Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society, Oregon State University, 321 Richardson Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
Environ Manage. 2010 Feb;45(2):203-16. doi: 10.1007/s00267-009-9421-6.
Military training activities are known to impact individual species, yet our understanding of how such activities influence animal communities is limited. In this study, we used long-term data in a case study approach to examine the extent to which the local small landbird community differed between a site in northeast Kansas that experienced intensive disturbance from military training activities (Ft. Riley Military Installation) and a similar, nearby site that experienced minimal human disturbance (Konza Prairie Biological Station). In addition, we characterized how the regional pool of potential colonizers influenced local community dynamics using Breeding Bird Survey data. From 1991 to 2001, most species of small terrestrial landbirds (73%) recorded during breeding surveys were found at both sites and the mean annual richness at Ft. Riley (39.0 +/- 2.86 [SD]) was very similar to that of Konza Prairie (39.4 +/- 2.01). Richness was maintained at relatively constant levels despite compositional changes because colonizations compensated local extinctions at both sites. These dynamics were driven primarily by woodland species that exhibited stochastic losses and gains and were present at a low local and regional abundance. Our results suggest that military training activities may mimic natural disturbances for some species in this area because the small landbird community did not differ markedly between sites with and sites without extensive human disturbance. Although our results suggest that military training is not associated with large changes in the avian community, additional studies are needed to determine if this pattern is found in other ecological communities.
军事训练活动已知会对个别物种产生影响，但我们对这些活动如何影响动物群落的了解有限。在这项研究中，我们使用了长期数据进行案例研究，以探讨在堪萨斯州东北部的一个军事训练活动（莱利堡军事设施）密集干扰的地点和一个附近类似、人类干扰最小的地点（孔扎草原生物站）之间，当地的小型陆地鸟类群落的差异程度。此外，我们还使用繁殖鸟类调查数据来描述潜在殖民者的区域库如何影响当地社区动态。从 1991 年到 2001 年，在繁殖调查中记录的大多数小型陆生鸟类（73%）都在这两个地点被发现，莱利堡的平均年丰富度（39.0 +/- 2.86 [SD]）与孔扎草原非常相似（39.4 +/- 2.01）。尽管组成发生了变化，但丰富度保持在相对稳定的水平，因为在这两个地点，殖民化都弥补了局部灭绝。这些动态主要由林地物种驱动，这些物种表现出随机的损失和增益，并且在当地和区域数量上都很低。我们的研究结果表明，军事训练活动可能会模仿该地区某些物种的自然干扰，因为在有和没有广泛人类干扰的地点之间，小型陆地鸟类群落没有明显差异。尽管我们的研究结果表明，军事训练与鸟类群落的重大变化无关，但还需要进一步研究以确定这种模式是否存在于其他生态群落中。
