中国城市鸟类学研究进展

我国的城市鸟类学起步于20世纪80年代,随着城市化过程的加速,城市鸟类学也有了较快发展。为了全面系统地了解中国城市鸟类学研究的历史、现状与发展趋势,在中国期刊全文数据库中以"城市"和"鸟类"为主题词检索了1950—2015年间发表的文章,筛选获得128篇文章,并对检索结果进行综述。结果显示,城市鸟类学发表文章数量自20世纪80年代起逐渐增加,由1981—1990的年均0.7篇跃升至2011—2015年的年均11.6篇。研究地涉及全国29个省级行政区的57个城市。研究的主要议题包括:城市鸟类的群落结构和分布、影响城市鸟类的主要环境因素和城市鸟类的保护实践。综述发现,不同城市环带位置,城市中不同生境组合会影响城市的鸟类群落结构;不同尺度上的环境因素会对鸟类的分布、繁殖、觅食和生理情况产生多种影响,而城市化是影响这些环境因素的主要驱动力;鸟类栖息地规划以保护城市中自然栖息地,增加其景观连通性促进鸟类保护,鸟类招引技术主要通过补充巢资源和食物资源促进鸟类保护。然而,由于资源限制,有关城市鸟类的长期研究相对较少。并且,已有研究中城市鸟类的生态系统服务也鲜有涉及。为此,对我国城市鸟类学的发展提出了三点展望,城市鸟类学研究应加强城市绿地鸟类招引措施的生态影响研究,进一步发掘城市鸟类的自然体验与环境教育价值,并促进民间爱好者参与长期系统性城市鸟类学调查。     

鸟类对城市化的适应

城市生态系统是以人为主导的复杂系统,当前的高速城市化进程对包括鸟类在内的城市区域动物施加了广泛的选择压力。从鸟类对城市环境的主动适应角度,归纳了国内外城市鸟类生态学研究中有关鸟类对城市化的适应研究,探讨了城市化进程中城市鸟类行为、生理指标以及种群基因结构的适应性变化。基于遗传的数量效应,研究认为某些鸟种对城市环境的适应已经上升到进化层次,同时还对城市化导致鸟类新物种形成的可能性进行了探讨。最后,对鸟类对城市化适应的研究前景提出了展望。     

Modern telemetry: New possibilities in ornithology

Modern methods of bird telemetry and some research results obtained using these methods are considered. The development of high-technology methods for tracking bird movements has significantly broadened and, in some cases, radically changed our views on the life of birds. After the invention of various radio transmitters for birds (from simple, short-range to long-life satellite devices), new possibilities have opened up for studies in many areas of ornithology.     

Garden bird feeding predicts the structure of urban avian assemblages

Households across the developed world cumulatively spend many millions of dollars annually on feeding garden birds. While beneficial effects on avian assemblages are frequently claimed, the relationships between levels of garden bird feeding and local avian populations are unknown. Using data from a large UK city, we show that both avian species richness and abundance vary across different socioeconomic neighbourhood types. We examined whether patterns in bird feeding could explain this variation. The density of bird feeding stations across the urban environment was strongly positively related to avian abundance, after controlling for differences in habitat availability. This effect was almost exclusively driven by the abundance of those species known to utilize garden feeding stations frequently. In contrast, the density of feeding stations had no effect on avian species richness. We also examined variation in the proportion of households in different communities that provide food for birds, a factor that is not correlated with feeder density. The prevalence of bird feeding across different neighbourhoods declined as socioeconomic deprivation increased, and increased with avian species richness and abundance. Our results suggest that the provision of supplementary food for birds by multiple landowners across a city can impact the status of urban bird populations. The potential for harnessing these actions for conservation needs to be explored.     

Ornithology and bird conservation in North America – a Canadian perspective

Capsule A comparison between North American and European ornithology shows many differences between the two.

While local knowledge was developed over millennia in Europe, in North America much was originally learned from the indigenous people. Knowing the food value of wild game was essential to survival and led to a strong tradition of wildlife management in North America. However, there was also systematic exploration of the local avifauna by museum-based collectors. This dual origin of ornithology is still detectable today. North American ornithology, particularly through the introduction of the Migratory Birds Convention Act of 1917, is strongly influenced by federal, state and provincial governments who have a statutory responsibility for the protection of wild birds. Because the USA and Canada, and more recently Mexico, are responsible for the administration of the Act, many initiatives in bird conservation involve international co-operation, starting initially with the North American Waterfowl Management Plan, but now extended to all species of birds. Many partnerships involving government, professional and amateur ornithologists (e.g. Bird Studies Canada) have resulted in monitoring of bird populations similar to that done by the BTO. However, there still seems to be a paucity of population studies and survey information in the mainstream ornithological journals in North America.     

