Land use change effects on breeding bird community composition

Abstract

We identified land uses, vegetation cover types, and landscape patterns associated with avian community diversity in 2 rural landscapes in a hardwood forest-tallgrass prairie ecotone that differ with regard to human population density. We obtained long-term (24 years) changes in avian community composition through records from the North American Breeding Bird Survey. We obtained historical and present land use, vegetation cover types, and landscape structure of both landscapes from high-resolution aerial photography. Avian community composition in the low density rural population landscape was primarily related to the amount of land in deciduous forest and land treated with fire or herbicides. In contrast, avian community composition in the high density rural population landscape was primarily related to the amount of land in deciduous forest, native grassland, and roads. Changes in vegetation cover type were related to changes in the avian community composition by increasing prairie habitat associated species in the low density rural population and generalist habitat associated species in the high density rural population landscapes. Loss of neotropical migrants and increased number of generalist species in the high density rural population landscape was related to decreased native vegetation, road development, and increased landscape fragmentation. Biologists and conservationists in this region should focus attention on preserving biological diversity of rural ecosystems by maintaining native plant communities.