Abstract
The crested ibis (Nipponia nippon), a species at the brink of extinction in 1981, remain restricted to a small (25 km radius) area of temperate forests in central China. To improve the chances of successful reintroduction into new areas we developed a multifactor logistic regression model of habitat association at multiple scales. Using habitat variables, i.e. vegetation, human impact, elevation, and wetland, we compared occupied and unoccupied sites at grain sizes ranging from 1 to 6400 ha. The goodness-of-fit of the habitat suitability model depended on grain size, with the best fit (most information) at a grain size of 2 ha. Semivariograms showed the habitat variables at control sites have a gradient pattern, yet the crested ibis had their specific habitat preferences, and only selected a narrow range from the available gradient. Our results indicated that spatial scale needs to be considered in developing habitat models for applications such as conservation planning.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Anand M, Li BL (2001) Spatiotemporal dynamics in a transition zone: patchiness, scale, and an emergent property. Commun Ecol 2:161–169
Bevers M, Flather CH (1999) The distribution and abundance of populations limited at multiple spatial scales. J Anim Ecol 68:976–987
BirdLife International (2003) Nipponia nippon. IUCN 2003. 2003 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Cao YH, Lu XR (1994) The current state and strategy of the conservation for crested ibis. Chinese Forest 1994:28–29
Cody ML (1981) Habitat selection in birds: the roles of vegetation structure, competitors, and productivity. BioScience 31:107–113
Fortin MJ (1999) Effects of sampling unit resolution on the estimation of spatial autocorrelation. Ecoscience 6:636–641
Hatten JR, Paradzick CE (2003) A multiscale model of southwestern willow flycatcher breeding habitat. J Wildlife Manage 67:774–788
Hulbert IAR, French J (2001) The accuracy of GPS for wildlife telemetry and habitat mapping. J Appl Ecol 38:869–878
Jakobsson U (2004) Statistical presentation and analysis of ordinal data in nursing research. Scand J Caring Sci 18:437–440
Jelinski DE, Wu JG (1996) The modifiable areal unit problem and implications for landscape ecology. Landscape Ecol 11:129–140
Jenkins JC, Birdsey RA, Ran Y (2001) Biomass and NPP estimation for the mid-Atlantic region (USA) using plot-level forest inventory data. Ecol Appl 11:1174–1193
Johnson DH (1980) The comparison of usage and availability measurements for evaluating resource preference. Ecology 61:65–71
Levin SA (1992) The problem of pattern and scale in ecology. Ecology 73:1943–1967
Li XH, Li DM (1998) Current state and the future of the crested ibis (Nipponia nippon): a case study by population viability analysis. Ecol Res 13:323–333
Li XH, Li DM, Li YM, Ma ZJ, Zhai TQ (2002a) Habitat evaluation for crested ibis: a GIS-based approach. Ecol Res 17:565–573
Li XH, Ma ZJ, Ding CQ, Zhai TQ, Li DM (2002b) The correlation between distribution of crested ibis and local farmers. Acta Zool Sin 48:725–732
Li XH, Ma ZJ, Li DM, Ding CQ, Zhai TQ, Lu BZ (2001) Using resource selection functions to study nest site selection of crested ibis. China Biodivers 9:352–358
Liu YZ (1981) Rediscovery of the crested ibis in Qin Mountain. Acta Zool Sin 27:273
Ma ZJ, Ding CQ, Li XH, Lu BZ, Zhai TQ, Zheng GM (2001) Feeding site selection of crested ibis in winter. Zool Res 22:46–50
Mackinnon JL, Petty SJ, Elston DA, Thomas CJ, Sherratt TN, Lambin X (2001) Scale invariant spatio-temporal patterns of field vole density. J Anim Ecol 70:101–111
Marceau DJ (1999) The scale issue in social and natural sciences. Can J Remote Sensing 25:347–356
Ni J (2003) Net primary productivity in forests of China: scaling-up of national inventory data and comparison with model predictions. Forest Ecol Manage 176:485–495
Openshaw S, Taylor P (1979) A million or so correlation coefficients: three experiments on the modifiable areal unit problem. In: Wrigley N (ed) Statistical applications in the spatial sciences. Pion, London, pp 127–144
Qi Y, Wu JG (1996) Effects of changing spatial resolution on the results of landscape pattern analysis using spatial autocorrelation indices. Landscape Ecol 11:39–49
Robinson RA, Hart JD, Holland JM, Parrott D (2004) Habitat use by seed-eating birds: a scale-dependent approach. IBIS 146(Suppl. 2):87–98
Rose GA, Legget WC (1990) The importance of scale to predator–prey spatial correlations: an example of Atlantic fishes. Ecology 71:33–43
SAS Institute Inc. (1999) SAS system 8.0. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA
Schneider DC (1994) Quantitative ecology. Spatial and temporal scaling. Academic Press, San Diego
Schneider DC, Piatt JF (1986) Scale dependent correlation of seabirds with schooling fish in a coastal ecosystem. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 32:237–246
Schneider DC (2001) The rise of the concept of scale in ecology. Bioscience 51:545–553
Shi DC, Yu XP, Fan CD, Cao YH (1991a) The description of the decline of the crested ibis. J Northwest University 21(Suppl.):25–30
Shi DC, Yu XP, Lu BZ, Xi YM, Wang Y (1991b) The development and behavior of the nestling of the crested ibis. J Northwest University 21(Suppl.):15–24
Shi DC, Yu XP, Lu BZ, Zhai TQ, Geng ZZ (1991c) The diet of the crested ibis and the food abundance during wandering season. J Northwest University 21(Suppl.):37–42
Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry, 3rd edn. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York
Store R, Jokimaki J (2003) A GIS-based multi-scale approach to habitat suitability modeling. Ecol Model 169:1–15
Veit RR, Silverman ED, Iversen I (1993) Aggregation patterns of pelagic predators and their principal prey, Antarctic krill, near South Georgia. J Anim Ecol 62:551–564
Wang ZY (1993) The study on the annual behavior of the crested ibis. J Hanzhong Normal College 11:59–63
Wang ZY, Li XH, Zheng XB, Yu JG, Liu LY (1985) Observation of feeding site of crested ibis. J Ecol 1985:10–12
Wang ZY, Zhai TQ, Zhang H, Han Y, Wang Q (1995) The reproduction and population dynamics of the crested ibis from 1981 to 1994. J Hanzhong Normal College 13:54–59
Wang ZY, Zhang H, Zhai TQ, Han Y (1994) The banding data of the crested ibis and life table analysis. J Northwest University 24:1–5
Wu JG (2004) Effects of changing scale on landscape pattern analysis: scaling relations. Landscape Ecol 19:125–138
Wu JG, Qi Y (2000) Dealing with scale in landscape analysis: an overview. Geogr Inform Sci 6:1–5
Yang County Agriculture Division Office (1986) Reports of agriculture division in Young County, Shaanxi Province, China. Yang County Agriculture Division Office, Yang County
Zhai TQ, Lu BZ (1991) The distribution and abundance of the crested ibis in Yang County. J Hanzhong Normal College 1991:72–74
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Li, X., Li, D., Ma, Z. et al. Nest site use by crested ibis: dependence of a multifactor model on spatial scale. Landscape Ecol 21, 1207–1216 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-006-0021-z
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-006-0021-z