Bird niches in a subalpine forest: An indirect ordination.

Multivariate techniques that are tolerant of the curvilinearity in population responses can be used to ordinate bird species in a niche hyperspace and to quantify niche relationships. Multidimensional scaling, secondary reciprocal averaging, and reciprocal averaging followed by principal components analysis give similar results in an ordination of 20 bird species in a spruce-fir forest. The ordination represents the organization of the bird community in relation to niche axes and suggests grouping of the bird species into guilds. A group of foliage-gleaning insectivores that finely divide their resource base is central to the bird community; other groups of species (ground feeders, aerial feeders, conifer specialists, and bark probers and peckers) have broader niches.

Protist classification and the kingdoms of organisms.

Traditional classification imposed a division into plant-like and animal-like forms on the unicellular eukaryotes, or protists; in a current view the protists are a diverse assemblage of plant-, animal- and fungus-like groups. Classification of these into phyla is difficult because of their relatively simple structure and limited geological record, but study of ultrastructure and other characteristics is providing new insight on protist classification. Possible classifications are discussed, and a summary classification of the living world into kingdoms (Monera, Protista, Fungi, Animalia, Plantae) and phyla is suggested. This classification also suggests groupings of phyla into superphyla and form-superphyla, and a broadened kingdom Protista (including green algae, oomycotes and slime molds but excluding red and brown algae). The classification thus seeks to offer a compromise between the protist and protoctist kingdoms of Whittaker and Margulis and to combine a full listing of phyla with grouping of these for synoptic treatment.