Forest structure determines spatial changes in avian communities along an elevational gradient in tropical Africa
| العنوان: | Forest structure determines spatial changes in avian communities along an elevational gradient in tropical Africa |
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| المؤلفون: | Ondřej Sedláček, Jiří Doležal, Miroslav Svoboda, Francis Njie Motombi, Martin Dančák, Štěpán Janeček, Elias Ndive Lltonga, David Hořák, Eric Djomo Nana, Jan Altman, Michal Ferenc, Tomáš Albrecht, Ľuboš Majeský |
| المصدر: | Journal of Biogeography. 46:2466-2478 |
| بيانات النشر: | Wiley, 2019. |
| سنة النشر: | 2019 |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | Ecology, ved/biology, ved/biology.organism_classification_rank.species, Elevation, Vegetation, Biology, Spatial distribution, Shrub, Habitat, Spatial variability, Species richness, Leaf area index, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
| الوصف: | AIM: To test if tree species richness and forest structure drive spatial variation in avian communities along a tropical elevation gradient and to present information about the role of detailed forest parameters. LOCATION: A 2,000‐m long elevational gradient of tropical forest on Mt. Cameroon, west‐central Africa. TAXON: Birds and trees. METHODS: We performed bird censuses and vegetation mapping at the same plots across six forested sites at elevations of 350, 650, 1,100, 1,500, 1,850, and 2,200 m a.s.l., with 16 plots per elevation. We tested the effects of elevation, forest structure and tree diversity on the species richness, functional diversity and β‐diversity of birds (Bray–Curtis dissimilarity). We used conditional inference trees based on random forests (RF) to investigate these relationships across all elevation sites as well as within elevations. RESULTS: Both tree and bird species richness declined monotonically with elevation. Vegetation structure correlated with elevation, and all vegetation attributes significantly differed among elevations. The RF explained 70% of the variance in avian species richness, with the most important predictors being elevation, proportion of dead trees, tree species richness and herb layer coverage. We found that elevation (and shrub layer) was a particularly important predictor of avian functional diversity. We identified no important predictor of bird species richness after standardization within elevations, and the proportion of dead trees was the sole important predictor of functional diversity. Within‐elevation β‐diversity in avian community composition was determined by the dissimilarity of the tree community and differences in leaf area index, solar radiation and spatial distance. The functional dissimilarity was best explained by leaf area index. MAIN CONCLUSIONS: Apart from elevation itself, spatial distance even within elevations correlated with compositional and functional variation among avian assemblages. Forest structural traits can have a significant influence on distribution of birds. Thus, gaps in the spatial distribution of species such as along elevations might be caused by fine‐scale recognition of suitable habitats. |
| تدمد: | 1365-2699 0305-0270 |
| URL الوصول: | https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::2aa3dbdc046aaadae91b0fdf6c76c318 https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13688 |
| حقوق: | CLOSED |
| رقم الأكسشن: | edsair.doi...........2aa3dbdc046aaadae91b0fdf6c76c318 |
| قاعدة البيانات: | OpenAIRE |
| تدمد: | 13652699 03050270 |
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