Does hydrological fragmentation affect coastal bird communities? A study from Abaco Island, The Bahamas

作者：Chacin Dinorah H; Giery Sean T^*; Yeager Lauren A; Layman Craig A; Langerhans R Brian

来源：Wetlands Ecology and Management, 2015, 23(3): 551-557.

DOI：10.1007/s11273-014-9389-8

• Anthropogenic change
• The Bahamas
• Habitat alteration
• Mangroves
• Wetland management
• Wading birds

Habitat fragmentation represents one of the most important threats to biodiversity. Fragmentation of aquatic ecosystems is pervasive, fundamentally altering aquatic community structure and ecosystem function on a worldwide scale. Because of the many ecological changes associated with hydrologic fragmentation of coastal wetlands, there may be cascading effects on non-aquatic organisms. Here we explored if anthropogenic fragmentation of tidal creek wetlands on Abaco Island, The Bahamas, affected bird communities. By comparing fragmented and unfragmented sections of nine separate tidal creeks, we tested whether fragmentation of coastal wetlands (due to roads) affected the richness, abundance, and composition of wetland bird assemblages. Although bird communities significantly differed among tidal creeks (irrespective of fragmentation status), and water salinity was positively correlated with species richness and abundance of wetland-associated birds, we found no significant differences in bird communities between fragmented and unfragmented sections of wetlands. Our findings suggest fragmented portions of tidal creek wetlands support avian communities relatively similar to their unfragmented counterparts, despite a range of differences in environmental features. These results indicate that other ecological factors (i.e., salinity) may be more important than fragmentation per se in affecting bird utilization of wetland habitats in The Bahamas.

• 出版日期2015-6