`Functional groups' of bird species, biodiversity and landscapes in Scotland

Abstract

Aims To define, objectively, a comprehensive set of functional groups of bird species in Scotland, taking into account season and spatial scale; to use these groups to assess how functional biodiversity of Scottish birds is related to land cover/use patterns.Location Scotland.Methods Analyses were of all bird species (resident or migrant) present in Scotland, excluding only the rarest and seabirds which come ashore only to breed, at both individual territory ('Functional Groups')and landscape ('Landscape Clusters') scales, separately for summer and winter, using data covering the whole of Scotland. Functional Groups were defined by species' use of a large number of habitat features for feeding, nesting, roosting/perching and cover/shelter. Landscape Clusters were derived from the strength of species' associations with six land cover/use strata: arable (cropped land), inbye (controlled/managed grasslands), mooredge (mixed moorland/non-moorland landscape), moor (large areas of essentially uninterrupted moorland), plateau (areas containing the highest or most climatically severe moorland or montane land) and nonagricultural (principally urban areas, large forest blocks and large water bodies). Bird species and Functional Groups were related to landscape-scale land cover/use by their associations with strata. Biodiversity patterns in relation to land cover/use were similarly examined both as species diversity and Functional Group diversity.Results Both Functional Groups and Landscape Clusters were clearly interpretable ecologically. Species within Functional Groups had consistent patterns of association with strata, linking birds with land cover/use at landscape as well as local habitat scale. However, Landscape Clusters showed several differences from Functional Groups, mainly linked with the relative importance of 'local' and landscape-scale habitat features, or limited geographical range of some species. While there were clear groupings of species related to land cover/use in summer, bird distributions in winter were primarily related to climate severity, with broad land cover/use of only secondary importance.

Rural–urban gradient and land use in a millenary metropolis: how urbanization affects avian functional groups and the role of old villas in bird assemblage patterning

“…Díaz and Cabido, 2001;French and Picozzi, 2002;Llop et al, 2012). These biotic associations have been widely discussed in the literature (e.g.…”

“…Functional groups have been widely used in ecological studies, including in an urban context (e.g. Sattler et al, 2010: insects;Bogosian et al, 2012: amphibians, reptiles, mammals;French and Picozzi, 2002;Fraterrigo and Wiens, 2005;Kark et al, 2007: birds). Contrary to the prevailing notion that bird abundance usually increases in cities, studies reporting increases or decreases of bird abundances are, in fact, about equal.…”

Drivers of diversity at the local- and landscape-scale in a fire-prone landscape

“…Examination of the response of richness within different foraging guilds to landscape properties would provide a useful basis for development of management plans (French and Picozzi 2002) particularly for disturbance-sensitive groups such as insectivores and frugivores (Kirika et al 2008). …”

“…In addition to considerations of spatial scale, there are many different ways to categorise and measure biological diversity. Studies examining the effects of environmental heterogeneity on assemblages often focus on aggregate species richness or diversity indices (Huston 1994;Usher 1997;French and Picozzi 2002). However, without considering how different species and foraging guilds respond, important patterns can be obscured (Huston 1994;Usher 1997;French and Picozzi 2002).…”

“…However, without considering how different species and foraging guilds respond, important patterns can be obscured (Huston 1994;Usher 1997;French and Picozzi 2002). Considering the response of different components of biodiversity to landscape composition allows the identification of species traits associated with particular responses to landscape change (Andersen 1995;French and Picozzi 2002;Blondel 2003).…”