1
Return

Landscape context plays an important role for the occurrence of the white-backed woodpecker Dendrocopos leucotos

delete2026-06-24
delete0
delete
OA
AI
A
Antonia Ettwein
P
Pius Korner
M
Michael Lanz
G
Gilberto Pasinelli *
DOI:10.1007/s10980-026-02380-5delete
deleteOriginal
deleteShare
deleteSave
View PDF
Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Habitat models typically relate the occurrence of a species to environmental predictors measured within study sites or home ranges (“local habitat”). However, sites with high local habitat quality might be unoccupied when the composition and configuration of the surrounding landscape hamper their colonization. We examined the occurrence of the white-backed woodpecker, an umbrella species of European conservation concern, in relation to local habitat and landscape context (habitat amount, habitat fragmentation, and matrix quality). The study was conducted in Western Austria, Eastern Switzerland, and the Principality of Liechtenstein. Variables describing local habitat and landscape context were compared between 30 sites with and 30 sites without white-backed woodpecker presence. Landscape context explained 2.5 times more of the variance in occurrence probability than local habitat. Occurrence probability increased with the volume of lying deadwood and abundance of trees with dead branches at the local scale. It also increased with the proportion and fragmentation of old deciduous forests (representing habitat amount and habitat fragmentation, respectively) and increasing proportion of coniferous and young deciduous forest (representing matrix quality) at spatial scales ranging from 20 to 64 km2 (i.e., 6 to 20 times the annual home range size). Conservation measures for the white-backed woodpecker might be ineffective in landscapes with low forest cover, even if high-quality habitat at the local scale is abundant. Conservation of and habitat improvements in areas with a high proportion of old deciduous forest and of coniferous and young deciduous forests are thus key.
Keywords:
Dendrocopos leucotos
Fragmentation threshold
Habitat specialist
Habitat amount
Habitat fragmentation
Matrix quality
Spatial scale
Forest structure
Landscape composition
Remote sensing
CORINE
LIDAR
Picidae
AI Summary

AI Summary

Key information extracted from the uploaded paper, including a brief overview, abstract, background, key highlights, visual analysis, and future outlook.

Journal

Landscape Ecology cover
Landscape Ecology
IF:
3.7
Papers:
3.8K
Citations:
1.4W

Organization

Swiss Ornithological Institute cover
Swiss Ornithological Institute
Scholars:
413
Papers: 350
Citations: 621
Cited Papers

Cited Papers

Citing Papers

Citing Papers