Is more better: Counting birds may only tell part of...( probably because of livestock grazing o...)

probably because of livestock grazing on the grassy undergrowth. Northeastern US songbird populations have been shown to fare better in forest interiors than forest edges or fragmented forests. Bock and Jones suggest that, over time, some species adjust to these disturbances. In southern France, Eurasian eagle owls were more productive and abundant in areas where long-term human activity maintained an open habitat and abundant prey. This suggests some birds are able to adjust to changes, seizing the "ecological opportunities" that may arise from human disturbances and learning to avoid ecological traps.

For a global understanding of these results, Bock and Jones suggest that studies outside Europe and North America, in areas such as the tropics, are needed to provide more insight into the patterns observed in this study.

Overall, "birds are usually able to aggregate in the higher quality breeding locations, regardless of the type of bird or habitat," say the authors.

"Avian habitat evaluations: should counting birds count?" appears in the October issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.

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Contact: Annie Drinkard
annie@esa.org
Ecological Society of America
7-Oct-2004

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