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Avian Research 2015, 6(1): 14 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-015-0023-0
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The structure of mixed-species bird flocks, and their response to anthropogenic disturbance, with special reference to East Asia

Show Author's Information Eben Goodale1,  Ping Ding2,  Xiaohu Liu3,  Ari Martínez4,  Xingfeng Si2,  Mitch Walters5,  Scott K. Robinson6( )
Department of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning 530003, China
College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Wildlife Conservation Society, China Program, Beijing 100101, China
Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA
Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32607, USA
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Keywords:
Competition, Keystone species, Predation, Biodiversity crisis, Biological networks, Community assembly, Interspecific communication, Mutualism
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Goodale E, Ding P, Liu X, et al. The structure of mixed-species bird flocks, and their response to anthropogenic disturbance, with special reference to East Asia. Avian Research, 2015, 6(1): 14. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40657-015-0023-0
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Abstract Full text About this article

Mixed-species flocks of birds are distributed world-wide and can be especially dominant in temperate forests during the non-breeding season and in tropical rainforests year-round. We review from a community ecology perspective what is known about the structure and organization of flocks, emphasizing that flocking species tend to be those particularly vulnerable to predation, and flocks tend to be led by species that are able to act as sources of information about predators for other species. Studies on how flocks respond to fragmentation and land-use intensification continue to accumulate, but the question of whether the flock phenomenon makes species more vulnerable to anthropogenic change remains unclear. We review the literature on flocks in East Asia and demonstrate there is a good foundation of knowledge on which to build. We then outline potentially fruitful future directions, focusing on studies that can investigate how dependent species are on each other in flocks, and how such interdependencies might affect avian habitat selection in the different types of human-modified environments of this region.


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About this article

The structure of mixed-species bird flocks, and their response to anthropogenic disturbance, with special reference to East Asia

Show Author's information Eben Goodale1, Ping Ding2, Xiaohu Liu3, Ari Martínez4, Xingfeng Si2, Mitch Walters5, Scott K. Robinson6( )
Department of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning 530003, China
College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
Wildlife Conservation Society, China Program, Beijing 100101, China
Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA
Department of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32607, USA
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

Abstract

Mixed-species flocks of birds are distributed world-wide and can be especially dominant in temperate forests during the non-breeding season and in tropical rainforests year-round. We review from a community ecology perspective what is known about the structure and organization of flocks, emphasizing that flocking species tend to be those particularly vulnerable to predation, and flocks tend to be led by species that are able to act as sources of information about predators for other species. Studies on how flocks respond to fragmentation and land-use intensification continue to accumulate, but the question of whether the flock phenomenon makes species more vulnerable to anthropogenic change remains unclear. We review the literature on flocks in East Asia and demonstrate there is a good foundation of knowledge on which to build. We then outline potentially fruitful future directions, focusing on studies that can investigate how dependent species are on each other in flocks, and how such interdependencies might affect avian habitat selection in the different types of human-modified environments of this region.

Keywords: Competition, Keystone species, Predation, Biodiversity crisis, Biological networks, Community assembly, Interspecific communication, Mutualism

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Received: 15 August 2014
Accepted: 02 June 2015
Published: 01 August 2015
Issue date: January 2015

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© 2015 Goodale et al.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

We thank Aiwu Jiang, Yang Liu, Toshitaki Suzuki, Qiang Zhang, Chao Zhao, Jian Zhao and Fasheng Zou for discussion of East Asian mixed-species flocks and their help in obtaining the literature, and two anonymous reviewers on their constructive comments for improving the manuscript. EG is grateful to the 1000 Plan Recruitment Program of Global Experts of the People's Republic of China and the Special Talent Recruitment Program of Guangxi University for support.

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