内蒙古鸟类新纪录——灰蓝姬鹟

2007年9月26日,笔者在内蒙古赛罕乌拉国家级自然保护区(44°13′28″N,118°43′9″E)进行野生动物多样性调查时,于下午1500左右在沟谷杂木林中发现1只体长约13 cm的雀形目鸟类停歇于白桦树上,在距其约30 m的地方,通过望远镜观察发现:该鸟眼圈棕黄色,眼先和头侧褐色杂棕黄色,虹膜暗褐色;嘴黑色,颏、喉泛白色形成三角形;脚暗褐色;上体棕褐色,腰部沾棕,尾上覆羽和尾(红)棕色,下体棕白色,胸和两胁棕色.     

大鵟的食性改变:来自稳定性碳同位素的证据

通过对大规模灭鼠后的海北高寒草甸生态系统大鵟、小型哺乳类以及雀形目鸟类肌肉稳定性碳同位素比值的测定发现,大篱的肌肉稳定性碳同位素比值介于-22．60‰和-23．10‰之间;小型哺乳类和主要雀形目鸟类肌肉稳定性碳同位素比值分别介于-25．57‰和-25．78‰以及-24．81‰和-22．51‰之间,且它们之间差异性显著。基于碳同位素的分馏模式(即动物和它食物之间稳定性碳同位素分馏在1‰～2‰之间),我们推断经大规模灭鼠后,大篱的食性发生了较大变化,其食物主要来源于高寒草甸的雀形目鸟类,而非原来的小型哺乳类。通过稳定性同位素营养级模型的运算发现,大蔫处在4．23左右的营养级;雀形目鸟类处在2．4到3．39左右的营养级,而小型哺乳类则处在1．45到1．82左右的营养级。进而采用稳定性同位素质量平衡模型计算得出,大篱的食物由35．04％的小型哺乳类和64．96％的雀形目鸟类所组成,进一步说明小型哺乳类在大量灭鼠后仅占大篱食物的很小一部分。由此可见,采取大规模的化学灭鼠,不仅降低了小型啮齿类天敌——大鵟的数量,而日使得其食谱发毕了巨大改变而转向草甸主要雀形目鸟类[动物学报49(6)：764～768,2003]。     

Bird conservation and biodiversity research in Mexico: status and priorities

Mexico has a megadiverse avifauna that includes many endemic elements, as well as rich sets of species ranging farther north or farther south in the Americas. This avifauna, nonetheless, has suffered considerable losses as a consequence of long‐term, intensive human activity across the landscape. We review what is known about the Mexican avifauna, specifically its diversity and endemism, and how that knowledge has and has not turned into effective conservation measures to assure the long‐term integrity of the avifauna.     

Bird community responses to habitat fragmentation: how consistent are they across landscapes?

Aim The woodland ecosystems of south‐eastern Australia have been extensively disturbed by agriculture and urbanization. Herein, the occurrence of birds in woodland remnants in three distinct landscapes was analysed to examine the effects of different types of landscape matrices on species richness vs. area and species richness vs. isolation relationships and individual species responses to woodland fragmentation. Location The study system comprised three distinct woodland landscapes of the northern Australian Capital Territory and bordering areas of New South Wales. These landscapes (termed agricultural, peri‐urban and urban) are located within 50 km of each other, have remnant fragments of similar age, size, isolation, woodland cover, elevation and climates. The major distinguishing feature of the three landscapes was the properties of the habitats surrounding the numerous woodland remnants. Methods Bird surveys, using an area‐search methodology, were conducted in 1999 and 2000 in 127 remnants in the three landscapes to determine bird species presence/absence. Each remnant was characterized by measures of remnant area, isolation and habitat complexity. To characterize differences between each landscape, we conducted an analysis of the amount of tree cover and human disturbance in each landscape using SPOT imagery and aerial photographs. Linear regressions of woodland‐dependent species richness vs. remnant area and remnant isolation for the three different landscapes were calculated to see if there were any apparent differences. Binomial logistic regressions were used to determine the relationships between the occurrence of each species and the size and isolation of woodland habitat, in each landscape. Results All the landscapes displayed a significant (P < 0.01) species vs. area relationship, but the slope of the urban relationship was significantly greater than those of the other landscapes. In contrast, only the agricultural landscape displayed a significant (P < 0.01) species richness vs. isolation relationship. When individual species were investigated, we found species that were: (1) apparently insensitive to reduction in remnant area and increase in isolation across all landscapes, (2) absent in small remnants in all landscapes, (3) absent in small remnants in all landscapes and also absent in isolated remnants in the agricultural landscape, (4) absent in isolated remnants in the agricultural landscape, and (5) absent in small remnants in the urban landscape. Threshold values (50% probability of occurrence) for area and isolation for individual species were highly variable across the three landscapes. Main conclusions These results indicate that woodland bird communities have a varying response to habitat fragmentation in different landscapes. Whilst we cannot be sure how representative our chosen landscapes are of other similarly composed landscapes, these results suggest that the type of landscape matrix may have a considerable influence on how bird species are affected by woodland fragmentation in the region. For instance, the properties of a matrix may influence both the resources available in the landscape as a whole for different bird species, and the connectivity (dispersal of birds), between woodland remnants. We encourage further research that examines these hypotheses and argue that the management of the matrix should be included in conservation strategies for fragmented landscapes.     

