LANDSCAPE CONFIGURATION AND DIVERSITY HOTSPOTS IN WINTERING SPARROWS

Community-level studies with finches have traditionally viewed local r esources as the primary constraints on local diversity. Patches have b een considered to be self-contained and embedded in landscapes that we re neutral with respect to the ecological processes under investigatio n. This study uses a factorial design to examine the relative roles of patch content and patch context in determining patterns of species ri chness. Sparrows were surveyed in small fallow patches that varied in both weed cover and the type of adjacent habitat. Species richness and total sparrow abundance were significantly influenced by both factors . Individual species were also influenced by both factors; however, re sponses were species-specific. Because occupation of particular plot t ypes was conditional on their association with specific habitat types, the spatial patterning of species assemblages results from the config uration of patch types within the landscape.