Selectivity of Birds to Urban Woodlots

Urban woodlots are isolated as patches in urban matrix and possess the features of "habitat island".Moreover,their interior structures and landscape level structures are greatly modified by urbanization.We analyzed the relationships between the bird distribution and woodlot area,interior structures,distributions of microhabitat types,landscape level structures and human disturbance in 20 woodlots in Hangzhou city area.14 habitat variables and 14 microhabitat types were selected to test the relationships between the bird and habitat by Multivariate Regression Analysis and Correlation Analysis.The results indicate that bird species have a strong selectivity to the urban woodlots in Hangzhou,which is significantly correlated to not only the woodlot area but also many other habitat factors,such as the patch shape,vegetation density,microhabitat distribution,connectedness,isolation,surrounding landuse and human disturbance etc.It is the heterogeneity among the woodlots and the close association between the bird and habitat that result in the birds selective distributions.The results also indicate the importance of the conservation of special habitat and habitat diversity in maintenance of regional biodiversity.