Conservation planning for boreal birds in a changing climate: a framework for action

Stralberg, Diana; Berteaux, Dominique; Drever, C. Ronnie; Drever, Mark C.; Naujokaitis‐Lewis, Ilona; Schmiegelow, Fiona K. A.; Tremblay, Junior A.

doi:10.5751/ace-01363-140113

Cited by 28 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 129 publications

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“…In any case, our results show there is urgent need to consider future climate threats for boreal bird species; however, threat evaluation while assessing status of species at risk in Canada is based on a 10 years horizon (following IUCN Standards and Petitions Committee (2019) guidelines), which is inappropriate for climate change impacts as impacts will be occurring on a longer horizon. Hence, we recommend the use of a vulnerability‐adaptation framework to guide bird conservation based on species' individual sensitivity and exposure to climate change (Stralberg et al, 2019). This adaptation framework would assess different species' vulnerabilities and provide a suite of strategies to pursue, varying from classical conservation (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…such as habitat manipulation or even species translocation). For species with high exposure to climate change, such as the 18 species we identified as species sensitive to climate change, long‐term investments in protecting refugia and “stepping stones” (sensu Stralberg et al, 2019) will likely be most effective, favouring natural corridors to help bird species connect with the future range of their habitat in a more fragmented landscape (Stralberg et al, 2019). Future work in this regard using our spatially explicit simulation approach may help identify areas where conservation of old forest stands will be most effective.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Boulanger, Taylor, et al, 2016; Gauthier, Bernier, Kuuluvainen, Shvidenko, & Schepaschenko, 2015; Price et al, 2013; Rehfeldt, Crookston, Sáenz‐Romero, & Campbell, 2012), and these important changes would likely impact bird habitats. Indeed, boreal climate conditions are expected to shift northward and upward with warming temperatures, with an expected contraction of the boreal biome of up to 42% by the end of this century (Rehfeldt et al, 2012; Stralberg et al, 2019). As many boreal bird species are dependent on specific habitats to complete their life cycles, shifts in the extent and distribution of boreal vegetation are likely to strongly influence bird communities over the coming decades (Cadieux et al, 2019; Rodenhouse et al, 2008; Stralberg et al, 2019; Stralberg, Matsuoka, et al, 2015; Tremblay et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Projected effects of climate change on boreal bird community accentuated by anthropogenic disturbances in western boreal forest, Canada

Cadieux

Boulanger

Cyr

et al. 2020

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim: Climate change is expected to influence boreal bird communities significantly, notably through changes in forest habitat (composition and age structure), in the coming decades. How these changes will accumulate and interact with anthropogenicdisturbances remains an open question for most species.Location: Northeastern Alberta, Canada. Methods:We used the LANDIS-II forest landscape model to project changes in forest landscapes, and associated bird populations (72 passerine species), according to three climatic scenarios (baseline, RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) and three forest harvesting scenarios of differing intensity. Results:Both forest harvesting and climate-related drivers were projected to have large impacts on bird communities in this region. As a result of climate-induced increases in fire activity as well as decreased conifer productivity, our simulations projected that an important proportion of Alberta's boreal forests would transition to treeless habitat (i.e. grass-or shrub-dominated vegetation) while many coniferdominated stands would likely be replaced by broadleaf tree cover. Consequently, the abundance of bird species associated with open and deciduous habitats were projected to increase. With a strong anthropogenic climate-forcing scenario (RCP 8.5), sharp declines in abundance of coniferous trees were also projected, particularly in mature and old forest stands, triggering major declines for bird species associated with coniferous and mixedwood forest types. Main conclusions:As the most comprehensive simulation of climate change and harvesting impacts on avian habitats in the North American boreal region to date, our study stresses the importance of considering key habitat characteristics like forest age structure and composition through forest landscape modelling and identifies 18 bird species particularly sensitive to climate change. Our simulations suggest that a change in forest management practices could play an important role in the | 669 CADIEUX Et Al.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Projected effects of climate change on boreal bird community accentuated by anthropogenic disturbances in western boreal forest, Canada

Cadieux

Boulanger

Cyr

et al. 2020

Diversity and Distributions

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“…Alternatively, vegetation communities changing as a result of climate change could favor alternative species assemblages of ducks based on their vegetation preferences. For example, more grasslands may develop in the boreal forest as bogs and peatlands dry out (Stralberg et al ). Additional research is needed to address landscape‐scale influences on nest‐site selection and nest survival to help understand demographic consequences of industrial development on predation and predator communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microhabitat nest‐site selection by ducks in the boreal forest

