Examining potential relationships between exotic monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) and avian communities in an urban environment

Exotic species are common in urban ecosystems, but their effects on native species are often unknown. Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) have successfully colonized urban ecosystems across the world. Yet, no study has examined relationships between Monk Parakeets and the avian communities in areas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wilson journal of ornithology Vol. 128; no. 3; pp. 556 - 566
Main Authors Appelt, Christopher W., Ward, Lorrie C., Bender, Colleen, Fasenella, Joan, Vossen, Brandy J. Van, Knight, Lynn
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Fort Collins The Wilson Ornithological Society 01.09.2016
Wilson Ornithological Society
Subjects
Animal behavior
Animal communities
avian diversity
Biodiversity
Bird communities
Bird pests
Birds
Chicago
community effects
Ecological invasion
Exotic birds
Food
Hypotheses
Introduced birds
Introduced species
Invasive species
MAJOR ARTICLES
Metropolitan areas
Monk Parakeet
Native species
Nonnative species
Ornithological research
Parakeets
Species diversity
Studies
Urban ecology
urban ecosystem
United States
United States > US
Chicago Illinois
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Summary:Exotic species are common in urban ecosystems, but their effects on native species are often unknown. Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) have successfully colonized urban ecosystems across the world. Yet, no study has examined relationships between Monk Parakeets and the avian communities in areas they colonize. The species' recent expansion in Chicago, Illinois, USA and other places makes such a study imperative. We examined avian communities both with and without Monk Parakeets and hypothesized that observed differences between the two community types would be associated with the presence of parakeets. At the community level, we observed no significant differences between areas with and without parakeets, and we found only a few weak differences at the species level. Therefore, we conclude that Monk Parakeets likely are not having a strong influence on urban avian communities, but we cannot rule out effects at smaller scales. Nonetheless, data from this study can serve as a benchmark for measuring potential future changes as the parakeets expand their range.
ISSN:1559-4491
1938-5447
DOI:10.1676/1559-4491-128.3.556