Avian influenza a virus in wild birds in highly urbanized areas

Avian influenza virus (AIV) surveillance studies in wild birds are usually conducted in rural areas and nature reserves. Less is known of avian influenza virus prevalence in wild birds located in densely populated urban areas, while these birds are more likely to be in close contact with humans. Influenza virus prevalence was investigated in 6059 wild birds sampled in cities in the Netherlands between 2006 and 2009, and compared with parallel AIV surveillance data from low urbanized areas in the Netherlands. Viral prevalence varied with the level of urbanization, with highest prevalence in low urbanized areas. Within cities virus was detected in 0.5% of birds, while seroprevalence exceeded 50%. Ring recoveries of urban wild birds sampled for virus detection demonstrated that most birds were sighted within the same city, while few were sighted in other cities or migrated up to 2659 km away from the sample location in the Netherlands. Here we show that urban birds were infected with AIVs and that urban birds were not separated completely from populations of long-distance migrants. The latter suggests that wild birds in cities may play a role in the introduction of AIVs into cities. Thus, urban bird populations should not be excluded as a human-animal interface for influenza viruses.     

Birdsong and anthropogenic noise: implications and applications for conservation

The dramatic increase in human activities all over the world has caused, on an evolutionary time scale, a sudden rise in especially low-pitched noise levels. Ambient noise may be detrimental to birds through direct stress, masking of predator arrival or associated alarm calls, and by interference of acoustic signals in general. Two of the most important functions of avian acoustic signals are territory defence and mate attraction. Both of these functions are hampered when signal efficiency is reduced through rising noise levels, resulting in direct negative fitness consequences. Many bird species are less abundant near highways and studies are becoming available on reduced reproductive success in noisy territories. Urbanization typically leads to homogenization of bird communities over large geographical ranges. We review current evidence for whether and how anthropogenic noise plays a role in these patterns of decline in diversity and density. We also provide details of a case study on great tits (Parus major), a successful urban species. Great tits show features that other species may lack and make them unsuitable for city life. We hypothesize that behavioural plasticity in singing behaviour may allow species more time to adapt to human-altered environments and we address the potential for microevolutionary changes and urban speciation in European blackbirds (Turdus merula). We conclude by providing an overview of mitigating measures available to abate noise levels that are degrading bird breeding areas. Bird conservationists probably gain most by realizing that birds and humans often benefit from the same or only slightly modified measures.     

Avian Assemblages at Bird Baths: A Comparison of Urban and Rural Bird Baths in Australia

Private gardens provide habitat and resources for many birds living in human-dominated landscapes. While wild bird feeding is recognised as one of the most popular forms of human-wildlife interaction, almost nothing is known about the use of bird baths. This citizen science initiative explores avian assemblages at bird baths in private gardens in south-eastern Australia and how this differs with respect to levels of urbanisation and bioregion. Overall, 992 citizen scientists collected data over two, four-week survey periods during winter 2014 and summer 2015 (43% participated in both years). Avian assemblages at urban and rural bird baths differed between bioregions with aggressive nectar-eating species influenced the avian assemblages visiting urban bird baths in South Eastern Queensland, NSW North Coast and Sydney Basin while introduced birds contributed to differences in South Western Slopes, Southern Volcanic Plains and Victorian Midlands. Small honeyeaters and other small native birds occurred less often at urban bird baths compared to rural bird baths. Our results suggest that differences between urban versus rural areas, as well as bioregion, significantly influence the composition of avian assemblages visiting bird baths in private gardens. We also demonstrate that citizen science monitoring of fixed survey sites such as bird baths is a useful tool in understanding large-scale patterns in avian assemblages which requires a vast amount of data to be collected across broad areas.     

