Species composition of birds and occurrence of forest birds in the matrix of Kyoto City area

Abstract

We studied the species composition of birds and presence of forest birds in the urban matrix within Kyoto City. Sampling sites of green spaces were extracted from a satellite image taken by SPOT 7 for a mesh size of about 250 m. In total 32 meshes were used as the sampling sites. Bird surveys were conducted five times each during the breeding season from May to June 2017 and the wintering season from November 2017 to February 2018. The results of principal component analysis showed that the amount of green space in and around the mesh affects species composition of birds during the breeding and wintering seasons. Model selection by GLMM showed that coverage of trees in the mesh was significantly positively related to the occurrence of forest birds during the wintering and breeding seasons. Although the number of confirmed forest bird species was smaller than that of the surrounding patches, species composition in the urban matrix within Kyoto City was different from that in the matrix within other cities.