Comparative assessment of satellite‐ and drone‐based vegetation indices to predict arthropod biomass in shrub‐steppes

Traba, Juán; Gómez‐Catasús, Julia; Barrero, Adrián; Rosa, Daniel Bustillo-de la; Zurdo, Julia; Hervás, Israel; Pérez‐Granados, Cristian; Morena, Eladio L. García de la; Santamaría, Adrián; Reverter, Margarita

doi:10.1002/eap.2707

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 70 publications

(134 reference statements)

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“…Assuming that vegetation indices such as BNDVI are good descriptors of arthropod biomass (i.e. food availability; Traba et al 2022), and taking into account that true diets of these species are still unknown (Zurdo et al unpubl. ), we expected this variable to be more relevant in our models, since our bird assemblage is dominated by insectivorous species, at least during the breeding season (Cramp and Simmons 1980).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We characterized the plots using environmental predictors that describe the habitat quality and structure through the UAV imagery. Firstly, we calculated the vegetation index BNDVI, which has previously been successfully used as a proxy of arthropod biomass (food availability, Table 1; Fernández‐Tizón et al 2020, Traba et al 2022). Secondly, we characterized the microhabitat structure in each plot through aerial images, which were used to create our environmental predictors at a 50 × 50 cm spatial scale grouped into three sets of variables: abiotic features, vegetation types and land uses (see Table 1 for the composition of the groups and the description of the variables).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Co‐occurrence patterns in a steppe bird community: insights into the role of dominance and competition

Barrero

Ovaskainen

Traba

et al. 2023

Oikos

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Spatial co‐occurrence patterns are determined by environmental factors, such as food availability or habitat characteristics and by biotic associations. When resources are limited, competition which implies a dominant hierarchy can shape species assemblage. Here, we study space and time co‐occurrence of steppe passerines during the breeding season in a natural steppe habitat, its modulation by environmental filtering, potential biotic interactions and random processes. We applied the joint species distribution model of hierarchical modelling of species community (HMSC) to data on species presence–absence and environmental, temporal and spatial covariates acquired from seven plots in a natural steppe in central Spain during two consecutive years. Our results reveal the patterns of bird species co‐occurrence and suggest that this assemblage might be competitively structured. The assemblage appears to be configured around one dominant species, the Eurasian skylark, which establishes principally negative associations with many of the coexistent species. Our results contribute to the understanding of how competition and dominance processes, together with ecological constraints and other biotic associations, shape bird assemblages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Co‐occurrence patterns in a steppe bird community: insights into the role of dominance and competition

Barrero

Ovaskainen

Traba

et al. 2023

Oikos

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“…At our study site, beetles are very abundant and diverse (Traba et al . 2022), with more than 15 different families. Grasshoppers are also abundant at the study site (Traba et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Grasshoppers are also abundant at the study site (Traba et al . 2022), primarily diurnal (Ingrisch & Rentz 2009) and a prey with a high nutritive value (Ueckert et al . 1972, Razeng & Watson 2014), representing an important food source for numerous insectivorous and omnivorous birds (Sullins et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dietary niche overlap and resource partitioning among six steppe passerines of Central Spain using DNA metabarcoding

Zurdo

Barrero

Silva

et al. 2023

Ibis

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Trophic niche partitioning is a mechanism that facilitates the coexistence of ecologically similar species by sharing their resource use. However, detailed information of the trophic niche in insectivorous birds is usually limited by the lack of accurate identification of consumed food resources. The use of DNA metabarcoding has proved useful for molecular identification of the taxa present in bird faecal samples. Here, we used this molecular technique to study the diets of six steppe passerine species distributed in two Special Protection Areas in central Spain, and to characterize the dietary niche overlap and the prey composition differences between bird species. In total, we distinguished 112 diet items, covering 39 arthropod families of 13 orders. Although significant dietary differences existed in prey species composition, our results indicated a 74% overlap in steppe bird dietary niche, mostly due to high consumption of abundant arthropod prey such as beetles, grasshoppers and spiders in the breeding season by all bird species. The lowest overlap was found for the dietary niches of the Greater Short‐toed Lark Calandrella brachydactyla and Dupont's Lark Chersophilus duponti, a scarce and threatened species, which appeared to be the species with the most distinct dietary niche within the community. Our results make a significant contribution to the knowledge of shrub‐steppe bird diets and their trophic interactions, indicating that some extent of interspecific resource partitioning occurs in the study area, notably between Dupont's Lark and the Greater Short‐toed Lark. Our study demonstrates the value of DNA metabarcoding in the assessment of passerine diets and provides useful ecological results for the design of biodiversity conservation programmes in the increasingly scarce and threatened steppe habitats.

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“…Each plot was completely covered in a single flight to homogenize the meteorological conditions. We calculated the Blue Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (BNDVI) (Salamí et al, 2014), which has been successfully used as a proxy of arthropod biomass and hence of food availability for insectivorous birds (Traba et al, 2022). We used a set of environmental variables related to abiotic features and vegetation types to characterize the microhabitat structure in each plot through aerial images at a 50 × 50 cm spatial scale (Table 1).…”

Section: Environmental Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Increased density of conspecifics caused niche contraction in a multispecific passerine assemblage

Barrero,

Traba,

Tarjuelo

2024

Ecology

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Competition is a prominent mechanism driving population dynamics and structuring community assemblage, which can be investigated by linking shifts in species’ ecological niche and the densities of sympatric species because the ecological release from competitive constraints is a density‐dependent process. In this work we determine how a steppe passerine community segregates their ecological niches and evaluate the role of competition in inducing changes in the ecological niche of species. We built multidimensional ecological niches (with Gaussian kernel density estimators) using data on the habitat features used by 10 bird species collected from seven sites in the natural steppes of Central Spain over 2 consecutive years. We computed distance and niche similarity metrics to explore the ecological niche partitioning of the bird community. Next, we ran multivariate linear regression models to evaluate the effects of conspecific and heterospecific density (as proxies of intraspecific and interspecific competition, respectively) on niche breadth and/or position of the three most abundant species. We found low niche overlap in the community assemblage but varying levels of niche similarity among pairs of species, which could increase the likelihood of current competition operating in the community. However, we found no effect of heterospecific density on niche breadth or position, although conspecific density was negatively related to niche breadth. Contrary to predictions of competition theory, increased density of conspecifics caused niche contraction. Our results from a multispecies system contribute to advanced knowledge of the biotic mechanisms structuring wildlife communities within the framework of ecological niche theory.

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Comparative assessment of satellite‐ and drone‐based vegetation indices to predict arthropod biomass in shrub‐steppes

Abstract: This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as

Cited by 10 publications

References 70 publications

Co‐occurrence patterns in a steppe bird community: insights into the role of dominance and competition

Co‐occurrence patterns in a steppe bird community: insights into the role of dominance and competition

Dietary niche overlap and resource partitioning among six steppe passerines of Central Spain using DNA metabarcoding

Increased density of conspecifics caused niche contraction in a multispecific passerine assemblage

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