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Urban Marine Habitat Use by Waterbirds in Narragansett Bay
Citation:
MCKINNEY, R. A. AND C. WIGAND. Urban Marine Habitat Use by Waterbirds in Narragansett Bay. Presented at RI Natural History Survey 13th Annual Ecology of Rhode Island Conference, Providence, RI, March 20, 2008.
Impact/Purpose:
Our results support the hypothesis that habitats at intermediate levels of disturbance may provide enhanced wildlife habitat value, for example through increased prey abundance or favorable foraging conditions. Waterbirds may be willing to endure increased levels of human activity in order to exploit abundant resources, which has implications for the conservation of urban marine habitats.
Description:
We examined patterns of habitat use by waterbirds (waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds) at a series of urban and non-urban marine habitats in Narragansett Bay during 2005-2007. Average waterbird abundance at urban sites was significantly higher than at rural sites (304 ± 59.7 vs. 147 ± 19.8 birds/site; ANOVA p = 0.005). We saw a significant correlation between site area and wading bird abundance, and wading bird density was also significantly higher at urban sites (0.72 ± 0.29 vs. 0.12 ± 0.04 birds/ha; ANOVA p = 0.03). Waterbird species richness was highly variable but similar at both urban and rural sites. We developed an index of habitat condition at a sub-set of sites based on structural variables (plants, soils, infaunal organisms) and found that waterbird species richness at urban sites increased as habitat condition decreased.