Land use effects on urban riparian bird communities during the migratory and breeding season in the greater Cincinnati metropolitan area

This thesis examined how urbanization affects riparian bird communities along an urban gradient during different life history stages using a multi-scale approach. I examined patterns of habitat use by birds at the local and landscape level during the 2002 spring migratory and summer breeding season at 71 riparian plots along an urban gradient. As development increased, riparian woodlands tended to be narrower and composed of fewer native trees and shrubs. Seasonal differences were observed for bird abundance, species richness, and evenness based on migratory guilds. During the migratory season, native birds were best described by the amount of tree cover within 250 to 500 m of the stream. During the breeding season, measures of urbanization around 250 m of the stream were most significant. Non-natives were most sensitive to development within 100 m. Neotropical migrants were most sensitive to measures of urbanization. Results during migration suggests that en-route Neotropical migrants are less influenced by measures of urbanization and prefer streams with native trees, compared to resident Neotropical migrants who appear highly sensitive to human disturbance.