Abstract
To determine large scales habitat suitability for focal species, habitat models derived from one region are often extrapolated to others. However, extrapolation can be inappropriate due to regional variation of habitat selection. Accounting for the ecological mechanisms causing such variation is necessary to resolve this problem. We focused on grey-faced buzzards in agricultural landscapes of Japan, which show geographically different habitat selection. To determine whether this variation is caused by the difference in climatic conditions at geographical scales or the difference in agricultural practices at smaller regional scales, we surveyed distributions of buzzards and their major prey (frogs/orthopterans) in regions differing in rice-transplanting schedules within the same climatic zone. We found that buzzards preferred paddy-forest landscapes in the early transplanting regions, but grassland-forest landscapes in the late transplanting regions. Frogs were more abundant in the early transplanting regions due to flooded paddies, while the abundance of orthopterans did not differ. The regional variation in habitat selection of buzzards may be due to different prey availabilities caused by different agricultural schedules. We propose that habitat suitability assessments of organisms inhabiting agricultural landscapes should consider differences in production systems at regional scales and such regional partitioning is effective for accurate assessments.
Highlights
To determine large scales habitat suitability for focal species, habitat models derived from one region are often extrapolated to others
Previous research has partitioned these smaller ranges by latitude and longitude, and climate conditions (e.g.,9–12), this partitioning may not lead to correct predictions because it was not based on the ecological mechanisms that cause the spatial variation in habitat selection[9], which are not clear in many cases
The abundance of frogs was higher in early transplanting regions because frogs prefer flooded paddies, while grassland orthopteran abundance did not depend on transplanting schedules
Summary
To determine large scales habitat suitability for focal species, habitat models derived from one region are often extrapolated to others. We focused on grey-faced buzzards in agricultural landscapes of Japan, which show geographically different habitat selection To determine whether this variation is caused by the difference in climatic conditions at geographical scales or the difference in agricultural practices at smaller regional scales, we surveyed distributions of buzzards and their major prey (frogs/ orthopterans) in regions differing in rice-transplanting schedules within the same climatic zone. There are currently two proposed mechanisms that explain why such spatial variation in habitat selection for the buzzard occurs in Japan; (a) higher grassland orthopteran densities in Kyushu due to its warmer climate and (b) lower frog densities in paddy fields in the Kyushu region due to its later rice-transplanting schedule[21]. More specific hypotheses are (a) Buzzards prefer paddyforest landscapes in regions with early rice-transplanting schedules, while grassland-forest landscapes in regions with the late rice-transplanting schedules. (b) Densities of frogs are higher in regions with early rice-transplanting schedules than in regions with late rice-transplanting schedules, due to their preference to flooded paddy fields. (c) Orthopterans are abundant in grasslands regardless of the rice-transplanting schedules in the regions
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