Improving national habitat specific biodiversity indicators using relative habitat use for common birds

Larsen, Jørn Lennart; Eskildsen, Anne

doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.03.023

Cited by 21 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…These data were compiled from national observations of species within Denmark and comprise continuous variables reflecting how much each species uses each habitat relative to other habitats available (Larsen et al. ). These data were regarded as a better source of habitat information for the Danish data set than the more general bird‐trait database used for the European data set.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term declines of European insectivorous bird populations and potential causes

Bowler

Heldbjerg

Fox

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

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Evidence of declines in insect populations has recently received considerable scientific and societal attention. However, the lack of long‐term insect monitoring makes it difficult to assess whether declines are geographically widespread. By contrast, bird populations are well monitored and often used as indicators of environmental change. We compared the population trends of European insectivorous birds with those of other birds to assess whether patterns in bird population trends were consistent with declines of insects. We further examined whether declines were evident for insectivores with different habitats, foraging strata, and other ecological preferences. Bird population trends were estimated for Europe (1990–2015) and Denmark (1990–2016). On average, insectivores declined over the study period (13% across Europe and 28% in Denmark), whereas omnivores had stable populations. Seedeaters also declined (28% across Europe; 34% in Denmark), but this assessment was based on fewer species than for other groups. The effects of insectivory were stronger for farmland species (especially grassland species), for ground feeders, and for cold‐adapted species. Insectivory was associated with long‐distance migration, which was also linked to population declines. However, many insectivores had stable populations, especially habitat generalists. Our findings suggest that the decline of insectivores is primarily associated with agricultural intensification and loss of grassland habitat. The loss of both seed and insect specialists indicates an overall trend toward bird communities dominated by diet generalists.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term declines of European insectivorous bird populations and potential causes

Bowler

Heldbjerg

Fox

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

Self Cite

231

168

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show abstract

“…Lapwing Vanellus vanellus , Redshank Tringa totanus and Curlew Numenius arquata ) (Heldbjerg et al., ). The slight positive effect of arable‐land use was unexpected, although few species were specialists of arable land (Larsen et al., ), and the effect may be due to temporary positive effects of set‐aside schemes on species such as the Corn Bunting, Miliaria calandra that showed a high association with arable land. We note that interspecific variation in species’ population responses to different environmental drivers could also be studied by examining the species’ random (slopes) effects from the mean effect of the environmental variables.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using the point counts of the Danish breeding bird survey, Larsen et al. () had calculated species’ relative habitat uses as the abundance of a species in a particular habitat relative to its abundance of this species in all other habitats. Here, we focused on species’ habitat uses of “meadow use” and “arable‐land use”—these were continuous variables reflecting how much each species is specialized on each of these habitats (Larsen et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…() had calculated species’ relative habitat uses as the abundance of a species in a particular habitat relative to its abundance of this species in all other habitats. Here, we focused on species’ habitat uses of “meadow use” and “arable‐land use”—these were continuous variables reflecting how much each species is specialized on each of these habitats (Larsen et al., ). Although not all of these bird species are traditionally regarded as “farmland birds,” all used farmland to some extent over their range in Denmark (Larsen et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we focused on species’ habitat uses of “meadow use” and “arable‐land use”—these were continuous variables reflecting how much each species is specialized on each of these habitats (Larsen et al., ). Although not all of these bird species are traditionally regarded as “farmland birds,” all used farmland to some extent over their range in Denmark (Larsen et al., ). As a measure of habitat breadth, we used the coefficient of variation of species’ relative uses (Julliard, Clavel, Devictor, Jiguet, & Couvet, ) across all nine different habitats listed above; this was multiplied by –1 so that species using similar proportions of different habitats (i.e.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disentangling the effects of multiple environmental drivers on population changes within communities

Bowler

Fox

O’Hara

et al. 2018

Journal of Animal Ecology

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The effects of different environmental drivers on the changes in species' population abundances can be difficult to disentangle as they often act simultaneously. Researchers have built statistical models that include environmental variables (such as annual temperature) or species attributes (such as a species' temperature preference), which are assumed to detect the impacts of specific drivers (such as climate change). However, these approaches are often applied separately or, if combined, not explicitly compared. We show the complementary insights gained by applying both these approaches to a community dataset on Danish terrestrial birds. We use our analysis to compare the relative importance of climate change and agricultural land-use change for the abundance changes within the community between 1983 and 2013. Population models were fitted to the community data of species' annual abundances with predictors comprising: species attributes (species' temperature and habitat preferences), environmental variables (climatic and agricultural land-use change variables) or both. Relationships between species' abundances and environmental variables were used to identify the drivers associated with average abundance changes of species in the community. Relationships between species' abundances and their attributes were used to understand the drivers causing interspecific variation in abundance changes. Warmer winters were positively associated with community-level abundances, and warm-adapted species had more positive abundance changes than cold-adapted ones. Agricultural land-use area was negatively associated with community-level abundances, and birds using a high proportion of meadow and habitat specialists had more negative abundance changes than birds using other habitats and habitat generalists. Effect sizes of environmental variables were larger for agricultural land-use change while those of species attributes were larger for climate change. The environmental data approach suggested that agricultural land-use change has decreased the average abundances of species in the community, affecting total community size while the species attribute-based approach suggested that climate change has caused variation in abundance among species, affecting community composition. Environmental variables and species attributes that are hypothesized to link to specific drivers can be used together to provide complementary information on the impacts of different drivers on communities.

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The decline of the Starling Sturnus vulgaris in Denmark is related to changes in grassland extent and intensity of cattle grazing

Fox

Levin

Nyegaard³

2016

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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Improving national habitat specific biodiversity indicators using relative habitat use for common birds

Cited by 21 publications

References 32 publications

Long‐term declines of European insectivorous bird populations and potential causes

Long‐term declines of European insectivorous bird populations and potential causes

Disentangling the effects of multiple environmental drivers on population changes within communities

The decline of the Starling Sturnus vulgaris in Denmark is related to changes in grassland extent and intensity of cattle grazing

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