Avian Commuities in Temperate Rainforest of North and South America

Abstract

The climate and topography of the temperate rainforest biomes of North and South America have many similarities (e.g., Alaback, 1991). However, the biogeographic and phylogenetic relationships of the avian inhabitants of these biomes differ greatly, as does the structure of their habitats. There is no particular reason to expect great similarities in avian community structure in the two regions, but a comparison of communities can be instructive by setting the stage for more directly functional and predictive approaches (e.g., Jaksic & Feinsinger, 1991; Meserve & Jaksic, 1991; Willson, 1991). Here we examine first the abundance, diversity, guild structure, and selected biological attributes of bird communities in coastal temperate rainforests of Alaska and Chile. We then broaden the comparison, using previously published information for avian communities of the south temperate forests of Argentina and Chile and the north temperate forests in North America, specifically those in the northwestern part of that continent and those of the midwestern United States, to try to make more general statements. Our goals are: 1) to describe differences and similarities in avian communities in these forests, focusing on diversity, abundance, and selected biological attributes; 2) to assess the similarity of the bird community of the Chilean rainforest to the Alaskan coastal rainforest and to Canadian interior forests; and 3) to begin to examine some sources of the differences in community structure.