Ardea
Official journal of the Netherlands Ornithologists' Union

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Paracuellos M. (2006) Relationships of songbird occupation with habitat configuration and bird abundance in patchy reed beds. ARDEA 94 (1): 87-98
Correlations of richness and distribution of passerines were studied in a complex of 40 vegetation patches dominated by Common Reed Phragmites australis (0.05–28.66 ha) in south-eastern Spain. Fourteen morphological, hydrological and vegetative parameters of the reed beds, as well as characteristics of the avian species, were quantified to identify variables related to the occupation of the reed beds by passerines. Variables related to habitat patchiness and structural complexity of emergent vegetation were the best predictors of avian species richness, but their importance changed seasonally. Spatial configuration (size, perimeter and isolation) of the reed beds was the best predictor in winter, and the vegetative complexity was best during the breeding period. The capacity of passerines to occupy habitat patches in space and time was linked to species abundance. Differences in abundance among the various bird species appeared to favour the order of disappearance in the complex when the reed beds lost species richness (‘nested’ pattern). The results highlight the need for the conservation, restoration, or creation of large heterogeneous and non-isolated reed beds to maintain the greatest number of bird species that depend on these scarce and ecologically valuable habitats.


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