Developing biodiversity indicators for African birds

Wotton, Simon R.; Eaton, Mark A.; Sheehan, Danaë K.; Munyekenye, Fred B.; Burfield, Ian J.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Moleofi, K.; Nalwanga-Wabwire, D.; Ndang’ang’a, Paul K.; Pomeroy, Derek; Senyatso, Kabelo J.; Gregory, Richard D.

doi:10.1017/s0030605317001181

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Our knowledge of area‐specific population trends of migrants during the non‐breeding season is even more limited, although recent work demonstrates the feasibility of establishing monitoring schemes capable of this in Africa (Wotton et al. ). In addition, although we used the best available maps of species’ non‐breeding distributions, these vary greatly in accuracy between species, as the wintering distributions of many migrants are still poorly known.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenology and climate change in Africa and the decline of Afro‐Palearctic migratory bird populations

Beresford

Sanderson

Donald

et al. 2018

Remote Sens Ecol Conserv

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The populations of many Afro-Palearctic migratory bird species have declined over the last 50 years, for reasons that remain poorly understood, but which could include major environmental changes in Africa. We mapped, for the first time, the aggregated population trends of migratory species onto their nonbreeding distributions in sub-Saharan Africa and used regression models that account for non-stationarity to examine correlations between assemblage population trend indices and changes in climate and vegetation phenology over the same time period. This also allowed us to map geographical variation in these relationships across Africa. Our results revealed that relationships between population trends of migrant bird species and climate and phenology are spatially highly variable, and that there are no consistent, flyway-wide associations between climate or phenology and population trends. However, we found evidence that migrant population changes may be more closely linked to indices of vegetation senescence and climate than to indices of greening, suggesting further lines of investigation. Simply using cumulative Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) across Africa greatly underestimates the extent to which phenology and climate vary spatially, as do the relationships between population trends and these environmental variables. Furthermore, much better data on the nonbreeding ecology and distributions of migrants, including connectivity between breeding and wintering grounds, are needed if we are to assess with any confidence the extent to which they may be impacted by changes in environmental conditions in Africa. Until then, we suggest that there is no simple relationship between migrant populations and NDVI across species' ranges, and that further studies should, at the very least, consider the multiple dimensions of phenology and the potential for spatial variation in relationships. 56

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenology and climate change in Africa and the decline of Afro‐Palearctic migratory bird populations

Beresford

Sanderson

Donald

et al. 2018

Remote Sens Ecol Conserv

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“…For example, Fiery-throated Fruiteater (Pipreola chlorolepidota) which was downlisted from vulnerable to near threatened owing to a decline in the rate of habitat loss ( Table 2). Given the moderate sensitivity of the RLI, there is a strong case for complementing its application at the national scale (requiring periodic repeated red list reassessments of species) with the development of population abundance indices (like the Wild Bird Index; [78]) based on systematic population monitoring schemes (as recently established in some African countries; [79]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking extinction risk trends and patterns in a mega-diverse country: A Red List Index for birds in Colombia

2020

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Monitoring trends in the extinction risk of species is important for tracking conservation effectiveness. The Red List index (RLI) reflects changes in aggregate extinction risk for sets of species over time (a value of zero means that all species are extinct, a value of one means that all species are categorized as Least Concern). We calculated the first national RLI for birds in Colombia for the period 2002-2016, and disaggregated indices by ecosystems, regions, and species groups. Overall, the status of birds in Colombia has moderately deteriorated during 2002-2016, declining by 0.0000714% per year (the global RLI for birds declined by 0.0297% per year). High Andean forest, paramo, and freshwater are the ecosystems in worst condition. The two regions with the greatest avian diversity contrasted: the Andes has the lowest RLI, and the Amazon the highest. Among species groups, gamebirds, parrots, large frugivores, and forest raptors are the most threatened. Habitat loss from expansion of illicit crops and population declines from hunting were the most important threats. Agricultural expansion, invasive alien animal species, illegal logging and illegal mining are significant threats for some species. Tracking species' extinction risk is important in a country with the highest bird species richness in the world, dynamic spatial patterns of habitat loss, and high levels of endemism. Recent developments provide reasons for both hope and despair. In 2016, a peace agreement ended 50 years of armed conflict. New opportunities for biodiversity conservation, local development based on bird-watching tourism, and advancement in scientific knowledge of birds now occur alongside dramatic increases in deforestation. These new conservation opportunities and challenges provide strong motivation to take advantage of the fact that the overall risk of extinction of birds in Colombia is still relatively low and stable. Effective action is urgently needed while there still is the opportunity to prevent extinctions and safeguard species, particularly those in higher risk categories.

