Conservation Ecology and Environmental Sciences Group

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Modelling habitat quality for woodland birds

Context

There is well-documented evidence for a significant decline in the populations of woodland bird. The causes of these declines are largely unknown. However, some woodland species are stable or increasing and there is considerable geographic variation in the patterns of population changes for those in decline.

Within the broad definition of “woodland”, declining species occur across a range of ecological and habitat types and there is no obvious overall driver (such as agricultural intensification in the case of farmland birds) for the observed population changes. Possible causes include changes in woodland management, woodland maturation and increased browsing pressure from deer.

Vegetation structure can be a key determinant of the quality of nesting and feeding habitat for woodland birds, and thus plays a major role in habitat selection. Spatial differences and temporal changes in woodland structure, and hence habitat quality, will affect bird species distributions, abundances and productivity on the scale of whole woods, but are difficult to quantify at this scale using field-based methods. Airborne remote-sensing offers the prospect of information on vegetation canopy structure and composition at high spatial resolution and extending across whole landscapes.

Approach

Data on woodland structure and species composition derived from airborne remote sensing for a selection of broadleaf deciduous woodlands across southern England have been used to assess bird habitat quality.

Field ecological data over several breeding seasons have been collected, gathering information on bird species distributions, territory occupancy and stability, breeding performance and daily energy expenditure.

Geospatial analysis of the datasets has led to an improved understanding of species-habitat relationships, their stability over time and the regional-scale drivers behind current trends.

Research partners

Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, British Trust for Ornithology, Cardiff University, University of Aberdeen

Publications

Broughton R.K., Hinsley S.A., Bellamy P.E., Hill R.A., & Rothery P. (2006) Marsh Tit territory structure in a British broadleaved woodland. Ibis, 148, 744-752.

Hinsley, S.A., Hill, R.A., Bellamy, P.E., & Baltzer, H. (2006) The application of LiDAR in woodland bird ecology: climate, canopy structure and habitat quality. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 72, 1399-1406.

Bradbury, R.B., Hill, R.A., Mason, D.C., Hinsley, S.A., Wilson, J.D., Balzter, H., Anderson, Q.A., Whittingham, M.J., Davenport, I.J., & Bellamy, P.E. (2005) Modelling relationships between birds and vegetation structure using airborne LiDAR data: a review with case studies from agricultural and woodland environments. Ibis, 147, 443-452.

Hill, R.A., Hinsley, S.A., Gaveau, D.L.A., & Bellamy, P.E. (2004) Predicting habitat quality for Great Tits (Parus major) with airborne laser scanning data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 25, 4851-4855.

Hinsley, S.A., Hill, R.A., Gaveau, D.L.A., & Bellamy, P.E. (2002) Quantifying woodland structure and habitat quality for birds using airborne laser scanning. Functional Ecology, 16, 851-857.

Contact email address
Dr Ross Hill

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