edge effect literature

NOTE: We are still building this list and it will always be a very limited selection from a huge literature. Apologies for all the great papers we've not included. Please feel free to send suggestions of papers you'd like to see included to lries@umd.edu

Project and team references:

Ries, L. and T.D. Sisk. 2010. What is an edge species? The implications of sensitivity to habitat edges. Oikos 119:1636-1642. (PDF available 1 year after publication)

Ries, L. and T.D. Sisk. 2008. Edge effects are predicted by a simple model in a complex landscape. Oecologia 156:75-86. PDF

Lindenmayer, D, and 26 coauthors, incl. T. Sisk. 2007. A checklist for ecological management of landscapes for conservation. Ecology Letters 10:1-14.

Sisk, T.D. 2007. Incorporating edges effects into landscape design. Chapter 14 in D. Lindenmayer and R. Hobbs (eds.) Managing and designing landscapes for conservation: moving from perspectives to principles. Blackwell. Sydney.

Fletcher, R.J., L. Ries, J. Battin, and A.D. Chalfoun. 2007. The role of habitat area and edge in fragmented landscapes: definitively distinct or inevitably intertwined? Canadian Journal of Zoology 85:1017-1030. PDF

Brand, L. A., B.R. Noon and T.D. Sisk. 2006. Predicting abundance of desert riparian birds: validation and calibration of the effective area model. Ecological Applications 16:1090–1102. PDF

Ries, L., R.J. Fletcher Jr., J. Battin, and T.D. Sisk. 2004. Ecological responses to habitat edges: mechanisms, models and variability explained. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 35:491-522. PDF Supplemental material

Battin, J. 2004. When Good Animals Love Bad Habitats: Ecological Traps and the Conservation of Animal Populations. Conservation Biology 18:1482-1491.

Ries, L. and T.D. Sisk. 2004. A predictive model of edge effects. Ecology 85: 2917-2926. PDF

Ries, L., and W. F. Fagan. 2003. Habitat edges as a potential ecological trap for an insect predator. Ecological Entomology 28: 567-572. PDF

Battin, J., and T. D. Sisk. 2003. Assessing landscape-level influences of forest restoration on animal populations. In P. Friederici & W. W. Covington (eds.) Ecological restoration of southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Island Press, Covelo, CA.

Sisk, T.D. and J. Battin. 2002. Habitat edges and avian habitat: geographic patterns and insights for western landscapes. Studies in Avian Biology 25: 30-48.

Sisk, T.D., B.R. Noon, and H.M. Hampton. 2002. Estimating the effective area of habitat patches in variable landscapes. Pages 713-725 in Scott, Michael J., Patricia Heglund, Michael L. Morrison, Jonathon B. Haufler, Martin G. Raphael, William A. Wall, and Fred B. Samson, eds. Predicting species occurrences: issues of accuracy and scale. Island Press: Washington.

Sisk, T.D. and N.M. Haddad. 2002. Incorporating the effects of habitat edges into landscape models: Effective area models for cross-boundary management. Pages 208-240 in J. Liu and W. Taylor (eds.) Integrating Landscape Ecology into Natural Resource Management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Sisk TD, Haddad NM, Ehrlich PR. 1997. Bird assemblages in patchy woodlands: modeling the effects of edge and matrix habitats. Ecol. Appl. 7:1170–80

Classic edge references and theoretical underpinnings

Cadenasso ML, Pickett STA, Weathers KC, Jones CG. 2003. A framework for a theory of ecological boundaries. BioScience 53:750–58

Fagan WF, Cantrell RS, Cosner C. 1999. How habitat edges change species interactions. Am. Nat. 153:165–82

McCollin D. 1998. Forest edges and habitat selection in birds: a functional approach. Ecography 21:247–60

Wiens JA, Crawford CS, Gosz JR. 1985. Boundary dynamics: a conceptual framework for studying landscape ecosystems. Oikos 45:421–27

Wilcove DS. 1985. Nest predation in forest tracts and the decline of migratory songbirds. Ecology 66:1211–14

Brittingham MC, Temple SA. 1983. Have cowbirds caused forest songbirds to decline? BioScience 33:31–35

Gates JE, Gysel LW. 1978. Avian nest dispersion and fledging success in field-forest ecotones. Ecology 59:871–83

Lay DW. 1938. How valuable are woodland clearings to birdlife? Wilson Bull. 50:254–56

The use of edges in modeling landscapes and conservation planning

With KA, King AW. 2001. Analysis of landscape sources and sinks: the effect of spatial pattern on avian demography. Biol. Conserv. 100:75–88

Laurance WF, Yensen E. 1991. Predicting the impacts of edge effects in fragmented habitats. Biol. Conserv. 55:77–92

Temple SA, Cary JR. 1988. Modeling dynamics of habitat-interior bird populations in fragmented landscapes. Conserv. Biol. 2:340– 47

Harris LD. 1988. Edge effects and conservation of biotic diversity. Conserv. Biol. 2:330–32