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“…The situation we observe in this study in developing southern countries possibly then parallels what happened to European and North American resident bird populations during the agricultural intensifications that reduced carrying capacity there in the last century (Chamberlain, Fuller, Bunce, Duckworth, & Shrubb, ; Donald, Green, & Heath, ; Stanton, Morrissey, & Clark, ). We only systematically monitor—and this is particularly true in the Afro‐Palaearctic system (although see Wotton et al, )—bird populations in northern temperate areas. Therefore, the only Afrotropical or Neotropical species we monitor effectively are those species that migrate to breed in these northern temperate areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We only systematically monitor-and this is particularly true in the Afro-Palaearctic system (although see Wotton et al, 2017)-bird populations in northern temperate areas. Therefore, the only Afrotropical or Neotropical species we monitor effectively are those species that migrate to breed in these northern temperate areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And, habitat change and agricultural intensification in tropical areas must also be affecting local bird populations strongly (Newbold et al, 2015). But, there are almost no empirical field studies in Africa (Adams, Small, & Vickery, 2014;Wotton et al, 2017), and relatively few in the Neotropics (e.g. Di Giacomo & de Casenave, 2010;Frutos, Reales, Lorenzon, & Ronchi-Virgolini, 2016;Shaver et al, 2015), that monitor bird populations in agricultural habitats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Local human population increase in the non‐breeding areas of long‐distance migrant bird species is only weakly associated with their declines, even for synanthropic species

Cresswell

Kazeh²,

Patchett

2019

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim To show how recent declines in populations of long‐distance migrant birds are associated with recent increases in human population growth and agricultural intensification on their tropical non‐breeding grounds, except for synanthropic species, where we expect the reverse. Location Breeding populations throughout Europe and North America spending the non‐breeding season throughout Africa, and Central and South America, respectively. Methods We mapped 50 species of long‐distance migrant birds from published tagging studies of 126 breeding populations and identified their breeding population trends from 2000 to 2015 from published Country or State census data. We then matched individual bird non‐breeding locations, from each population, to local human population change and crop yield data. We used GLMs to predict whether bird population decline was associated with human population change or crop yield and whether this was dependent on if a species was synanthropic or not, controlling for absolute human population density, breeding and non‐breeding location, migratory distance and phylogeny. We predicted that bird populations that spend the non‐breeding season in areas of recent higher human population increase or agricultural intensification (crop yield) would show greater declines, but that declines would be less for species that frequently utilize anthropogenic habitats such as secondary woodland and farmland. Results Bird population change, even for synanthropic species, showed a significant negative relationship with relative human population change and crop yield (but this was weak, <2% and 6% of variance respectively), and this relationship was the same for the Neotropics and Africa, despite African human population change being three times larger. Main conclusions The results suggest that local human population change in the non‐breeding area is likely to be only a relatively minor driver of migrant declines, and its effects may be through increases in agricultural intensification reducing carrying capacity, but we currently lack local studies to confirm this.

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Developing biodiversity indicators for African birds

Cited by 26 publications

References 29 publications

Phenology and climate change in Africa and the decline of Afro‐Palearctic migratory bird populations

Phenology and climate change in Africa and the decline of Afro‐Palearctic migratory bird populations

Tracking extinction risk trends and patterns in a mega-diverse country: A Red List Index for birds in Colombia

Local human population increase in the non‐breeding areas of long‐distance migrant bird species is only weakly associated with their declines, even for synanthropic species

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