Abstract: Introduced species have the potential to impact
processes central to the organization of ecological communities. Although
hundreds of nonnative plant species have naturalized in the United States, only
a small percentage of these have been studied in their new biotic communities.
Their interactions with resident (native and introduced) bird species remain
largely unexplored. As a group, citizen scientists such as ornithologists
possess a wide range of experiences. They may offer insights into the prevalence
and form of bird interactions with nonnative plants on a broad geographic scale.
We surveyed 173 ornithologists from four U.S. states, asking them to report
observations of bird interactions with nonnative plants. The primary goal of the
survey was to obtain information useful in guiding future empirical research. In
all, 1143 unique bird–plant interactions were reported, involving 99 plant taxa
and 168 bird species. Forty-seven percent of reported interactions concerned
potential dispersal (feeding on seeds or fruits). Remaining “habitat
interactions” involved bird use of plants for nesting, perching, woodpecking,
gleaning, and other activities. We utilized detrended correspondence analysis to
ordinate birds with respect to the plants they reportedly utilize. Results
illuminate the new guilds formed by these interactions. We assessed the existing
level of knowledge about invasiveness of those plants reported most often in
feeding interactions, identifying information gaps for biological invasions
research priority. To exemplify the usefulness of citizen science data, we
utilized survey results to guide field research on invasiveness in some of these
plant species and observed both qualitatively and quantitatively strong
agreement between survey reports and our empirical data. Questionnaire reports
are therefore heuristically informative for the fields of both avian ecology and
invasion biology. [Clare E. Aslan, Marcel Rejmánek (2010) Avian use of
introduced plants: Ornithologist records illuminate interspecific associations
and research needs. Ecological Applications: Vol. 20, No. 4, pp.
1005-1020. doi: 10.1890/08-2128.1]