Water-related bird assemblages in an urban pond ‘archipelago’: Winter patterns of bird species occurrence, abundance and richness

This study reports on the patterns of species occurrence, abundance and richness of a wintering water-related bird assemblage in an archipelago' of 70 small artificial urban ponds (AUPs) embedded in a metropolitan landscape (Rome, central Italy). A total of 20 species in 26 AUPs were sampled. Only the largest AUPs (>0.1ha) contained all these species, except for Gallinula chloropus. The highest total mean species abundance was observed in the largest ponds, with statistically significant differences evident among size classes. Two significant spatial thresholds in species abundance and richness were observed (between 0.01 and 0.1ha; between 0.1 and 1ha in size). The abundance of single species was correlated with their frequency of occurrence. Ponds in urban areas must be larger than 0.1ha to host a rich winter assemblage of birds, with a further increase in richness noted with a surface area larger than 1ha. The highest number of species was observed in the larger ponds (>1ha). The species richness of each AUP is directly correlated to their size (log-transformed species-area relationship: log S=3.515+0.497 log A; R2=0.76). Further research should be conducted to confirm these patterns and to implement information useful for planning and management of artificial ponds in urban areas for this purpose.