TY - JOUR
T1 - Is bigger always better? Influence of patch attributes on breeding activity of birds in box-gum grassy woodland restoration plantings
AU - Belder, Donna J.
AU - Pierson, Jennifer C.
AU - Ikin, Karen
AU - Blanchard, Wade
AU - Westgate, Martin J.
AU - Crane, Mason
AU - Lindenmayer, David B.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful for the feedback of three anonymous reviewers, which enabled us to make substantial improvements to earlier versions of our manuscript. Ashwin Rudder and Ira Dudley-Bestow assisted with fieldwork, and Jeff Wood assisted with experimental design. We thank the landholders who permitted access to their properties for the duration of the study. This work was funded by a Margaret Middleton Fund Award and Lesslie Research Scholarship to DJB, with supporting funds from the Riverina Local Land Services and the Australian Government's National Environmental Science Program via the Threatened Species Recovery Hub . Fieldwork was conducted under NSW Scientific Licence SL101588 and with approval from The Australian National University's Animal Ethics Committee.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Restoration plantings are an increasingly common management technique to address habitat loss in agricultural landscapes. Native fauna, including birds, may occupy planted areas of vegetation. However, unless restoration plantings support breeding populations, their effectiveness as a conservation strategy may be limited. We assessed breeding activity of birds in box-gum grassy woodland restoration plantings in the South-west Slopes bioregion of New South Wales, Australia. We compared breeding activity in plantings of different size (1.3–7.7 ha) and shape (linear and block-shaped) to breeding activity in a set of remnant woodland sites. Contrary to expectations, we found that bird breeding activity was greatest per hectare in small patches. This trend was driven by the superb fairywren – the most abundant species in the woodland assemblage. We also found a negative effect of planting age, with younger plantings supporting more breeding activity per hectare. We found no effect of patch type or shape on breeding activity, and that species' relative abundance was not predictive of their degree of breeding activity. Our results highlight the value of small habitat patches in fragmented agricultural landscapes, and indicate that restoration plantings are as valuable as remnant woodland patches for supporting bird breeding activity. We demonstrate the importance of breeding studies for assessing the conservation value of restoration plantings and other habitat patches for avifauna.
AB - Restoration plantings are an increasingly common management technique to address habitat loss in agricultural landscapes. Native fauna, including birds, may occupy planted areas of vegetation. However, unless restoration plantings support breeding populations, their effectiveness as a conservation strategy may be limited. We assessed breeding activity of birds in box-gum grassy woodland restoration plantings in the South-west Slopes bioregion of New South Wales, Australia. We compared breeding activity in plantings of different size (1.3–7.7 ha) and shape (linear and block-shaped) to breeding activity in a set of remnant woodland sites. Contrary to expectations, we found that bird breeding activity was greatest per hectare in small patches. This trend was driven by the superb fairywren – the most abundant species in the woodland assemblage. We also found a negative effect of planting age, with younger plantings supporting more breeding activity per hectare. We found no effect of patch type or shape on breeding activity, and that species' relative abundance was not predictive of their degree of breeding activity. Our results highlight the value of small habitat patches in fragmented agricultural landscapes, and indicate that restoration plantings are as valuable as remnant woodland patches for supporting bird breeding activity. We demonstrate the importance of breeding studies for assessing the conservation value of restoration plantings and other habitat patches for avifauna.
KW - Agricultural landscapes
KW - Breeding success
KW - Fragmentation
KW - Restoration
KW - SLOSS
KW - Woodland birds
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066256572&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2019.05.015
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2019.05.015
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85066256572
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 236
SP - 134
EP - 152
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
ER -