Bird-habitat associations predict population trends in central European forest and farmland birds

Abstract

Recent studies show diVerences in population trends between groups of species occupying diVerent habitats. In Czech birds, as well as in many other European countries, populations of forest species have increased, whereas populations of farmland species have declined. The aim of our study was to test whether population trends of particular species were related to Wner bird-habitat associations within farmland and forest birds. We assessed bird-habitat associations using canonical correspondence analysis based on data from a 400 km long transect across the Czech Republic. We calculated population trends of 62 bird species using log-linear models based on data from a large-scale annual monitoring scheme, which covers the time series from 1982 to 2005. Within forest birds, species with a closer association with lowland broad-leaved forest have had more positive population trends, whereas species with a closer association with montane and coniferous forest revealed more negative population trends. We attribute these opposite trends to the gradual replacement of coniferous forests by deciduous ones, which took place in the Czech Republic during recent decades. Our analyses revealed a hump-shaped relationship within farmland birds, species most closely associated with farmland habitat revealing the most negative trends, whereas species with intermediate association to farmland habitat showed the most positive population trends. Such a pattern can be explained by the abandonment of 3308 Biodivers Conserv (2008) 17:3307-3319 1 C previously cultivated areas followed by the spread of unmanaged meadows and scrubland. Changes in quantity or quality of preferred habitats may thus represent major drivers of observed bird population changes.

An ecological classification of Central European macromoths: habitat associations and conservation status returned from life history attributes

“…For conservation predictions, our analysis revealed that endangered macromoths tend to be associated with grasslands and sparse woodlands, whereas species of close forests are least endangered. This agrees with the knowledge on other taxa, such as the continental declines of grassland and farmland birds (Gregory et al 2005;Reif et al 2008a), and relatively better situation of woodland birds (Reif et al 2008b), and corresponds with the loss of seminatural grasslands and sparse forests throughout Central Europe during the last century. It would be worthwhile to compare the moth resource-based habitat associations with those of betterknown butterflies, perhaps via a joint analysis comparing these two groups, one with very detailed, and the other with only fragmentary conservation status information.…”

Modelling of Climate Conditions in Forest Vegetation Zones as a Support Tool for Forest Management Strategy in European Beech Dominated Forests

“…The main trends in the changes are also in line with observed trends in the distribution of wild animals, also explained by climate change, such as certain butterfly species [79] expanding their range to higher elevations. Reference [80] showed that the trend in ongoing changes in bird population sizes and the shifts in nesting areas in the Czech Republic, in the context of climate change, are caused by a decline in species adapted to colder climates in mountainous areas, and an increase in the ranges of lower-elevation species. This confirms the regional scenario of climate characteristics for the beech planting in our study.…”

Changes in bird distribution in a Central European country between 1985–1989 and 2001–2003

“…In the case of forest birds, this result is in accordance with studies based on annual monitoring of populations of common species in the Czech Republic ) and other parts of Europe Van Turnhout et al 2007). It might be attributed to forest expansion, the alteration of forest age class composition towards older classes and/or by the impact of forest recovery after the reduction of imissions in the 1990s (Reif et al , 2008c. The increase of wetland birds was also confirmed in local bird communities in central and western Europe (Lemoine et al 2007;Van Turnhout et al 2010;Orłowski and Ławniczak 2009) and was probably caused by lower hunting pressure and the fact that many newly established nature reserves in the country protected wetland habitats (Málková and Lacina 2002).…”