Use of avian and mammalian guilds as indicators of cumulative impacts in riparian-wetland areas |
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Authors: | Mary Jo Croonquist Robert P Brooks |
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Institution: | (1) School of Forest Resources, Forest Resources Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, 16802 University Park, Pennsylvania, USA |
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Abstract: | A new method of assessing cumulative effects of human activities on bird and mammal communities of riparian-wetland areas
was developed by using response guilds to reflect how species theoretically respond to habitat disturbance on a landscape
level. All bird and mammal species of Pennsylvania were assigned values for each response guild using documented information
for each species, to reflect their sensitivity to disturbances; high guild scores corresponded to low tolerance toward habitat
disturbance. We hypothesized that, given limited time and resources, determining how wildife communities change in response
to environmental impacts can be done more efficiently with a response-guild approach than a single-species approach. To test
the model, censuses of birds and mammals were conducted along wetland and riparian areas of a protected and a disturbed watershed
in central Pennsylvania. The percent of bird species with high response-guild scores (i.e., species that had specific habitat
requirements and/or were neotropical migrants) remained relatively stable through the protected watershed. As intensity of
habitat alteration increased through the disturbed watershed, percentage of bird species with high response-guild scores decreased.
Only 2%–3% of the neotropical migrants that had specific habitat requirements were breeding residents in disturbed habitats
as compared to 17%–20% in reference areas. Species in the edge and exotic guild classifications (low guild scores) were found
in greater percentages in the disturbed watershed. Composition of mammalian guilds showed no consistent pattern associated
with habitat disturbance. Avian response guilds reflected habitat disturbance more predictively than mammalian response guilds. |
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Keywords: | Guilds Wetlands Cumulative impacts Birds Mammals Environmental assessment Riparian-watershed restoration |
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