2019

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The boreal forest is one of the North America's most important breeding areas for ducks, but information about the nesting ecology of ducks in the region is limited. We collected microhabitat data related to vegetation structure and composition at 157 duck nests and paired random locations in Alberta's boreal forest region from 2016 to 2018. We identified fine-scale vegetation features selected by ducks for all nests, between nesting guilds, and among five species using conditional logistic regression. Ducks in the boreal forest selected nest sites with greater overhead and graminoid cover, but less forb cover than random sites. Characteristics of the nest sites of upland-and overwater-nesting guilds differed, with species nesting in upland habitat selecting nests that provided greater shrub cover and less lateral concealment and species nesting over water selecting nests with less shrub cover. We examined the characteristics of nest sites of American Wigeon (Mareca americana), Blue-winged Teal (Spatula discors), Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca), Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), and Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris), and found differences among species that may facilitate species coexistence at a regional scale. Our results suggest that females of species nesting in upland habitat selected nest sites that optimized concealment from aerial predators while also allowing detection of and escape from terrestrial predators. Consequently, alteration in the composition and heterogeneity of vegetation and predator communities caused by climate change and industrial development in the boreal forest of Canada may affect the nest-site selection strategies of boreal ducks. RESUMEN.Selecci on del microh abitat de anidamiento de parte de patos en un bosque boreal El bosque boreal es uno de los lugares m as importantes para la reproducci on de patos en Norte Am erica, pero la informaci on que se tiene sobre la ecolog ıa de anidamiento de estos, en la regi on, es limitada. Recopilamos datos del microh abitat, relacionado con la composici on y estructura de la vegetaci on, de 157 nidos de patos y pareamos localidades al azar en la regi on de bosque boreal de Alberta, Canad a de 2016 a 2018. Identificamos atributos, a pequeña escala, del microh abitat de la vegetaci on seleccionada por los patos para anidar, entre gremios de nidos, y entre cinco especies, utilizando una regresi on log ıstica condicionada. En el bosque boreal, los patos seleccionaron lugares para anidar con mayor cantidad de cubertura superior de gram ıneas, pero con menos cubierta de herb aceas que lugares seleccionados al azar. Las caracter ısticas del lugar de anidamiento de gremios que anidaron en tierras altas y sobre el agua result o diferente, al de especies que anidaron en h abitat de tierras altas, y que seleccionaron para anidar lugares que proveyeron de mayor cobertura arbustiva y menos cubierta lateral y especies que anidaron sobre agua y que seleccionaron lugares con menor cobertura arbustiva. Examinamos las caracter ısticas del lugar de anidamiento de ...

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“…Overwater nesters appeared to be limited by seismic lines and roads in both landscapes as well as by pipelines in unencroached landscapes and well sites in agriculture encroached landscapes. This complexity of varying effect sizes for different guilds between landscapes support the conclusion of Stralberg et al (2019) that conservation objectives need to be carefully articulated before designing conservation actions. Given the overall negative population trends of ground nesters throughout the forested portion of Alberta and a negative relationship with seismic line density, our results suggest limiting seismic line construction in areas where they are currently absent or rare might help conserve habitat for ground nesting species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Assessing breeding duck population trends relative to anthropogenic disturbances across the boreal plains of Canada, 1960–2007

Singer¹,

Slattery²,

Armstrong³

et al. 2020

ACE

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Impacts of anthropogenic disturbance on duck populations in the boreal forest is largely unknown but hypothesized to negatively influence abundance through top-down and bottom-up processes. We examined relationships between population trajectory of duck pairs and anthropogenic disturbances in the Boreal Plains ecozone of western Canada by first controlling for habitat and then assessing whether population trends were related to density of seismic lines, pipelines, roads, and well sites, and distance to agriculture to help focus conservation efforts on the most limiting changes. We also evaluated whether these relationships differed in agriculture encroached vs. unencroached landscapes; distance to agriculture was assessed in unencroached landscapes. Pair counts obtained from the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey were pooled into nesting guilds (cavity, ground, and overwater). All anthropogenic disturbance features were time invariant. Annual moisture data was used to control for effects of annual variation in breeding season weather. Variation in relative magnitude and direction of effect size indices among anthropogenic disturbances depended on both landscape and nesting guild. Overall, majority of negative relationships occurred with seismic lines and pipelines, while distance to agriculture was positive. Population trends for ground nesters, which suggest overall declines, tended be most negative in regions with high seismic line and well pad density in encroached landscapes and with high seismic line and pipeline density in unencroached landscapes. Cavity nester population trends were generally positive throughout the study area but were lowest in unencroached landscapes farthest from agriculture. Overwater nester trends were generally lowest in encroached landscapes with high densities of seismic lines, roads, and well pads and in unencroached landscapes with high densities of seismic lines, pipelines, and roads. Although our work suggests that anthropogenic disturbances, particularly seismic and pipelines, may merit further consideration as foci for conservation, additional research is needed to quantify demographic implications. Évaluation des tendances de population de canards nicheurs relativement aux perturbations d'origine anthropique dans les Plaines boréales du Canada, 1960-2007RÉSUMÉ. Les effets de perturbations d'origine anthropique sur les populations de canards nichant en forêt boréale sont grandement inconnus, mais on les soupçonne d'influer négativement sur l'abondance des canards par l'action de processus ascendant et descendant. Nous avons examiné les relations existant entre les tendances de population de canards nicheurs et les perturbations d'origine anthropique dans l'écozone des Plaines boréales dans l'ouest du Canada, en contrôlant pour l'habitat dans un premier temps, puis en évaluant si les tendances de populations étaient liées à la densité de tracés sismiques, de pipelines, de routes et de puits, et à la distance aux activités agricoles, afin de contribuer à diriger ...

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Conservation planning for boreal birds in a changing climate: a framework for action

Cited by 28 publications

References 129 publications

Projected effects of climate change on boreal bird community accentuated by anthropogenic disturbances in western boreal forest, Canada

Projected effects of climate change on boreal bird community accentuated by anthropogenic disturbances in western boreal forest, Canada

Microhabitat nest‐site selection by ducks in the boreal forest

Assessing breeding duck population trends relative to anthropogenic disturbances across the boreal plains of Canada, 1960–2007

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Conservation planning for boreal birds in a changing climate: a framework for action

Cited by 28 publications

References 129 publications

Projected effects of climate change on boreal bird community accentuated by anthropogenic disturbances in western boreal forest, Canada

Projected effects of climate change on boreal bird community accentuated by anthropogenic disturbances in western boreal forest, Canada

Microhabitat nest‐site selection by ducks in the boreal forest

Assessing breeding duck population trends relative to anthropogenic disturbances across the boreal plains of Canada, 1960&#8211;2007

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Assessing breeding duck population trends relative to anthropogenic disturbances across the boreal plains of Canada, 1960–2007