REGIONAL HABITAT APPRAISALS OF WILDLIFE COMMUNITIES - A LANDSCAPE-LEVEL EVALUATION OF A RESOURCE PLANNING-MODEL USING AVIAN DISTRIBUTION DATA

A simple regional habitat model founded on the relation between vertical habitat complexity and species richness has been used to describe wildlife habitat in response to macroscale patterns in land use and land cover. While the model has a basis in ecological theory, it has not been subjected to rigorous testing. We evaluated the model's fundamental assumption on landscapes in the eastern forested region of the United States and found the model to be supported when we used a measure of avian community integrity during the breeding season. The model was improved by incorporating measures of horizontal heterogeneity, indicating that the vertical and horizontal structure of habitats should be considered in analyzing the response of wildlife to land resource policies that can affect broad land use patterns.