An evaluation of forest landscape spatial pattern and wildlife community structure

Abstract

Spatial pattern is thought to influence ecological processes, yet there is little empirical evidence to support the relationship. This study evaluated empirical evidence for a relationship between landscape spatial pattern and ecological processes. Two landscapes were surveyed that differed in spatial pattern across five scales of both spatial resolution and extent, as measured by fractal dimension. Ecological processes were indexed by avian community structure. Bird species were censused along transects from 27 May to 5 July 1994. Community structure was compared between areas at the different spatial scales. Seventeen of 32 comparisons of spatial resolution and four of five comparisons of spatial extent showed differences in avian community structure. The evidence presented shows no clear relationship, indicating that differences in forest landscape spatial pattern are not reflected in avian body-mass distributions and that landscape spatial pattern does not influence ecological processes.