An ecological model of the effects of exotic factors on limiting Hawaiian honeycreeper populations

Author:

Mountainspring, Stephen

Title:

An ecological model of the effects of exotic factors on limiting Hawaiian honeycreeper populations

Periodical:

Ohio Journal of Science

Year:

1986

Volume:

86

Pages:

95-100

Subject:

Honeycreepers Population regulation

Summary:

The objective of this study was to construct a quantitative model to compare the effect of several exotic factors on limiting natural populations. The effect of habitat loss, range loss due to avian disease, feral ungulate activity, and inter-specific competition for food resources from exotic birds on 33 populations of 16 Hawaiian honeycreeper species was examined. The impact of four limiting factors was characterized in terms of the percent reduction in range or population density. Habitat loss resulted in a 74% average reduction in the original range; probable range loss due to disease averaged 46% of the available habitat; and feral ungulates and exotic birds lowered honeycreeper densities by an average of 22% and 9%, respectively. The combined effect of the four limiting factors, which modeled as their multiplicative product, represented an average loss of 89% in potential population size due to their operation, and accounted for 75% of the variation in present population sizes.

Label:

Birds - General

URL:

https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/23138/V086N3_095.pdf?sequence=1

Date:

June 1986

Collection:

Periodicals