What question did this study set out to answer?

To identify the drivers of rapid extinction and distribution dynamics among native, chaparral-requiring bird species across fragmented urban habitat patches.

March 1, 1988Conservation BiologyOpen Access

Reconstructed Dynamics of Rapid Extinctions of Chaparral‐Requiring Birds in Urban Habitat Islands

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Authors

MSMichael E. SouléUnited States Postal Service DBDouglas T. BolgerDartmouth College AAAllison C. AlbertsCalifornia Department of Parks and Recreation

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Implication

Observational study reveals rapid bird extinctions driven by patch area, isolation age, and mesopredator release in urban canyons, highlighting the necessity of wildlife corridors.

Key Points

To identify the drivers of rapid extinction and distribution dynamics among native, chaparral-requiring bird species across fragmented urban habitat patches.
Surveyed native chaparral-requiring bird distributions across 37 isolated canyon fragments (ranging from 0.4 to 104 hectares) in urban coastal San Diego County, California.
Assessed the influence of fragment area, canyon age (time since isolation), isolation distance, predator distributions, and species-level traits (initial density and body size) on species richness and patch occupancy.
Fragment area and canyon age accounted for the majority of variation in chaparral-requiring bird species richness, while isolation distance did not significantly contribute due to low species vagility.
Absence of apex predators (coyotes) correlated with increased numbers of smaller predators such as foxes and domestic cats through mesopredator release, accelerating bird declines.
Species abundance in undisturbed habitats combined with body size predicted 95% of the variation in canyon occupancy rates.

Cite This Study

Soulé et al. (1988) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a004d0864548b97a42d808a https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1988.tb00337.x

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Implication

Observational study reveals rapid bird extinctions driven by patch area, isolation age, and mesopredator release in urban canyons, highlighting the necessity of wildlife corridors.

Reconstructed Dynamics of Rapid Extinctions of Chaparral‐Requiring Birds in Urban Habitat Islands

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Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

Reconstructed Dynamics of Rapid Extinctions of Chaparral‐Requiring Birds in Urban Habitat Islands

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Cite This Study

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