Mountain in northern Virginia, USA. We conducted point-count surveys for birds three times at 106 sample locations from April to July 2006. We recorded 44 species in total; 30 species were present in both exurban development and forests, 9 species were only found in exurban development, and 5 species only in forest. Bird species composition differed significantly between land-use types based on analysis in a multi-response permutation procedure (MRPP; P < 0.01). Relative bird abundance for forest specialist species changed significantly in exurban development versus forest (t test, P < 0.05). Three species, American Robin Turdus migratorius, Northern Cardinal Cardinalis cardinalis, and Common Grackle Quiscalus quiscula were indicators of exurban development. Indicators of forest were Carolina Chickadee Poecile carolinensis, Eastern Towhee Pipilo erythrophthalmus, and Wood Thrush Hylocichla mustelina. Our study demonstrates that exurban development alters bird community composition and relative abundance of forest specialist species.

Zusammenfassung

Exurbane Landentwicklung (engl.: exurban development) ist ein rasant zunehmender Landnutzungstyp in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, bei dem Wohngebäude in zuvor geschlossenen und naturnahen Wäldern konstruiert werden. Naturschutzorganisationen und Landschaftsplaner vermuten, dass Exurbane Landentwicklung die ökologischen Prozesse und Biodiversität bedeutend verändern, allerdings fehlen bisher empirische Daten dies zu belegen. Um den Einfluss von Exurbaner Landentwicklung zu ermitteln, haben wir Vogelgemeinschaften in Exurbaner Landentwicklung mit Vogelgemeinschaften naturnaher Wälder im und um den Shenandoah Nationalpark und Massanutten Mountain im Norden des US Bundesstaates Virginia untersucht. An 106 Stellen wurden alle Vögel mit Punkt-Stopp-Zählungen insgesamt dreimal in der Zeit von April bis Juli 2006 aufgenommen. Insgesamt wurden 44 Arten erfasst; 30 Arten waren in beiden Habitattypen anzutreffen, während neun Arten nur in exurbaner Landentwicklung und fünf ausschließlich im naturnahen Wald anzutreffen waren. Die Zusammensetzung der Vogelgemeinschaft unterschied sich signifikant zwischen beiden Vogelgesellschaften (MRPP, P < 0.01). Ebenso änderte sich die Relative Abundanz für Waldvögel signifikant zwischen Exurbaner Landentwicklung und naturnahem Wald (t-test, P < 0.05; Exurbane Landentwicklung geht in der Regel aus naturnahem Wald hervor). Drei Arten, Turdus migratorius, Cardinalis cardinalis, und Quiscalus quiscula wurden als Indikatorarten für Exurbane Landentwicklung identifiziert, während Poecile carolinensis, Pipilo erythrophthalmicus, und Hylocichla mustelina als Indikatorarten für naturnahe Wälder gelten können. Die Studie belegt, dass Exurbane Landentwicklung die Vogelgemeinschaften in der Artenzusammensetzung und die relative Abundanz der Waldvogelarten deutlich beeinflusst.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Todd Lookingbill and two unknown reviewers for providing critical comments on previous versions of the manuscript. Our special thanks goes to the High Knob Owners Association (especially Kay Clement and Marcy McCann) for organizing access to the facility and contact to the citizens, who always welcomed us and allowed data collection in their community, talked about the regional and High Knob area history, and provided coffee in the ‘Bagels-Bunch group’ discussions. Jennifer Buff facilitated contacts to Warren County administration for data on exurban development in the county. Gary Somers of The National Park Service, Shenandoah National Park (permit #: SHEN-2006-SCI-0009), and James T Smalls (Forest Ranger of Massanutten Mountain/George Washington and Jefferson National Forests) provided further valuable information and permits to establish the forest point counts for our study. The study was supported with funds from the Smithsonian’s Conservation and Research Center GIS Lab.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Appalachian Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, 301 Braddock Road, Frostburg, MD, 21532, USA

    Marcela Suarez-Rubio

  2. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA

    Peter Leimgruber & Swen C. Renner

  3. Institute of Experimental Ecology, University of Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 11, 89069, Ulm, Germany

    Swen C. Renner

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  1. Marcela Suarez-Rubio
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  2. Peter Leimgruber
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  3. Swen C. Renner
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Correspondence to Marcela Suarez-Rubio or Swen C. Renner.

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Communicated by F. Bairlein.

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Suarez-Rubio, M., Leimgruber, P. & Renner, S.C. Influence of exurban development on bird species richness and diversity. J Ornithol 152, 461–471 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-010-0605-x

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