Abstract:

Island biogeography theory is an important part of community ecology, and its core process is species turnover, which is determined by species colonization and extinction. A large number of studies have shown that community dynamics of many biotic taxa can be affected by their dispersal abilities. Our study explored the effects of dispersal abilities on community dynamics of breeding birds. Between April 2007 and June 2013, we surveyed bird communities using line-transects on 36 land-bridge islands during breeding seasons in the Thousand Island Lake, China. We divided breeding birds into two types according to their dispersal abilities. We then used multivariate logistic regression and the maximum likelihood method to estimate the biogeographical parameters and to analyze community dynamics of these breeding birds. Results showed that birds with strong dispersal abilities have been less affected by island parameters than others, with a higher turnover rate. Therefore, the difference of dispersal abilities of breeding birds has significant effects on their community dynamics on the land-bridge islands in the Thousand Island Lake, China.

Key words: turnover rate, colonization rate, extinction rate, community dynamics, breeding birds, Thousand Island Lake