Rapid expansion of croplands in Chihuahua, Mexico threatens declining North American grassland bird species

Pool, Duane; Panjabi, Arvind O.; Macías‐Duarte, Alberto; Solhjem, Deanna M.

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2013.12.019

Cited by 77 publications

(67 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Similar to life cycle analyses conducted for naturally migrating species (42), models are needed to guide conservation investment throughout the migratory range of commercial honey bees. To maximize conservation investments, land management activities designed to benefit pollinators should be developed within an adaptive management framework so that management uncertainties can be addressed during the early stages of program development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains

Otto

Roth

Carlson

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

164

138

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Human reliance on insect pollination services continues to increase even as pollinator populations exhibit global declines. Increased commodity crop prices and federal subsidies for biofuel crops, such as corn and soybeans, have contributed to rapid land-use change in the US Northern Great Plains (NGP), changes that may jeopardize habitat for honey bees in a part of the country that supports >40% of the US colony stock. We investigated changes in biofuel crop production and grassland land covers surrounding ∼18,000 registered commercial apiaries in North and South Dakota from 2006 to 2014. We then developed habitat selection models to identify remotely sensed land-cover and land-use features that influence apiary site selection by Dakota beekeepers. Our study demonstrates a continual increase in biofuel crops, totaling 1.2 Mha, around registered apiary locations in North and South Dakota. Such crops were avoided by commercial beekeepers when selecting apiary sites in this region. Furthermore, our analysis reveals how grasslands that beekeepers target when selecting commercial apiary locations are becoming less common in eastern North and South Dakota, changes that may have lasting impact on pollinator conservation efforts. Our study highlights how land-use change in the NGP is altering the landscape in ways that are seemingly less conducive to beekeeping. Our models can be used to guide future conservation efforts highlighted in the US national pollinator health strategy by identifying areas that support high densities of commercial apiaries and that have exhibited significant land-use changes.apiary selection models | Apis mellifera | land use | land-cover trends | pollinators A nimal pollination service is critical for sustaining ecosystem health and human well-being (1, 2). In many terrestrial systems, plant-pollinator interactions provide the basic framework for all other trophic interactions. Globally, about one-third of crop production depends on animal pollination (3). US agricultural production relies heavily on managed and native insects for pollination services, with an estimated economic value of $15 billion annually (2). Reliance on insects for pollination services is growing even as populations of native and managed pollinators exhibit concurrent declines (4, 5). For example, in 2013−2014, total US honey bee colony losses were 34%, but beekeepers on average lost 51% of their colonies (6). Declines in managed honey bees and native bees put significant pressure on global food supplies, plant-pollinator networks, agricultural producers, and ecosystem function (7,8).Proposed reasons for the declines include parasites, diseases, agro-chemical use, forage availability, and land-use change (9, 10). Much of the research investigating anthropogenic disturbance effects on managed and native pollinators focuses on pesticides and less so on habitat fragmentation, land-use, and loss of forage. Although a paucity of data exists for most parts of the world, recent research indicates that land use influences honey ...

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains

Otto

Roth

Carlson

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

164

138

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“…A challenging issue is how to interpret spatial most strongly in the north, they are declining consistently across the range. These declines are likely due primarily to the conversion of grassland to cropland on both the breeding (Askins et al, 2007;Vickery et al, 1999) and non-breeding grounds (Pool et al, 2014). An interesting result from the stronger declines in northern regions of the range is that the distribution centroid for Chestnutcollared Longspurs has shifted to the south.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Points are scaled to reflect the relative precision of the estimated latitude of the population centroid in each year with larger points indicating years with more precise latitudinal estimates context of heavy losses of breeding and non-breeding grassland habitat (Askins et al, 2007;Pool, Panjabi, & Macías-Duerte, 2014) as well as climate change, where model predictions indicate an increase in drought severity over the next few decades (Cook, Ault, & Smerdon, 2015). Theoretical and empirical research suggests that more specialized and less mobile species may be most susceptible to the joint impacts of land-use and climate change (Travis, 2003;Warren et al, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opposing responses to drought shape spatial population dynamics of declining grassland birds

Wilson

Smith

Naujokaitis‐Lewis

2018

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim: The joint threats of climate and land-use change require an understanding of how environmental variation influences species abundance and distribution. However, most species distribution models use static data and methods without considering how species respond over multiple temporal and spatial scales. Using a novel analytical approach, we show how multiscalar environmental variation drives spatial population dynamics of mobile species.Location: Great Plains, North America. Methods:We developed a spatial hierarchical model of abundance using long-term citizen science data for two severely declining species (Lark Bunting, Calamospiza melanocorys, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Calcarius ornatus). Specifically, we (a) compared regional variation in range-wide abundance and population trends, (b) evaluated the influence of short-term and long-term drought on range dynamics and (c) tested whether regional population dynamics are spatially autocorrelated by environmental conditions occurring in geographically separated areas.Results: Both species exhibited long-term range-wide declines >70% with contraction towards the range core. Lark Buntings showed opposing responses to environmental variation; regional abundance increased with wetter conditions during arrival on the breeding grounds but also with longer-term (4-year) drought conditions. Chestnut-collared Longspurs showed no response to drought at either temporal scale. We found strong evidence that Lark Bunting abundance in the southern portion of the range increases with favourable environmental conditions leading to subsequent declines in abundance in northern regions. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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“…According to Adams et al [1] grasslands account for 40.5% of the Earth's surface and therefore play an important role in the global carbon cycle [2]. Currently, these ecosystems are undergoing significant deterioration due to overgrazing, urbanization, land use change, the presence of invasive species and habitat fragmentation [3][4][5]. Indeed, Hoesktra et al [6] considered that grasslands are the most threatened ecosystems on Earth.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping Land Cover and Estimating the Grassland Structure in a Priority Area of the Chihuahuan Desert

Rodríguez-Maturino

Martínez-Guerrero

Chairez-Hernández

et al. 2017

Land

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Abstract:A field characterization of the grassland vegetation structure, represented by the coverage of grass canopy (CGC) and the grass height, was carried out during three years (2009)(2010)(2011) in a priority area for the conservation of grasslands of North America. Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM5) images were selected and the information of reflectance was obtained based on the geographical location of each field-sampling site. Linear models, constructed with field and satellite data, with high coefficients of determination for CGC (R 2 = 0.81, R 2 = 0.81 and R 2 = 0.72) and grass height (R 2 = 0.82, R 2 = 0.79 and R 2 = 0.73) were obtained. The maps showed a good level of CGC (>25%) and grass height (>25 cm), except for the year 2009, which presented the lowest values of grass height in the area. According to the Kappa Index, a moderate concordance among the three CGC maps was presented (0.49-0.59). Conversely, weak and moderate concordances were found among the grass height maps (0.36-0.59). It was observed that areas with a high CGC do not necessarily correspond to areas with greater grass height values. Based on the data analyzed in this study, the grassland areas are highly dynamic, structurally heterogeneous and the spatial distribution of the variables does not show a definite pattern. From the information generated, it is possible to determine those areas that are the most important for monitoring to then establish effective strategies for the conservation of these grasslands and the protection of threatened migratory bird species.

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Rapid expansion of croplands in Chihuahua, Mexico threatens declining North American grassland bird species

Cited by 77 publications

References 13 publications

Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains

Land-use change reduces habitat suitability for supporting managed honey bee colonies in the Northern Great Plains

Opposing responses to drought shape spatial population dynamics of declining grassland birds

Mapping Land Cover and Estimating the Grassland Structure in a Priority Area of the Chihuahuan Desert

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