On bird species diversity and remote sensing – utilizing lidar and hyperspectral data to assess the role of vegetation structure and foliage characteristics as drivers of avian diversity

Avian diversity has long been used as a surrogate for overall diversity. In forest ecosystems, it has been assumed that vegetation structure, composition and condition have a significant impact on avian diversity. Today, these features can be assessed via remote sensing. This study examined how structure metrics from lidar data and narrowband indices from hyperspectral data relate with avian diversity. This was assessed in four deciduous-dominated woods with differing age and structure set in an agricultural matrix in eastern England. The woods were delineated into cells within which metrics of avian diversity and remote sensing based predictors were calculated. Best subset regression was used to obtain best lidar models, hyperspectral models and finally, the best models combining variables from both datasets. The aims were not only to examine the drivers of avian diversity, but to assess the capabilities of the two remote sensing techniques for the task. The amount of understorey vegetation was the best single predictor, followed by Foliage Height Diversity, reflectance at 830 nm, Anthocyanin Reflectance Index 1 and Vogelmann Red Edge Index 2. This showed the significance of the full vertical profile of vegetation, the condition of the upper canopy, and potentially tree species composition. The results thus agree with the role that vegetation structure, condition and floristics are assumed to have for diversity. However, the inclusion of hyperspectral data resulted in such minor improvements to models that its collection for these purposes should be assessed critically

Geographical and land-use influences on bird species richness in small woods in agricultural landscapes

In this paper we examine the influence of geographical and land-use factors on breeding bird species richness in small woods within farmland. In many European agricultural landscapes, small woods represent the major component of semi-natural habitat available to wildlife. We used census data (for woods of up to 15 ha) from six study areas in four countries (The Netherlands, UK, Denmark and Norway) to construct species-area relationships for woodland birds. An additional relationship for Sweden was obtained from the literature. Species richness, and the parameters of the species-area relationships, were then related to the latitude, longitude and percentage woodland cover of each study area. Overall, species richness across all woods in each study area declined with increasing latitude; the proportion of resident species also declined, but that of migrants increased. Numbers of migrant species also increased with increasing woodland cover. Both the slopes and intercepts of the species-area relationships declined with increasing latitude. Thus not only were fewer species available to colonise individual woods at higher latitudes, but the return in terms of species richness for a given increase in area was also less than at lower latitudes. From the species-area relationships, the numbers of species expected to breed in woods of 1 ha and of 15 ha decreased from 13 and 21, respectively, in The Netherlands (latitude 51.7°) to 7 and 13, respectively, in Denmark (latitude 56.3°). Other factors influencing species richness on both local and geographical scales are discussed

Performance and effectiveness of winter bird food patches established under Environmental Stewardship: results from the Hillesden experiment

The Hillesden experiment is a farm-scale study evaluating the performance of options under Environmental Stewardship. We describe bird usage of winter seed patches (20 patches; three seed mixes) in relation to seed depletion and variation between individual patches. Seed retention declined exponentially in all three mixes; 50% depletion occurred by late November, reaching 80-90% before mid January. In mid winter, Fodder Beet retained more seed (c. 80%) than Millet, Kale, Fodder Radish and Triticale (20-40%). Bird numbers peaked in December/early January (seed depletion 70-90%), but declined rapidly in late January coinciding with seed exhaustion. Seed yields varied between patches (minimum < 1% of maximum). If all patches had performed at the maximum, yield would have increased by about 64%. Bird counts also varied greatly between patches, but trends with seed yield were positive. At a farm-scale, winter bird abundance was significantly greater (granivorous species + 415%) when patches were available

Inventory and projections of UK emissions by sources and removals by sinks due to land use, land use change and forestry. Annual report July 2009

The overall aim of the project id to produce inventories and projections of UK greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks due to land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF). The project report contains the methods and numbers for these inventories and progress reports on the science undertaken to support and develop the inventory

Great tits Parus major and blue tits Cyanistes caeruleus as indicators of agri-environmental habitat quality

This study examined relationships between habitat and breeding success for two common bird species, the great tit Parus major and blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus. The aim was to determine the potential of these species to act as indicators of food resource availability for birds in managed semi-natural habitats on farmland and thus as a measure of the effectiveness of specific management practices under agri-environment schemes (AES). Breeding success was recorded for four years (2007–2010) using 90 nestboxes on arable farmland in central England. Habitat parameters were derived from high spatial resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and hyperspectral data. Relationships of breeding variables with a range of habitat variables, many of which were influenced by AES management, were evident for both species, despite strong interannual variation in breeding parameters. Relationships were strongest for models using habitat variables within a 100 m radius of the nest, compared to values of 50 and 200 m. Both species showed significant, positive relationships with the area and proximity of tree canopy and, for great tits especially, with hedgerow height and volume. Therefore, tits may act as indicators of the quality of local habitat, particularly within-hedge trees and hedgerows, managed under agri-environmental provision, and provide insight into the spatial arrangement of AES options at the field scale