Comparing bird species richness and assemblage composition between montane ash eucalypt forest and cool temperate rainforests – an empirical study from Victoria, south-eastern Australia
D. B. Lindenmayer A C , J. T. Wood A B , L. McBurney A , D. Michael A , M. Crane A , C. MacGregor A and R. Montague-Drake A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Fenner School of Environment and Society, WK Hancock Building West (43), The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
B Statistical Consulting Unit, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: david.lindenmayer@anu.edu.au
Emu 110(2) 109-117 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU09074
Submitted: 13 August 2009 Accepted: 20 January 2010 Published: 18 May 2010
Abstract
Patterns of avian species richness and assemblage composition may change markedly between and within vegetation types. We compared bird species richness and assemblage composition in cool temperate rainforest and Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) forest in the Central Highlands of Victoria, south-eastern Australia. We quantified the effects of the age of stands of Mountain Ash on the extent of forest-type differences with cool temperate rainforest. We also explored the influence of the shape of stands of cool temperate rainforest on bird species richness and the composition of the bird assemblage. We found no significant differences in bird species richness between cool temperate rainforests and Mountain Ash forest. This result was consistent with subtle differences in the composition of the bird assemblage, with few bird taxa being totally excluded from either of the two forest types. Some species (e.g. Pink Robin (Petroica rodinogaster)) were significantly more likely to be recorded in cool temperate rainforest but were not uncommon in Mountain Ash forest. We found no evidence of significant effects of stand shape in cool temperate rainforest, which was consistent with analyses of bird assemblages given that most species occurred in both forest types. Hence, we uncovered no evidence of specialist taxa confined to cool temperate rainforest.
Acknowledgments
This work has been supported by grants from the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment, Parks Victoria, and The Thomas Foundation. We thank the Associate Editor and several anonymous referees for insightful comments, which improved earlier versions of the manuscript.
References
Ashton
D. H.
(1981). Fire in tall open forests (wet sclerophyll forests). In ‘Fire and the Australian Biota’. (Eds A. M. Gill, R. H. Groves and I. R. Noble.) pp. 339–366. (Australian Academy of Science: Canberra.)
Barrett
G. W.
,
Silcocks
A.
,
Barry
S.
,
Cunningham
R.
, and
Poulter
R.
(2003). ‘The New Atlas of Australian Birds.’ (Birds Australia: Melbourne.)
Bowman
D. M.
(1999). ‘Australian Rainforests. Islands of Green in a Land of Fire.’ (Cambridge University Press: Melbourne.)
Brokaw
N. V.
, and
Lent
R. A.
(1999). Vertical structure. In ‘Managing Biodiversity in Forest Ecosystems’. (Ed. M. Hunter.) pp. 373–399. (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.)
Bunnell
F. L.
, and
Dunsworth
G. B.
(Eds) (2009). ‘Forestry and Biodiversity: Learning How to Sustain Biodiversity in Managed Forests’. (UBC Press: Vancouver.)
Burgman
M. A.
, and
Ferguson
I. S.
(1995). Rainforest in Victoria: a review of the scientific basis of current and proposed protection measures. Forest Service Technical Report. (Victorian Department of Conservation and Natural Resources: Melbourne.)
Cunningham, R. B. , Lindenmayer, D. B. , Nix, H. A. , and Lindenmayer, B. D. (1999). Quantifying observer heterogeneity in bird counts. Australian Journal of Ecology 24, 270–277.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Greenacre
M. J.
(2007). ‘Theory and Applications of Correspondence Analysis.’ 2nd edn. (Academic Press: Orlando, Florida.)
Harrington, G. N. , and Sanderson, K. D. (1994). Recent contraction of wet sclerophyll forest in the wet tropics of Queensland due to invasion by rainforest. Pacific Conservation Biology 1, 319–327.