Long‐term climate impacts on breeding bird phenology in Pennsylvania,USA

Climate change is influencing bird phenology worldwide, but we still lack information on how many species are responding over long temporal periods. We assessed how climate affected passerine reproductive timing and productivity at a constant effort mist‐netting station in western Pennsylvania using a model comparison approach. Several lines of evidence point to the sensitivity of 21 breeding passerines to climate change over five decades. The trends for temperature and precipitation over 53 years were slightly positive due to intraseasonal variation, with the greatest temperature increases and precipitation declines in early spring. Regardless of broodedness, migration distance, or breeding season, 13 species hatched young earlier over time with most advancing >3 days per decade. Warm springs were associated with earlier captures of juveniles for 14 species, ranging from 1‐ to 3‐day advancement for every 1 °C increase. This timing was less likely to be influenced by spring precipitation; nevertheless, higher rainfall was usually associated with later appearance of juveniles and breeding condition in females. Temperature and precipitation were positively related to productivity for seven and eleven species, respectively, with negative relations evident for six and eight species. We found that birds fledged young earlier with increasing spring temperatures, potentially benefiting some multibrooded species. Indeed, some extended the duration of breeding in these warm years. Yet, a few species fledged fewer juveniles in warmer and wetter seasons, indicating that expected future increases could be detrimental to locally breeding populations. Although there were no clear relationships between life history traits and breeding phenology, species‐specific responses to climate found in our study provide novel insights into phenological flexibility in songbirds. Our research underscores the value of long‐term monitoring studies and the importance of continuing constant effort sampling in the face of climate change.     

陕西秦岭东段南坡繁殖鸟类群落组成的30年变化

于2008和2010年每年5～7月在秦岭东段南坡的商洛地区商南、山阳、柞水和洛南4县根据海拔和植被类型选择样点,并采用样线法和网捕法相结合的方法对繁殖鸟类群落进行了调查。共观察记述鸟类159种,农田和栽培植物带(215～650 m)有鸟类96种,其中优势种是山麻雀(Passer rutilans),低山阔叶林带(650～1 200 m)鸟类种数最多,有135种,其中优势种是绿背山雀(Parus monticolus),针阔混交林带(1 200～2 200 m)有73种,其中优势种是橙翅噪鹛(Garrulax elliotii);秦岭东段南坡鸟类群落与中段南坡以及西段南坡和巴山北坡鸟类群落有较高的相似性,但是和秦岭北坡、巴山南坡的鸟类群落相似性较小,反映出秦岭和巴山对鸟类物种组成的阻隔作用和该地区鸟类区系组成的过渡性。和30年前相比,秦岭东段南坡鸟类物种增加了64种,但是有8种鸟类在2008和2010年的调查中未见到。总体上,秦岭东段南坡的繁殖鸟类群落组成在过去的30年里已经发生了明显的变化。     

