SHORT COMMUNICATION Does hydrological fragmentation affect coastal bird communities? A study from Abaco Island, The Bahamas

Abstract Habitat fragmentation represents one of the most important threats to biodiversity. Fragmentation of aquatic ecosystems is pervasive, fundamentally altering aquatic community structure and ecosystem function on a worldwide scale. Because of the many ecological changes associated with hydrologic frag-mentation of coastal wetlands, there may be cascading effects on non-aquatic organisms. Here we explored if anthropogenic fragmentation of tidal creek wetlands on Abaco Island, The Bahamas, affected bird communi-ties. By comparing fragmented and unfragmented sections of nine separate tidal creeks, we tested whether fragmentation of coastal wetlands (due to roads) affected the richness, abundance, and composition of wetland bird assemblages. Although bird communitie