Testing island biogeography theory with visitation rates of…以访问率检验岛屿生物地理学理论.pdfVIP

Journal of Biogeography (J. Biogeogr .) (2009) 36, 1532–1539 ORIGINAL Testing island biogeography theory with ARTICLE visitation rates of birds to British islands Christine M. Stracey1* and Stuart L. Pimm2 1Center for Environmental Research and ABSTRACT Conservation, Columbia University, New York, 2 Aim We consider three hypotheses – MacArthur and Wilson’s island biogeography NY and Nicholas School of the Environment theory (IBT), Lack’s habitat diversity idea and the ‘target effect’ – that explain the and Earth Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA pattern of decreased species richness on small and distant islands. Location We evaluate these hypotheses using a detailed dataset on the occurrence and abundance of terrestrial birds on nine islands off the coast of Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Methods Unlike previous studies, we compile data on species that visit the islands, rather than just those that breed on them. We divided the species into five mutually exclusive categories based upon their migratory status and where they regularly breed: British residents, summer visitors to Britain, winter visitors to Britain, and vagrants from Europe or beyond Europe. For each species group on