Sex,long life and the evolutionary transition to cooperative breeding in birds

Long life is a typical feature of individuals living in cooperative societies. One explanation is that group living lowers mortality, which selects for longer life. Alternatively, long life may make the evolution of cooperation more likely by ensuring a long breeding tenure, making helping behaviour and queuing for breeding positions worthwhile. The benefit of queuing will, however, depend on whether individuals gain indirect fitness benefits while helping, which is determined by female promiscuity. Where promiscuity is high and therefore the indirect fitness benefits of helping are low, cooperation can still be favoured by an even longer life span. We present the results of comparative analyses designed to test the likelihood of a causal relationship between longevity and cooperative breeding by reconstructing ancestral states of cooperative breeding across birds, and by examining the effect of female promiscuity on the relationship between these two traits. We found that long life makes the evolution of cooperation more likely and that promiscuous cooperative species are exceptionally long lived. These results make sense of promiscuity in cooperative breeders and clarify the importance of life-history traits in the evolution of cooperative breeding, illustrating that cooperation can evolve via the combination of indirect and direct fitness benefits.     

The restoration of tropical seed dispersal networks

Human activities have led to the loss of habitats and biodiversity in the Atlantic Rain Forest in Brazil. Ecological restoration aims to rebuild this biome and should include not only the reinstatement of species but also the reestablishment of complex ecological interactions and the ecological functions that they provide. One such function is seed dispersal, which is provided by the interactions between animal frugivores and plants. We studied seed dispersal networks in 3 different tropical forest sites restored 15, 25, and 57 years ago; temporal scales rarely observed in restoration studies. We investigated changes in network structure (nestedness, modularity, and network specialization) in these communities over restoration time. Although network size and the number of interactions increased with time since restoration, the networks were composed of generalist birds, and the large frugivores remained absent. Contrary to our expectations though, species richness was highest in the 25‐year‐old site, maybe due to the higher number of species used in the planting. Nestedness values were low in all 3 networks, but the highest nestedness was observed in the intermediate‐aged site. However, the oldest network was significantly modular and showed higher complementary specialization. These results suggest that 57 years after restoration, the complexity of mutualistic interactions in seed dispersal networks has increased, this enhancing ecosystem function in the Atlantic forest.     

样线法在鸟类数量调查中的运用

样线法是野生动物种群数量调查的常用方法之一。本文简要介绍其发展历史、基本原理和主要类型,并对4种常用的种群密度计算方法,即条带最大记数法、Gates截线法、Fourier截线法以及距离取样法进行比较和总结,认为在鸟类野外数量调查中应记录鸟类个体到样线的垂直距离,并使用距离取样法来计算鸟类的种群密度,以便得到更为准确的结果。     

Indirect food web interactions affect predation of Tengmalm's Owls Aegolius funereus nests by Pine Martens Martes martes according to the alternative prey hypothesis

Although population cycles of rodents are geographically widespread and occur in a number of rodent species, higher‐order food web interactions mediated by predator–rodent dynamics have primarily been described from boreal and arctic biomes. During periods of low rodent abundance, predators may switch to alternative prey, which may affect other predators directly or indirectly. Using a long‐term dataset, we assessed the frequency of Pine Marten Martes martes predation on the nests of Tengmalm's Owl Aegolius funereus during periods of fluctuating rodent abundance in Central Europe. The number of nests predated by Pine Martens was positively correlated with the annual number of nests available. The probability of predation by Pine Martens on Tengmalm's Owl nests decreased with increasing spring abundance index of Apodemus mice, but was not related to the abundance index of Myodes and Microtus voles, pooled rodent abundance or age of the nestbox. Additionally, we found no relationship between the breeding frequency (i.e. the number of nesting attempts per nestboxes available) and an abundance index of Microtus and Myodes voles, Apodemus mice or overall rodent abundance. Our results demonstrate, for the first time in a temperate area, that during periods of low Apodemus mouse abundance, the switching response of an opportunistic mammalian predator can lead to indirect food web interactions through an increase in nest predation on a sympatric avian predator.