Applied Ecology Research Group and Institute for Sustainability and Innovation, College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
Applied Ecology Research Group and Institute for Sustainability and Innovation, College of Engineering and Science, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia ; College of Health and Biomedicine, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.
PLoS One. 2013 Dec 18;8(12):e82008. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082008. eCollection 2013.
One way to manage disturbance to waterbirds in natural areas where humans require access is to promote the occurrence of stimuli for which birds tolerate closer approaches, and so cause fewer responses. We conducted 730 experimental approaches to 39 species of waterbird, using five stimulus types (single walker, three walkers, bicycle, car and bus) selected to mimic different human management options available for a controlled access, Ramsar-listed wetland. Across species, where differences existed (56% of 25 cases), motor vehicles always evoked shorter flight-initiation distances (FID) than humans on foot. The influence of stimulus type on FID varied across four species for which enough data were available for complete cross-stimulus analysis. All four varied FID in relation to stimuli, differing in 4 to 7 of 10 possible comparisons. Where differences occurred, the effect size was generally modest, suggesting that managing stimulus type (e.g. by requiring people to use vehicles) may have species-specific, modest benefits, at least for the waterbirds we studied. However, different stimulus types have different capacities to reduce the frequency of disturbance (i.e. by carrying more people) and vary in their capacity to travel around important habitat.
一种管理人类进入自然区域时对水鸟造成干扰的方法是，增加鸟类可以容忍的接近刺激因素，从而减少鸟类的反应。我们对 39 种水鸟进行了 730 次实验接近，使用了五种刺激类型（单个步行者、三个步行者、自行车、汽车和公共汽车），这些刺激类型是为了模拟控制进入拉姆萨尔湿地的不同人类管理选项而选择的。在 25 个案例中有 56%的情况下，与步行的人类相比，机动车辆总是会引发鸟类更早地起飞。在四个有足够数据进行完整交叉刺激分析的物种中，刺激类型对 FID 的影响是不同的。这四个物种的 FID 都与刺激有关，在 10 个可能的比较中有 4 到 7 个存在差异。在存在差异的情况下，效应大小通常较小，这表明管理刺激类型（例如，要求人们使用车辆）可能对我们研究的水鸟具有特定物种的适度益处。然而，不同的刺激类型减少干扰频率的能力不同（即搭载更多的人），并且在穿越重要栖息地的能力上也存在差异。
