AVIAN RESPONSE TO LANDSCAPE ELEMENTS (TESSERAE) IN AN UPLAND GRASSLAND HABITAT

Avian response to landscape elements (tesserae) at Camp Andrew, Lion's River Farming District, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, was measured in terms of abundance, occupancy and diversity per tessera. Flight paths between the tesserae were also quantified. As expected, occupancy vari ed from highest in the least disturbed tessera chill-grass) to lowest in exotic-plant and disturbed tesserae (wattle and mown-grass). Abunda nce and diversity, however, did not show this trend, but varied indepe ndently of whether the tesserae were natural, disturbed or exotic. Con tinuity diagrams, depicting the movement patterns of birds, show that avian response to heterogeneity was influenced by the relative suitabi lity of each tessera. The life history traits of a given species may e xplain its unique response to a given tessera. A knowledge of avian re sponses to landscape pattern is important for conservation-management strategies.