PARENT SESSION
Poster Session # 7: Restoration, Resource Management, and Conservation.

Monday, August 4 Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. SITCC Exhibit Hall B.

Habitat permeability and corridor use by endemic south-temperate rainforest birds.

Darnell, Traci^*,1, Sieving, Kathryn¹, ¹ University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

ABSTRACT- Our research examines corridor use and matrix permeability for a fragmentation sensitive bird, the Chucao Tapaculo (Scelorchilus rubecula), endemic to South American temperate rainforest. Probability of inter-patch dispersal by Chucaos is being assessed directly, through translocation experiments, and indirectly, based on landscape-scale patterns of patch occupancy. Translocation experiment results indicate that Chucaos are behaviorally resistant to crossing open habitats (pasture), but will move through forest corridors and matrix dominated by dense shrubs. Preliminary analysis of patch occupancy data (275 patches) also shows a strong landscape-context effect, with patches surrounded by open habitat having lower probability of occupancy than those connected by corridors or surrounded by permeable (shrubby) matrix. Thus, all results available to date support the hypothesis that matrix types differ in resistance to Chucao movement, influencing patch occupancy patterns at the landscape scale. These empirical data will also be used to analytically derive coefficients for scaling colonization probability curves for each of the dominant matrix types. The colonization curves will be used to parameterize a graph-theory model for predicting metapopulation persistence under various potential landscape-planning scenarios.

Key words: matrix permeability, dispersal, landscape planning, corridors