Bird community structure and species responses to edges in laurel forest fragmented by narrow roads (Tenerife, Canary Islands)

Resumen

We examined interacting effects of habitat structure, topographic landscape, road edge and vehicle traffic (density and noise), on bird species composition, abundance and diversity in the laurel forest of Tenerife (Canaries). We examined multivariate habitat and landscape factors determining bird community composition and structure, and modality of specific responses by comparing road edge vs interior zones. Abundance of breeding birds in laurel forest showed slight to no increases in response to roads. Two specialized taxa, the palaeoendemic pigeon Columba bollii and Regulus regulus, revealed neatest negative reductions in abundance near roads. Higher noise levels, vegetation density, lower canopy closure and wood selective extraction characterized roadsides. Most passerines showed moderate affinity for forest edges and did not evidence decreases due to road proximity. The topographic landscape in these mountainous areas strongly interacted with road edge effects to determine bird community structure. Narrow road disturbances on the laurel forest was related to moderate increase in bird abundance and diversity near edges, but at the cost of losing presence of forest-demanding species playing important ecological roles