Abstract
The deciduous woodlands of eastern Kansas are the westerly extensions of the North American deciduous forest. Environmental conditions clearly support a great number of tree species (e.g.? MacGregor? 1977), but the occurrence of periodic summertime drought is significant in limiting the distributions of a number of the dominant tree species to regions to the east, where more mesic conditions prevail. There are other ecological consequences of periodic dry spellssizes of trees are smaller (and canopy layering effects reduced) in Kansas relative to regions to the east. For these reasons the bird communities of the Kansas woodlands are less diverse and maintain lesser densities than in deciduous forests elsewhere (R. Johnston, ms.). Likewise, yearly variation in species composition of these bird communities occurs regularly, and it is the intent of this paper to assess the significance of that variation. Data on occurrence and abundance of the birds were obtained by censuses of the singing males and have been reported elsewhere (Zimmermann and Tatschl, 1975; Cink, 1975; Cink, 1976; Johnston, 1979). Such censuses are replicated several times in the course of being taken, and the reliability of the data on distribution and abundance is high.
Published Version
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