Abstract
BackgroundRemnant microhabitats are important for bird habitat selection and plant regeneration in the fragmented habitat. However, empirical information on the consequences of how microhabitat use by birds affects the early recruitment of plants is lacking.MethodsIn this study, we evaluated whether microhabitat selection by the Black Bulbul (Hypsipetes leucocephalus) (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) impacts the early recruitment of the endangered tree species, the Chinese Yew (Taxus chinensis (Pilger) Rehd), in a fragmented forest over a 4-year period (2011–2012, 2018–2019).ResultsOur results showed the main factors affecting H. leucocephalus microhabitat selection were distance to the nearest T. chinensis mature tree, herb cover and density, leaf litter cover, and vegetation type. Moreover, the results of logistic regression also highlighted the importance of elevation, distance to light gap and roads, tree cover in bird microhabitat selection. Furthermore, the seed emergence rate in microhabitats used by birds did not differ from the natural forest, which was related to five factors of bird microhabitat. The Random Forest model showed that seedling emergence rate was increased with leaf litter cover and distance to fallen dead trees, but decreased in relation to herb cover, slope, and elevation.ConclusionOur results highlight the importance of remnant microhabitats in fragmented forests for sustaining forest ecology and optimal management. The contribution of microhabitats used by birds to plant recruitment provides insights into how frugivore species contribute to plant regeneration, which should be incorporated in future conservation and management practices of fragmented forests.
Highlights
Remnant microhabitats are important for bird habitat selection and plant regeneration in the fragmented habitat
Significant differences were detected between microhabitats used by birds and those that were available when considering distance to the nearest T. chinensis tree, distance to the nearest heterogeneous tree, distance to the nearest T. chinensis mature tree, shrub density, and leaf litter cover (Table 1)
The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) results highlighted that the main factors affecting H. leucocephalus microhabitat selection were distance to the nearest T. chinensis mature tree, herb cover, herb density, leaf litter cover, and vegetation type
Summary
Species and study site T. chinensis is a dioecious and wind-pollinated species that is distributed in evergreen broadleaf forests. This study was conducted in a yew ecological garden (elevation 895–1218 m above sea level [a.s.l.], slope gradient 27°), located in the southern experimental area of the Meihua Mountain National Nature Reserve (25°15′– 25°35′N, 116°45′–116°57′E) in the west part of Fujian Province, China This site contains the largest natural population of T. chinensis in China (approximately 490 adults, distributed in the evergreen broadleaf forest), including 200 trees that are > 500 years old. To exclude year-to-year variation in bird habitat selection, we recorded perching frequency at these 60 sites in the other study years (2012, 2018‒2019) In both bird-use and available quadrats, we measured three qualitative factors: aspect (shade slope; sunny slope), vegetation type (bamboo forest; Chinese Yew forest; farmland; mixed bamboo and broadleaf forest) and heterogeneous tree species (other tree species, except T. chinensis trees). We used the Random Forest (RF) algorithm to evaluate the quadrat habitat factors selected by birds in relation to the number of germinated seedlings (R package Random Forest) (Breiman 2001)
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