Christine.

Characterization of quantitative habitat preferences is necessary to assess the possible impacts of the developing activities on the temperate forest of Chile. Christine studied bird habitat relationships in this region, and assessed bird species distributions with respect to climate and vegetation. Point count surveys of diurnal non-raptor bird species were carried out in some national parks between latitudes 35°S and 40°S. Vegetation structure variables were measured and compared to the information available through the national inventory of vegetation. This allowed for the integration of landscape variables to the modelling of habitat preferences. Species distributions were used to assess conservation priorities in the region through systematic conservation planning exercises including birds and vegetation (see Meynard et al., 2009). Bird surveys also showed the importance of metacommunity structure and the importance of indirect climate effects on bird diversity mediated through changes in vegetation structure (see Meynard & Quinn, 2008).