Identification of the relationship between urbanization and bird nest migration using buffer and similarity analyses

•Increasing population and urbanization altered land use patterns in central Taiwan.•Urbanization in Taiwan includes agricultural, industrial, and service economy periods.•A buffer analysis quantified the land use area around egret nesting sites.•The similarity between egret nesting sites and land use area change was investigated.•HCA and MDS could be used to initially identify an urbanization process. Population increase and urbanization have considerably altered land-use patterns in central Taiwan. To determine the effects of urbanization in central Taiwan, this study used a buffer analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling to identify the relationship between egret nesting sites and land-use changes during the agricultural, industrial, and service economy periods of the urbanization process. The results demonstrate that built-up land increased markedly over time in central Taiwan, especially within the 1-km circle buffer of egret nesting sites. A longer interquartile range in the service economy period indicates that the distribution of cultivated land near egret nesting sites was relatively fragmented. The types of land-use with similar features were clustered into the same group using hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. The group classification results of the hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling were consistent with the results of the Pearson correlation analyses. The horizontal axis in the multidimensional scaling dendrogram may represent the gradient from the main to minor food source areas. Hierarchical cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling could be used for initial identification of urbanization processes. Furthermore, egrets in central Taiwan adapted to urbanization and fed on discarded human food during Taiwan’s service economy period.