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THE WILSON JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY • Vol. 123, No. 2. June 2011 
differences were evident as environmental cor 
tions near the edge of a species* distribution , 
vary from those within the core of its range (Law 
1993, Brown et al. 1995). 
Over one-third of our plots (38.5%) were in i 
bottomlands, and Cerulean Warblers display* 
strong negative relation to increasing slope : 
aspect. Cerulean Warblers arc cited as inhabit! 
ndge tops throughout Appalachia, but this tre 
tioT,R T ard ,hC P eri P hcries of its distril 
t'on (Rosenberg ct al. 2000). The appart 
preference for floodplain forests in Abba, 
may be in response to extensive logging practices 
of the early 20th century in the Cumberland 
Mountains (Smalley 1984). which typically fo¬ 
cused activity along ridge tops and may have 
forced Cerulean Warblers to lower elevations 
(Hamel 2000a). However, all three populations 
were in highly dissected areas, and the surround¬ 
ing topography may still have an important role in 
a Cerulean Warbler's hierarchical process of 
selecting breeding habitat in Alabama. 
Canopy complexity has received considerable 
attention in Cerulean Warbler habitat studies 
