Abstract:
Models that assess the risk to biodiversity from landscape change can help
communities prioritize planning decisions. Accurate representation of the ecology and
life history traits of species is necessary. This study introduces the use of habitat
quality in a biodiversity risk model to determine the significance of habitat quality when
predicting risks to biodiversity due to landscape change. The difference between
residential and forest habitats in terms of habitat quality for breeding birds was used to
test the significance of habitat quality to the risk model. Relative habitat quality was
estimated from population densities for 62 bird species associated with both forest and
residential habitats. The effect of habitat quality was tested using two possible future
landscapes: Buildout and Spine. Predicted risk for the 62 bird species due to landscape
change increased by 74% in the Buildout Landscape and 31% in the Spine Landscape
when habitat quality was considered. The life history traits of species most at risk were
compared to the traits of species that benefited from the landscape change. Life history
traits considered included foraging strategy, nest type and placement, migratory status,
and area sensitivity. Species at high risk included ground nesters, foliage and tree trunk
gleaners, neotropical migrants, and area sensitive species.
