Theoretical habitat templets, species traits, and species richness: birds in the Upper Rhône River and its floodplain

SUMMARY 1 To test predictions of the river habitat templet and the patch dynamics concept, twenty species traits and the species richness of eighty‐one bird species were examined in the context of the spatial – temporal variability of ninety‐one sites at Jons, a section of the Upper Rhône River, France. 2 The basic information was obtained either from the literature (for species traits) or by observation, then structured by a fuzzy coding technique, and examined using multivariate analyses. 3 The relationships between species traits separated three groups of birds: (i) large species that are long lived, have long breeding cycles, and use open sites to feed, breed, and sing (e.g. Podicipidae, Laridae); (ii) medium‐sized species with intermediate longevities and breeding cycles that use less open sites (e.g. Columbidae, Corvidae); and (iii) small species that are short lived, have short breeding cycles, and use closed sites (e.g. Sylviidae). 4 The distribution of birds in the floodplain habitats of the river was closely related to the spatial–temporal variability of sites. 5 No trends in species traits were observed along a gradient of spatial–temporal variability of the sites. 6 Species richness of birds was relatively constant over the gradient of spatial–temporal variability of the ninety‐one sites, but decreased at low spatial and high temporal variability because of human activities and vegetation changes that occurred at these sites. 7 These observations on species traits and richness were related to the high mobility of birds (which is a scale phenomenon) and the high intercorrelation between parameters used to determine the spatial and temporal variability of the sites (which makes separation of the spatial from the temporal variability impossible).