importance of forest patch networks for the conservation of the Thorn-tailed Rayaditos in central Chile

Conservation of forest birds in fragmented landscapes requires not only determining the critical patch characteristics influencing local population persistence but also identifying patch networks providing connectivity and suitable habitat conditions necessary to ensure regional persistence. In this...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecological research 2010-05, Vol.25 (3), p.683-690
Main Authors: Vergara, Pablo M, Hahn, Ingo J, Zeballos, Horacio, Armesto, Juan J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aves
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Birds
Chile
Connectivity
Conservation
Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Forest birds
Forest conservation
Forestry
Forests
Habitat
Habitat fragmentation
Landscape
Life Sciences
Local population
Maintenance
Original Article
Patch network
Plant Sciences
Vegetation
Wildlife conservation
Zoology
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Summary:Conservation of forest birds in fragmented landscapes requires not only determining the critical patch characteristics influencing local population persistence but also identifying patch networks providing connectivity and suitable habitat conditions necessary to ensure regional persistence. In this study, we assessed the importance of patch attributes, patch connectivity, and network components (i.e., groups of interconnected patches) in explaining the occupancy pattern of the Thorn-tailed Rayadito (Aphrastura spinicauda), a forest bird species of central Chile. Using a daily movement threshold distance, we identified a total of 16 network components of sclerophyllous forest within the study area. Among those components, patch area and vegetation structure-composition were important predictors of patch occupancy. However, the inclusion of patch connectivity and component size (i.e., the area of a network component) into the models greatly increases the models' accuracy and parsimony. Using the best-fitted model, a total of 33 patches were predicted to be occupied by rayaditos within the study area, but such occupied patches were distributed in only six network components. These results suggest that persistence of rayaditos in central Chile requires the maintenance of large single patches and patch networks providing habitat and connectivity.
ISSN:0912-3814
1440-1703
DOI:10.1007/s11284-010-0704-4