Non‐linearities in bird responses across urbanization gradients: A meta‐analysis

Urbanization is one of the most extreme forms of environmental alteration, posing a major threat to biodiversity. We studied the effects of urbanization on avian communities via a systematic review using hierarchical and categorical meta‐analyses. Altogether, we found 42 observations from 37 case studies for species richness and 23 observations from 20 case studies for abundance. Urbanization had an overall strong negative effect on bird species richness, whereas abundance increased marginally with urbanization. There was no evidence that city size played a role in influencing the relationship between urbanization and either species richness or abundance. Studies that examined long gradients (i.e. from urban to rural) were more likely to detect negative urbanization effects on species richness than studies that considered short gradients (i.e. urban vs. suburban or urban vs. rural areas). In contrast, we found little evidence that the effect of urbanization on abundance was influenced by gradient length. Effects of urbanization on species richness were more negative for studies including public green spaces (parks and other amenity areas) in the sampled landscapes. In contrast, studies performed solely in the urban matrix (i.e. no green spaces) revealed a strong positive effect on bird abundance. When performing subset analyses on urban–suburban, suburban–rural and suburban–natural comparisons, species richness decreased from natural to urban areas, but with a stronger decrease at the urban–suburban interface, whereas bird abundance showed a clear intermediate peak along the urban–rural gradient although abundance in natural areas was comparable to that in suburban areas. This suggests that species loss happens especially at the urban–suburban interface, and that the highest abundances occur in suburban areas compared to urban or rural areas. Thus, our study shows the importance of suburban areas, where the majority of birds occur with fairly high species richness.     

Fifty years of Bird Study

Capsule Field ornithology is alive and well, and in the future can contribute much more in Britain and elsewhere.

Aims To review the progress of field ornithology in Britain in the context of Bird Study and the British Trust for Ornithology.

Methods An overview was taken of the main subject areas published in Bird Study to characterize progress over 50 years. Some quantification of data on the main bird organizations was performed.

ResultsKnowledge of status and trends of British birds has moved from the qualitative to generally well detailed quantitative over the past 50 years. Causes of distribution and changes are increasingly well understood in terms of habitat and of population processes. Behaviour and ecology have grown to be separate disciplines in their own right although birds have been major subjects of study within them. Migration studies have lagged somewhat in Britain but advanced elsewhere in recent decades. Amongst the main bird organizations, the BTO still has a growing membership, that of the RSPB has reached an astonishing level but may be nearing a plateau while the BOU's membership is clearly in decline.

Conclusions Field ornithology has made a large contribution to the environmental debate and the future is set for further integration across disciplines in answering large-scale questions. Great public interest has supported the growth of ornithology with a big switch from amateur to professional workers. There is a major challenge to exploit the value of birds in promoting interest in the environment and delivering sound facts to support the biodiversity debate elsewhere on Earth. Fifty years of history in Britain indicate what is possible.     

A green design of city squares increases abundance and diversity of birds

Cities are designed for humans but are also highly dynamic ecosystems that provide habitats for wild animals. These habitats depend on a city's green infrastructure which is increasingly threatened by urban densification. A commonly studied model taxon for wild animals in cities are birds, and the importance of large green spaces for the diversity of birds in cities has been shown. However, how small-scale green spaces affect bird communities, which local characteristics are important, and whether there are seasonal differences remains unclear. We asked how and to what extent the characteristics of city squares in Munich affect the diversity and abundance of birds and if there are differences between bird communities in spring, autumn, and winter. We monitored birds on 103 city squares in Munich using a search-route method. Sampled squares spanned a spatial gradient from the center to the periphery of the city and differed in sealed surface proportion and vegetation structures, such as trees, shrubs, and lawns. The diversity and abundance of birds increased with a higher proportion of green characteristics on the square. Especially the proportion of grass cover and the density of trees had strong positive effects. Old trees had additional effects on birds beyond the effects of trees in general, while the mean number of people on a square negatively influenced bird abundance and diversity. Despite seasonal changes in bird composition, square characteristics showed consistent effects on bird abundance and diversity over seasons. These results underline that the green characteristics of city squares, and therefore of small-scale green spaces, affect their suitability as habitat for wildlife in cities. Integrating this knowledge into city planning can help to maintain or even increase urban biodiversity in the future.     

Relative Roles of Grey Squirrels,Supplementary Feeding,and Habitat in Shaping Urban Bird Assemblages

Non-native species are frequently considered to influence urban assemblages. The grey squirrel Sciurus carolinensis is one such species that is widespread in the UK and is starting to spread across Europe; it predates birds’ nests and can compete with birds for supplementary food. Using distance sampling across the urbanisation intensity gradient in Sheffield (UK) we test whether urban grey squirrels influence avian species richness and density through nest predation and competition for supplementary food sources. We also assess how urban bird assemblages respond to supplementary feeding. We find that grey squirrels slightly reduced the abundance of breeding bird species most sensitive to squirrel nest predation by reducing the beneficial impact of woodland cover. There was no evidence that grey squirrel presence altered relationships between supplementary feeding and avian assemblage structure. This may be because, somewhat surprisingly, supplementary feeding was not associated with the richness or density of wintering bird assemblages. These associations were positive during the summer, supporting advocacy to feed birds during the breeding season and not just winter, but explanatory capacity was limited. The amount of green space and its quality, assessed as canopy cover, had a stronger influence on avian species richness and population size than the presence of grey squirrels and supplementary feeding stations. Urban bird populations are thus more likely to benefit from investment in improving the availability of high quality habitats than controlling squirrel populations or increased investment in supplementary feeding.     

