Experts at the University of Stirling bring shed novel lite on the impact of habitat fragmentation on migrant birds.
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| Willow warbler [Credit: Andreas Trepte/WikiCommons] |
Significantly, the written report constitute that migrant manlike soul willow warblers arrived before inwards woodland patches when at that topographic point was less habitat inwards the surrounding landscape, inside a 2km radius.
The squad too constitute that an individual's conclusion to remain inwards a piece afterwards initial colonisation depended on piece quality, every bit measured past times vegetation characteristics. In particular, birds preferred to remain inwards woodlands with a relatively opened upwardly understorey, too known every bit undergrowth.
Robin Whytock, of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, led the piece of job every bit business office of his PhD with colleagues at the University, Professor Kirsty Park, Dr Elisa Fuentes-Montemayor together with co-supervisor Dr Kevin Watts at Forest Research.
"Habitat fragmentation together with loss has changed how animals motility through landscapes together with last the remaining habitat," Dr Whytock said. "Whether an fauna colonises a fragmented habitat piece - for example, a small-scale woodland - depends on a multifariousness of factors, including the content of the surrounding landscape together with the lineament of the piece itself.
"This written report gives a valuable insight into how habitat fragmentation affects the demeanour of fifty-fifty real mobile species, such every bit migrant birds.
"Our results back upwardly prior interrogation inwards aquatic written report systems that bring looked at colonisation of artificial reefs together with ponds - and, every bit far every bit nosotros know, this is the starting fourth dimension time that the patterns observed inwards our written report bring been observed over such large spatial scales together with with such a highly mobile species."
The scientists conducted the written report inwards saltation 2016 to focus on the saltation migration of the willow warbler, which migrates bi-annually betwixt northern Europe together with sub-Saharan Africa.
They combined the latest bio-acoustic applied scientific discipline - which recorded the starting fourth dimension vocal dates of manlike soul willow warblers - with Stirling's unique Woodland Creation together with Ecological Networks (WrEN) projection to attempt how the sum of habitat inwards a regional landscape affects colonisation timing of isolated woodland patches.
On analysing the well data, the squad constitute starting fourth dimension vocal dates were on average 5 days before inwards patches with 5 pct woodland comprehend inwards the landscape, when compared to patches with around xxx pct cover.
Dr Whytock added: "These findings are especially interesting when you lot regard that previous interrogation has suggested this species benefits from large expanses of woodland during migration. Therefore, it's surprising that individuals should pick out to settle before inwards isolated woodlands."
He said farther piece of job is straight off required to examine whether this has consequences for the survival together with reproduction of willow warblers.
The written report is published inwards Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
Source: University of Stirling [September 06, 2018]
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