Bird responses at inherent and induced edges in the Murray Mallee, South Australia. 2. Nest predation as an edge effect

Summary: We quantified differences in the abundance and diversity of bird species at inherent (naturally occurring) and induced (human-created) edges in the Murray Mallee, South Australia, to explore the effects of anthropogenic landscape modification. Bird species were classified into edge-response categories based on numerical differences in abun-dance between the edge and interior of habitat patches. ‘Open-country ’ species (e.g. Australian Magpie and Little Raven) increased in abundance near induced edges, but were rarely recorded> 200 m into patch interiors or at in-herent edges. The Australian Ringneck, Red Wattlebird, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Singing Honeyeater and White-eared Honeyeater increased in abundance near each inherent edge and were classified as ‘edge-users’. However, their re-sponses at induced edges varied between sites. The Yellow