湖南娄底市城区公园绿地鸟类物种多样性及保护对策

城市公园绿地作为城市生态系统的重要自然组成部分,是鸟类及其他动物的重要生境和载体.快速城市化导致城市公园绿地空间格局剧烈变化,公园绿地因在城市中呈斑块状分布而具有许多岛屿栖息地的特性,对鸟类群落产生了明显的影响.为了摸清娄底市城区的鸟类群落组成及物种多样性,为制定鸟类保护措施提供依据, 2010年11月至 2012年1月采用样带和样方法对城区内7个公园绿地中鸟类物种的分布及其生境进行调查,共记录到鸟类56种,隶属于11目27科.其中留鸟为32种,占57.2%;夏候鸟、冬候鸟各12种,分别占21.4%.东洋界27种,占48.2%;古北界14种,占25.0%;广布种15种,占26.8%.国家Ⅱ级重点保护野生鸟类7种,占物种总数的12.5%.娄底市城区公园绿地鸟类群落物种Shannon指数、Pielou指数、G-F指数分别为1.49、0.85、0.62.珠山公园的物种数(42)、Shannon指数(1.41)、G指数(3.46)、F指数(6.12)、G-F指数(0.43)均最高,而月琴山公园的Pielou指数最高(0.92).对娄底市绿地鸟类资源较为贫乏的主要原因进行了分析,并提出了合理的保护建议.     

上海闵行区园林鸟类群落嵌套结构

城市中的园林绿地呈现斑块状分布,其栖息地特征与岛屿栖息地相似。2008年11月至2009年10月,对上海市闵行区内的7块城市绿地进行调查,记录雀形目鸟类的分布情况,并运用Nestedness temperature calculator软件,检验其群落结构是否符合嵌套结构。运用Arc GIS软件分析该地区的卫星图片,收集7块样地的面积、绿地盖度、水源距离和人为干扰程度等数据,结合实地调查所得到的数据,分析这一嵌套结构的形成原因和影响因素。结果显示：上海市闵行区城市绿地中的雀形目鸟类分布是显著的嵌套结构,园林面积、绿地面积和水源情况都对其嵌套结构有显著影响。但是与真正岛屿上存在的群落分布嵌套结构不同,人为干扰程度对这一结构也有非常明显的影响。基于上述结果可以看出,影响上海市园林鸟类的群落嵌套结构的主要原因是栖息地的结构和人为干扰程度。因此,建议在规划和建设城市公园和绿地时,应该偏重于面积较大,植被盖度和丰富度高,结构合理的园林,并且尽量减少人为干扰。     

The role of radar wind profilers in ornithology

In the past 70 years radar technology has been increasingly applied in ornithological research in various geographical areas worldwide and has contributed greatly to a better understanding of bird migration. Many different radar types have been used, such as tracking, ship or weather radars. However, radar wind profilers (RWPs) have been largely neglected in avian research. RWPs continuously measure three‐dimensional winds and, despite the low frequency range at which these systems operate, available literature provides evidence that birds are recorded at many sites. So far the potential of RWPs in ornithological research has not been fully explored and studies deal predominantly with birds in the context of clutter removal. However, based on their broad implementation in networks (e.g. E‐PROFILE in Europe) situated in areas that are strategically important for bird migration, they could offer a valuable complement to already established or planned large‐scale bird monitoring schemes by radar. The objective of this paper is to serve as a reference for those who wish to consider RWP data in a biological context. To that end, we provide an overview of the evolution and establishment of operational RWPs as well as of their mode of operation, in order to depict their role in meteorology and to evaluate their potential in ornithology. The assessment is based on available literature on RWPs and radar ornithology outlining the past, present and potential future role of wind profilers. In the past, birds were discarded as contamination and eliminated as far as possible from the meteorological data. Only recently have the echo signatures of biological targets been scrutinized thoroughly in raw data and used successfully for ornithological investigation. On this basis it is possible to consider the potential future utility of this promising data source as a complement to other remote‐sensing instruments and other sampling techniques used in avian research. Weather independence of ornithological information was found to be a particular benefit. However, as the development of the bird‐specific method is only in an early stage, more detailed studies are necessary in the future to fully assess the potential of this type of radar.     

