The effect of landscape contexts on wintering bird communities in rural Japan

Few studies have compared the relative importance of stand-level variables and landscape-level variables for wildlife in low-contrast landscapes in winter. We examined the influence of stand and context variables on bird communities in a rural landscape in Japan. Line transect surveys were conducted during the 2001 wintering season in 25 coppice and 18 conifer plantation stands located in Tochigi Prefecture, central Japan. Bird species were assigned to five guilds based on their autoecology. The relationships between the presence/absence of each guild and environmental variables were explored using logistic regression analyses. The main variables associated with the presence of litter-searchers were stand variables, while the presence of seed-eaters was mainly explained by context variables. The presence of shrub-users, canopy-users, and edge groups were explained by both variables.