Temple SA. 1986. Predicting impacts of habitat fragmentation on forest birds: a comparison of two models. In Wildlife 2000: Modeling Habitat Relationships of Terrestrial Vertebrates, ed. J Verner,ML Morrison, CJ Ralph, pp. 301–4. Madison: Univ. Wis. Press

Other edge reviews

Hufkens, K., P. Scheunders, and R. Ceulemans. 2009. Ecotones in vegetation ecology: methodologies and definitions revisited ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH 24:977-986

Laurance, W. F. 2008. Theory meets reality: how habitat fragmentation research has transcended island biogeographic theory. – Biol. Conserv. 141: 1731–1744

Schlossberg, S. and King, D. I. 2008. Are shrubland birds edge specialists? – Ecol. Appl. 18: 1325–1330.

Fonseca C.R. and F. Joner. 2007. Two-sided edge effect studies and the restoration of endangered ecosystems. RESTORATION ECOLOGY 15:613-619

Lindell CA, Riffell SK, Kaiser SA, Battin AL, Smith ML, and Sisk TD. 2007. Edge responses of tropical and temperate birds WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY 119:205-220

Ewers, R. M. and Didham, R. K. 2006. Confounding factors in the detection of species responses to habitat fragmentation. – Biol. Rev. 81: 117–142.

Chalfoun AD, Thompson FR, Ratnaswamy MJ. 2002. Nest predators and fragmentation: a review and meta-analysis. Conserv. Biol. 16:306–18

Lahti DC. 2001. The “edge effect on nest predation” hypothesis after twenty years. Biol. Conserv. 99:365–74

Laurance WF. 2000. Do edge effects occur over large spatial scales? Trends Ecol. Evol. 15:134–35

Lidicker WZ. 1999. Responses of mammals to habitat edges: an overview. Landsc. Ecol. 14:333–43

Villard MA. 1998. On forest-interior species, edge avoidance, area sensitivity, and dogmas in avian conservation. Auk 115:801–5

Murcia C. 1995. Edge effects in fragmented forests: implications for conservation. Trends Ecol. Evol. 10:58–62

A small selection of empirical edge response papers

Macreadie, PI, RM Connolly, GP Jenkins, JS Hindell, and MJ Keough. 2010. Edge patterns in aquatic invertebrates explained
by predictive models. Marine and Freshwater Research, 61:214–218

Ewers, R.E. and R.K. Didham. 2008. Pervasive impact of large-scale edge effects on a beetle community. PNAS 105:5426–5429.

Villard, M.A., F.K.A. Schmiegelow, and M.K. Trzcinski. 2007. Short-term response of forest birds to experimental clearcut edges AUK 124: 828-840

Kristan WB, Lynam AJ, Price MV, Rotenberry JT. 2003. Alternative causes of edgeabundance relationships in birds and small mammals of California coastal sage scrub. Ecography 26:29–44

Ross WG, Kulhavy DL, Conner RN. 1997. Stand conditions and tree characteristics affect quality of longleaf pine for red-cockaded woodpecker cavity trees. For. Ecol. Manag. 91:145–54

Noss RF. 1991. Effects of edge and internal patchiness on avian habitat use in an old-growth Florida hammock. Nat. Areas J. 11:34–47

Brand LA, George TL. 2001. Response of passerine birds to forest edge in coast redwood forest fragments. Auk 118:678–86

Jules ES, Rathcke BJ. 1999. Mechanisms of reduced trillium recruitment along edges of old-growth forest fragments. Conserv. Biol. 13:784–93

BurkeDM, Nol E. 1998. Influence of food abundance, nest-site habitat, and forest fragmentation on breeding ovenbirds. Auk 15:96–104

Zabel CJ, McKelvey K, Ward JP. 1995. Influence of primary prey on home-range size and habitat-use patterns of northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina). Can. J. Zool. 73:433–39

Complex and multiple edge responses

Malcolm JR. 1994. Edge effects in central Amazonian forest fragments. Ecology 75:2438–45

Fernandez C, Acosta FJ, Abella G, Lopez F, Dıaz M. 2002. Complex edge effect fields as additive processes in patches of ecological systems. Ecol. Model. 149:273–83

Other approaches to measuring edge responses

Toms JD, Lesperance ML. 2003. Piecewise regression: a tool for identifying ecological thresholds. Ecology 84:2034–41

Mancke RG, Gavin TA. 2000. Breeding bird density in woodlots: effects of depth and buildings at the edges. Ecol. Appl. 10:598–611

Harper KA, MacDonald SE. 2001. Structure and composition of riparian boreal forest: new methods for analyzing edge influence. Ecology 82:649–59

Edges and movement behavior

Stamps JA, Buechner M, Krishnan VV. 1987. The effects of edge permeability and habitat geometry on emigration from patches of habitat. Am. Nat. 129:533–52

Selected literature (grouped by topic)