Higgins
P. J.
(Ed.) (1999). ‘Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 4: Parrots to Dollarbird.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Higgins
P. J.
, and
Davies
S. J. J. F.
(Eds) (1996). ‘Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 3: Snipe to Pigeons.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Higgins
P. J.
, and
Peter
J. M.
(Eds) (2002). ‘Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 6: Pardalotes to Shrike-thrushes.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Higgins
P. J.
,
Peter
J. M.
, and
Steele
W. K.
(Eds) (2001). ‘Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 5: Tyrant-flycatchers to Chats.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Higgins
P. J.
,
Peter
J. M.
, and
Cowling
S. J.
(Eds) (2006). ‘Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 7: Boatbill to Starlings.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Howard, T. M. , and Ashton, D. H. (1973). The distribution of Nothofagus cunninghamii rainforest. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 85, 47–75.
Lumsden
L. F.
,
Alexander
J. S. A.
,
Hill
F. A. R.
,
Krasna
S. P.
, and
Silveira
C. E.
(1991). The vertebrate fauna of the Land Conservation Council Melbourne-2 study area. Technical Report Series No. 115. (Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research: Melbourne.)
MacArthur, R. H. , and MacArthur, J. W. (1961). On bird species diversity. Ecology 42, 594–598.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Mackey
B.
,
Lindenmayer
D. B.
,
Gill
A. M.
,
McCarthy
M. A.
, and
Lindesay
J. A.
(2002). ‘Wildlife, Fire and Future Climate: A Forest Ecosystem Analysis.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne.)
Majer, J. D. , Recher, H. F. , and Postle, A. C. (1994). Comparison of arthropod species richness in eastern and western Australian canopies: a contribution to the species number debate. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 36, 121–131.
Marchant
S.
, and
Higgins
P. J.
(Eds) (1990). ‘Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 1: Ratites to Ducks.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Marchant
S.
, and
Higgins
P. J.
(Eds) (1993). ‘Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 2: Raptors to Lapwings.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Mueck
S. G.
(1990). The floristic composition of Mountain Ash and Alpine Ash forests in Victoria. SSP Technical Report No. 4. (Department of Conservation and Environment, Melbourne.)
Noble, I. R. , and Slatyer, R. O. (1980). The use of vital attributes to predict successional changes in plant communities subject to recurrent disturbances. Plant Ecology 43, 5–21.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pyke
G. H.
, and
Recher
H. F.
(1983). Censusing Australian birds: a summary of procedures and a scheme for standardisation of data presentation and storage. In ‘Methods of Censusing Birds in Australia. Proceedings of a Symposium Organised by the Zoology Section of the ANZAAS and the Western Australian Group of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union’. (Ed. S. J. J. F. Davies.) pp. 55–63. (Department of Conservation and Environment: Perth.)
Recher, H. F. (1969). Bird species diversity and habitat diversity in Australia and North America. American Naturalist 103, 75–121.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Rosenzweig
M. L.
(1995). ‘Species Diversity in Space and Time.’ (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK.)
Sisk
T. D.
(2007). Incorporating edge effects into landscape design and management. In ‘Managing and Designing Landscapes for Conservation’. (Eds D. B. Lindenmayer and R. J. Hobbs.) pp. 151–164. (Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UK.)
Specht
R. L.
, and
Specht
A.
(1999). ‘Australian Plant Communities. Dynamics of Structure, Growth and Biodiversity.’ (Oxford University Press: Melbourne.)
Woinarski
J.
,
Recher
H. F.
, and
Majer
J. D.
(1997). Vertebrates and eucalypt formations. In ‘Eucalypt Ecology’. (Eds J. Williams and J. Woinarski.) pp. 303–341. (Cambridge University Press: Melbourne.)
Worth, J. R. P. , Jordan, G. J. , McKinnon, G. E. , and Vaillancourt, R. E. (2009). The major Australian cool temperate rainforest tree Nothofagus cunninghamii withstood Pleistocene glacial aridity within multiple regions: evidence from the chloroplast. The New Phytologist 182, 519–532.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
CAS |
PubMed |
Appendix 1.
List of birds detected in surveys of cool temperate rainforest and Mountain Ash forest
|
