**6. Conclusion**

Farm ponds generally represent a habitat condition between natural and urban environments, and have great potential for supporting quite varied bird communities (Fang et al.,2009; Fang, 2011; Fang & Huang, 2011; Fang et al., 2011). This chapter characterizes species richness and community structure over a habitat size gradient to a landscape gradient of a farm-pond complex. In my study, forty-five ponds were surveyed ranging in area from 0.2 to 20.47 ha within a landscape complex in the Taoyuan Tableland. An avian survey, detected ninety-four species and individuals, was conducted on three occasions. Contrasting responses to pond configurations at the functional group level, the relationship between the landscape and birds were calculated the effects of pond size and shape within the complex on species richness and community composition. Seven types of avian functional groups, representing locally major species, were identified over urbanized characteristics. Some generalists, like Chinese Light-vented Bulbul (*Pycnonotus sinensis*) and Japanese White-eye (*Zosterops japonica*), have been detected in the urbanized areas. The presence of adjoining natural and/or constructed habitats from anthropogenic influences was probably the most important determinant of avifauna in study areas. This study was used a simulation of diversity of birds with kringing methods beyond a lower mean *H'* value of 1.603 ± 0.494 during migratory seasons for three occasions from 2008 to 2009 in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Studies of variation in species individuals with relative abundances have been conducted by using species diversity for further results and findings in several months. This study will be conducted for decade for more advanced findings in urbanized rural areas.

#### **Author details**

Wei-Ta Fang

226 Biodiversity Conservation and Utilization in a Diverse World

(February 2009).

areas.

**6. Conclusion** 

**Figure 8.** Scenario Model in Shannon-Wiener Diversity by Kriging Approach within building areas

Farm ponds generally represent a habitat condition between natural and urban environments, and have great potential for supporting quite varied bird communities (Fang et al.,2009; Fang, 2011; Fang & Huang, 2011; Fang et al., 2011). This chapter characterizes species richness and community structure over a habitat size gradient to a landscape gradient of a farm-pond complex. In my study, forty-five ponds were surveyed ranging in area from 0.2 to 20.47 ha within a landscape complex in the Taoyuan Tableland. An avian survey, detected ninety-four species and individuals, was conducted on three occasions. Contrasting responses to pond configurations at the functional group level, the relationship between the landscape and birds were calculated the effects of pond size and shape within the complex on species richness and community composition. Seven types of avian functional groups, representing locally major species, were identified over urbanized characteristics. Some generalists, like Chinese Light-vented Bulbul (*Pycnonotus sinensis*) and Japanese White-eye (*Zosterops japonica*), have been detected in the urbanized areas. The presence of adjoining natural and/or constructed habitats from anthropogenic influences was probably the most important determinant of avifauna in study areas. This study was used a simulation of diversity of birds with kringing methods beyond a lower mean *H'* value of 1.603 ± 0.494 during migratory seasons for three occasions from 2008 to 2009 in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Studies of variation in species individuals with relative abundances have been conducted by using species diversity for further results and findings in several months. This study will be conducted for decade for more advanced findings in urbanized rural *Graduate Institute of Environmental Education, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan, Republic of China* 

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**Chapter 10** 

© 2012 Hariss, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2012 Hariss, licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**The Role that Diastrophism and Climatic Change** 

Diastrophism includes both tectonic movements and plate tectonics. Together with changes in climate, they largely explain the high number of endemic species and biodiversity of both plants and animals on the North American continent. Each continent has had a different climatic and geological history, which explains why each continent differs in its biota from the others, although there are considerable similarities in the evolution of the biota. Thus in Europe, there are relatively few endemic species of plants (Birks, 2008) in contrast to 70% endemic vascular plants in the North American Tundra and Boreal Forest of the western Cordillera of Canada (Harris, 2008), and close to 100% endemic species in some groups of insects. This chapter provides an outline of the evolution of the biota of North America from the time that it was part of the massive continent (Pangaea) occupying the area around the

At the beginning of the Palaeozoic Era, Laurasia was near the equator on the periphery of Pangaea. The latter was a large land mass consisting of the progenitors of the existing continents that were located around the South Pole at that time. In the Cambrian Period (600-500 million years ago), North America was orientated so that the equator ran from western Mexico northwards to the Arctic Ocean along the Yukon-NWT border (Briden & Irving, 1964). During the Ordovician Period (500-425 million years ago), the continent rotated so that the equator lay in a line from just south of Baja California northeastwards to the east coast of Hudson Bay. The rotation of North America continued and by the Carboniferous Period (345-280 million years ago), it passed through San Diego east-north-

**Have Played in Determining Biodiversity in** 

**Continental North America** 

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Stuart A. Harris

**1. Introduction** 

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/50286

South Pole, until the present day.

**2. Palaeozoic era** 