海口和三亚两城市破碎化林地中鸟类群落多样性与嵌套分布格局

城市化是生物多样性快速丧失的主要原因之一。鸟类作为城市生态系统的重要组成部分, 其生物多样性格局和物种保护已成为城市生态学研究的热点。为揭示城市化过程中城区和郊区破碎化林地中鸟类群落的多样性差异和嵌套格局, 本研究于2021年春、夏季鸟类繁殖期采用样线法对海口和三亚市的城区、郊区共13个林地斑块中的鸟类群落进行调查。使用NODF (nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill)和WNODF (weighted nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill)方法进行嵌套格局分析。研究发现: (1)共记录到林鸟100种, 隶属于11目39科, 其中三亚郊区的鸟类丰富度最高, 共8目29科68种。记录到国家重点保护鸟类共18种, 其中两城市郊区的国家重点保护鸟类物种数均多于城区, 海口郊区还记录到国家I级重点保护鸟类黄胸鹀(Emberiza aureola)。(2)鸟类群落多度、物种丰富度、Pielou均匀度指数和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数在不同区域中均存在差异。海口城区的鸟类群落多度显著高于海口郊区(P < 0.05), 三亚郊区的鸟类群落物种丰富度、Pielou均匀度指数和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数均显著高于三亚城区和海口郊区(P < 0.05)。(3)嵌套分析结果表明, 海口和三亚市的城区、郊区林地鸟类群落均呈现反嵌套分布格局。线性回归分析显示, 三亚市城区和郊区的斑块面积与鸟类物种丰富度呈显著正相关, 而物种丰富度与斑块距最近大面积林地的距离之间无显著相关性。研究表明, 两城市鸟类群落多样性都表现出郊区高于城区的特点, 少数优势种(如白头鹎 Pycnonotus sinensis)占据了城市中的主要生态位。受城市化的影响, 海口郊区与城区鸟类群落有同质化的趋势。鸟类在城区和郊区斑块间的高流动性、种间竞争和斑块中资源的可利用性等因素可能导致斑块间鸟类群落的反嵌套分布格局。我们建议应加强城区和郊区鸟类的保护, 减少对林地的破坏, 提高城市鸟类多样性。     

Agricultural ornithology: an Indian perspective

Agricultural ornithology aims at obtaining scientific information on birds in relation to agriculture and using this information for their management. Most of bird species play a useful role in agriculture by having a potent check on insect and rodent pests. However, some granivorous bird species, having adapted to the agricultural habitats and increased in numbers, are conflicting with our goals of agricultural production by inflicting economic losses to crops, fruits and stored grains. Bird management involves both the conservation of useful species and control of pests. Agricultural ornithology is of special importance in predominantly agricultural countries like India. Although a good deal of work has been done in this discipline in India, a lot remains to be done and, in fact, the discipline is still in its infancy. This paper reviews the progress made in agricultural ornithology in India, points out important problems and gaps in knowledge, and suggests approaches for future research.     

A habitat island approach to conserving birds in urban landscapes: case studies from southern and northern Europe

Wildlife conservation in urban habitats is increasingly important due to current urbanization trends. We review the different approaches to studying birds in urban landscapes, and point out the importance of the habitat island ecological theory as a research framework for the management and conservation of urban birds. Based on two comprehensive research projects conducted at urban parks in Spain (Madrid) and Finland (Oulu and Rovaniemi), several different issues related to bird conservation in cities are discussed, main findings of these projects are presented, and future research needs are suggested. Urban parks are important biodiversity hotspots in cities. Fragmentation conditions have the same deleterious effects to urban birds as in other fragmented landscapes. Park size accounts for species accumulation in urban parks; this pattern being highly nested. Urban parks of 10–35 ha would contain most of the species recorded in cities, but other indicators related to the probabilities of persistence of the target species should be obtained. Wooded streets can increase urban landscape connectivity by providing alternative habitat for feeding and nesting during the breeding season. Because increasing the size of parks is difficult in cities, enhancement of habitat diversity and resource availability for birds within parks (e.g. nest boxes, winter feeding tables, etc.) appears to be a straightforward way of increasing urban bird diversity. However, human disturbance (pedestrians) should be controlled since it can negatively influence many urban birds. We present a conceptual model for urban bird conservation, which includes three aspects (management, environmental education and research) and new alternatives to promote the involvement of different sectors of the society.     

近代云南鸟类学简史

云南省独特的地理位置、复杂的自然环境、丰富的生物资源,及其区系组成和物种分化的特异性,早就吸引着中外学者。鸦片战争以后,西方学者纷至沓来,而国内学者的研究则主要是新中国成立以后才发展起来的。六十年代以前,进行了大量的野外区系普查,七十年代起开始转为对标本、资料的整理,同时,生态等其他领域也有了新的开端。近代云南鸟类学的发展,从时间上可划分为三个阶段,从内容上又可分若干方面。