Open AccessIsland biogeography of Corsican birds: some trends
Author(s) -
Martin JeanLouis
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
ecography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.973
H-Index - 128
eISSN - 1600-0587
pISSN - 0906-7590
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0587.1984.tb01123.x
Subject(s) - corsican , species richness , ecology , fauna , mainland , habitat , biological dispersal , biogeography , geography , insular biogeography , endemism , biology , population , philosophy , linguistics , demography , sociology
The species composition, species richness, and the general characteristics of the Corsican bird fauna are compared to those of similar French mainland areas. Species richness on Corsica is approximately 30% lower than on similar‐sized reference areas on the mainland. A comparative study of the species composition Indicates that species impoverishment is not evenly distributed among different species groups. These groups were defined on three levels: taxonomical, biogeographical, and ecological. The sea bird fauna appears not to be impoverished. Freshwater and anthropophileous bird species groups show only little impoverishment, which is to be related to their good dispersal ability as a consequence of the discontinuous distribution of their habitats even on the mainland. The mainland forest species group is one of the most impoverished, but mainland forest species having colonised Corsica show important habitat expansion and increased densities on the island. The sedentarity of these species and particular features of the Corsican environment are proposed as explanations.