Avian distribution in Dominican shade coffee plantations: Area and habitatrelationships

Residents and wintering Nearctic migrants were sampled by point counts in 4 0 small to medium-sized (0.07-8.65 ha) shade coffee plantations with an ove rstory of Inga vera in the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic. The purp ose of the study was to determine the relative importance of plantation are a, isolation, and habitat structure to avian distribution and abundance. Va riation in abundance was unrelated to plantation area for all migrant speci es (n = 7), whereas the local abundance of four of ten resident species inc reased significantly with area. Elevation was the only variable that signif icantly contributed to the total number of species per plantation (fewer sp ecies at higher elevation), and no habitat variables significantly contribu ted to variation in the total number of migrant species. In contrast, signi ficantly higher numbers of resident species were found in larger and older plantations at lower elevations, characterized by numerous stems greater th an or equal to 3 cm DBH, little or no pruning of overstory branches, and ma ximum canopy cover at 12.0-15.0 m. Coffee plantations with high levels of s tructural and floristic diversity should be encouraged for avian conservati on, and even the smallest plantations, if not too isolated by treeless area s, can contribute to avian abundance and diversity in tropical agricultural regions.