THE HABITAT CONCEPT IN ORNITHOLOGY Theory and Applications

Ornithologists have played a key role in the development of the habitat concept. The conspicuous nature of birds has allowed ornithologists to assemble a vast amount of information relating the distribution and abundance of birds to aspects of the environment (Brown, 1984; Mayr, 1988; Konishi et a]., 1989; Morrison et a]. , 1992). The application of the term "habitat" has been used as a unifying, theoretical concept to explain the diversity of avian life-history patterns (Rotenberry, 1981). However, specific definitions of the term "habitat" are often vague. Definitions have ranged from, for example, how species are associated with broad, landscapescaled vegetation types, to very detailed descriptions of immediate physical environments used by species (Karr, 1980; Verner et a]., 1986; Harris and Kangas, 1988).