Edge Effects on Bird Community

Document Type : Original Article

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Abstract

The fact that the world is losing its biodiversity due to human activities has been widely known. One of the biggest threats to biodiversity is the edge effect, especially in isolated and fragmented habitats. Edge effect extends its impacts on the surrounding habitats, affecting birds living in natural environments. This study focuses on the different edges including natural and created edge (road networks) affecting abundance patterns, density, and diversity of birds. The results of this study showed that different edges affecting environmental variables in distinct biomes have unlike effects on various groups of birds. However, edge may increase density of some birds, abundance and diversity of predators but finally reduces richness, the number of understory birds, and breeding success of songbirds and influences the movement behavior of sensitive forest understory birds and increases the vulnerability of birds to nest predation and brood parasitism

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