Effects of Landscape Context on Bird Community in the Subtropical Evergreen Broad-Leaved Forest of Wuyishan National Park
Yi Wu,
Wenwen Zhang,
Yifei Wang,
Shengjun Zhao,
Jing Tian,
Jie Shi,
Xiao Yang,
Peng Cui
Affiliations
Yi Wu
Research Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory on Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ecological Environment of Wuyi Mountains, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
Wenwen Zhang
Research Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory on Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ecological Environment of Wuyi Mountains, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
Yifei Wang
School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China
Shengjun Zhao
Research Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory on Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ecological Environment of Wuyi Mountains, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
Jing Tian
Research Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory on Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ecological Environment of Wuyi Mountains, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
Jie Shi
Research Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory on Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ecological Environment of Wuyi Mountains, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
Xiao Yang
Research Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory on Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ecological Environment of Wuyi Mountains, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
Peng Cui
Research Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory on Biosafety, State Environmental Protection Scientific Observation and Research Station for Ecological Environment of Wuyi Mountains, Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Nanjing 210042, China
Landscape context can reflect the habitat structure and play an important role in bird species occurrences and abundance. For local biodiversity conservation and restoration, we examined the effects of landscape context on bird communities at different altitude gradients. Our study was conducted in four altitude gradients (<300 m, 300–599 m, 600–899 m, 900–1200 m) of subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest in Wuyishan National Park, China. The bird survey was carried out in 115 transects in spring, summer, autumn and winter. We examined the effects of altitude, season and landscape context. The result showed that (1) species richness and abundance at <300 m altitude were highest among the four altitude gradients, and they showed more significant differences than those at other altitude gradients; (2) the species richness of birds was associated with altitude, season and landscape context, as the season is more significant than other explanatory variables; (3) at the landscape level, habitat configuration is more important. The average canopy height and contagion index positively correlated with the species richness and abundance of birds at all four altitude gradients. In particular, the average canopy height is significant at 300–599 m and 600–899 m altitude gradients. The study results can provide a theoretical basis and guidance for future national park conservation and management and ecological restoration in the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest regions.
