Urban specialization reduces habitat connectivity by a highly mobile wading bird

Background

Mobile animals transport nutrients and propagules across habitats, and are crucial for the functioning of food webs and for ecosystem services. Human activities such as urbanization can alter animal movement behavior, including site fidelity and resource use. Because many urban areas are adjacent to natural sites, mobile animals might connect natural and urban habitats. More generally, understanding animal movement patterns in urban areas can help predict how urban expansion will affect the roles of highly mobile animals in ecological processes.

Methods

Here, we examined movements by a seasonally nomadic wading bird, the American white ibis (Eudocimus albus), in South Florida, USA. White ibis are colonial wading birds that forage on aquatic prey; in recent years, some ibis have shifted their behavior to forage in urban parks, where they are fed by people. We used a spatial network approach to investigate how individual movement patterns influence connectivity between...

研究背景
移动性动物可在不同生境间转运营养物质与繁殖体（propagules），对食物网运作及生态系统服务功能至关重要。城市化等人类活动会改变动物的移动行为，包括栖息地保真度（site fidelity）与资源利用模式。由于多数城市区域与自然生境毗邻，移动性动物或可成为连接自然与城市生境的纽带。更广泛而言，明晰城市区域内的动物移动模式，有助于预测城市扩张将如何影响高移动性动物在生态过程中所扮演的角色。

研究方法
本研究以美国南佛罗里达州的季节性游牧涉禽——美洲白鹮（Eudocimus albus）为研究对象，对其移动行为展开调查。美洲白鹮为集群性涉禽，以水生猎物为食；近年来，部分白鹮的觅食行为已发生转变，开始在城市公园觅食并接受人类投喂。本研究采用空间网络分析法，探究个体移动模式如何影响……之间的连通性。