Avifaunal use of wooded streets in an urban landscape

Birds in urban landscapes primarily occupy parks (forest fragments), wooded streets (linear strips connecting fragments), or the urban matrix. I studi ed the effects of street location in the landscape, vegetation structure, a nd human disturbance (pedestrian and automobile load) within wooded streets on bird species richness, temporal persistence, and density of feeding and nesting guilds, and on the probability of street occupation by individual species in Madrid during two consecutive breeding seasons. The number of sp ecies recorded increased from the least suitable (control streets without v egetation) to the most suitable habitats (urban parks), with wooded streets being intermediate landscape elements. Fourteen species, belonging to four of the eight guilds identified in this system, were recorded in wooded str eets in both years. Streets that connected urban parks, along with vegetati on structure, positively influenced the number of species within wooded str eets, species persistence, guild density, and probability of occupation of streets by individual species. Human disturbance exerted a negative influen ce on the same variables. Wooded streets potentially could function as corr idors, allowing certain species-particularly those feeding on the ground an d breeding in trees or tree holes-to fare well by supporting alternative ha bitat for feeding and nesting. Local improvements in corridor quality, thro ugh increased vegetation complexity and reduced human disturbance, could ex ert a positive influence on the regional connectivity of the system. Becaus e of differential use of corridors by species with different habitat requir ements, however, corridor implementation should also take into account the target species of management.