Bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest
We examined the factors structuring bird communities across a complex subarctic treeline in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, Canada. Using point counts of bird abundance in 2007 and 2008, we show that changes in vegetation driven by elevation are strongly correlated with avian community structure in t...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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2015
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 2023-12-17T10:50:48+01:00 Bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest Lewis, Keith P. Starzomski, Brian M. 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 93, issue 6, page 477-486 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2015 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 2023-11-19T13:39:35Z We examined the factors structuring bird communities across a complex subarctic treeline in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, Canada. Using point counts of bird abundance in 2007 and 2008, we show that changes in vegetation driven by elevation are strongly correlated with avian community structure in this treeline ecotone system. Overall, avian diversity was higher in the forest compared with other habitat classes (krummholz, deciduous shrub, and alpine). There were strong correlations between avian diversity and vegetation richness, as well as structure, among and within habitat class in 2008. Numerous habitat types (subset of habitat class) were correlated with avian composition, although some species were clearly habitat generalists. Contrary to expectation, avian species composition was associated with physiognomy (vegetation structure) in alpine and deciduous shrub, and with either physiognomy or floristics (vegetation species composition) in krummholz and forest. Given the strong impact of elevation on vegetation and the demonstrated influence on bird communities, we note that for bird species whose near-southernmost populations are found in the Mealy Mountains, climate change is likely to have a strong negative effect if alpine tundra habitat is lost. Furthermore, forest bird species are likely to benefit from the increased tree cover as treeline moves poleward and upward. Article in Journal/Newspaper Subarctic Tundra Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Canada Mealy Mountains ENVELOPE(-59.465,-59.465,53.383,53.383) Canadian Journal of Zoology 93 6 477 486 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Lewis, Keith P. Starzomski, Brian M. Bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest |
topic_facet |
Animal Science and Zoology Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
We examined the factors structuring bird communities across a complex subarctic treeline in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, Canada. Using point counts of bird abundance in 2007 and 2008, we show that changes in vegetation driven by elevation are strongly correlated with avian community structure in this treeline ecotone system. Overall, avian diversity was higher in the forest compared with other habitat classes (krummholz, deciduous shrub, and alpine). There were strong correlations between avian diversity and vegetation richness, as well as structure, among and within habitat class in 2008. Numerous habitat types (subset of habitat class) were correlated with avian composition, although some species were clearly habitat generalists. Contrary to expectation, avian species composition was associated with physiognomy (vegetation structure) in alpine and deciduous shrub, and with either physiognomy or floristics (vegetation species composition) in krummholz and forest. Given the strong impact of elevation on vegetation and the demonstrated influence on bird communities, we note that for bird species whose near-southernmost populations are found in the Mealy Mountains, climate change is likely to have a strong negative effect if alpine tundra habitat is lost. Furthermore, forest bird species are likely to benefit from the increased tree cover as treeline moves poleward and upward. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lewis, Keith P. Starzomski, Brian M. |
author_facet |
Lewis, Keith P. Starzomski, Brian M. |
author_sort |
Lewis, Keith P. |
title |
Bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest |
title_short |
Bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest |
title_full |
Bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest |
title_fullStr |
Bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the Mealy Mountains, Labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest |
title_sort |
bird communities and vegetation associations across a treeline ecotone in the mealy mountains, labrador, which is an understudied part of the boreal forest |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-59.465,-59.465,53.383,53.383) |
geographic |
Canada Mealy Mountains |
geographic_facet |
Canada Mealy Mountains |
genre |
Subarctic Tundra |
genre_facet |
Subarctic Tundra |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 93, issue 6, page 477-486 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2014-0309 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
93 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
477 |
op_container_end_page |
486 |
_version_ |
1785575864627363840 |