Land use type, forest cover, and forest edges modulate avian cross-habitat spillover

1.Natural habitats adjacent to agricultural areas are often considered sources of species that provide beneficial regulating ecosystem services through cross-habitat spillover. Both inter-habitat matrix and landscape configuration can influence spillover by controlling organismal ability to disperse through landscapes, and affecting the provision of additional or supplementary resources that impact organism survival.

2.To understand how landscape structure in terms of matrix land use type, forest cover, and edge density might facilitate avian cross-habitat spillover, we sampled avian communities in forest patches and adjacent land use types (coffee plantations or cattle pastures) using a well-replicated study design across 92 sampling sites across a landscape-context forest cover gradient (6-60%).

3.Land use type was a key factor influencing avian cross-habitat spillover, facilitating species movement into coffee plantations and acting as a barrier to spillover into cattle pasture...