PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 28: Avian Ecology
Thursday, August 11, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Forest fragmentation and Ovenbird demographic variation in an agricultural landscape.

Dufault, Dominique^*,1, Drapeau, Pierre¹, ¹ Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

ABSTRACT- Since the mid-1970's, habitat fragmentation has emerged in the litterature as one of the major threat to ecological and biological diversity. Although a considerable amount of information has been gathered on the subject, the effects of habitat fragmentation on local populations are far from being completely understood. This study assesses the reproductive potential of forested sites within an agricultural landscape from southern Quebec, Canada, with regard to forest cover and distance to large forests. 112 ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus) territories from 20 sites have been monitored. Three types of forested habitats are represented: large forest, linear tracts and isolated woodlots. The linear tracts and isolated woodlots are located along a distance gradient to the large forest (Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada). Our results show that ovenbird pairing success within this region is not affected by type of forested habitat (P=0.8697) and distance to large forest (P=0.2552). Nonetheless, reproductive success decreases from 72% in large forest to 51% in linear tracts and 33% in isolated woodlots (P=0.0080) and is similarly marginally affected by distance to large forest (P=0.0898). These preliminary findings suggest that large forests play an important role in sustaining local populations and that mecanisms such as predation, parasitism and general habitat quality may have great effects on forest bird reproductive capabilities.

Key words: Forest, Fragmentation, Ovenbird, Reproductive success