The influence of ENSO and rainfall on the numbers of breeding pairs in a woodland bird community from south-eastern Australia

Marchant, R.; Guppy, Sarah; Guppy, Michael

doi:10.1071/mu15087

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Partial migrants and nomadic species are highly mobile and may be able to track temporal and spatial variation in resources (Dingle, 2008;Keast, 1968) triggered by short-term rainfall, thereby resulting in the high levels of spatial and temporal variability in occurrence. This result is consistent with several previous studies from around the world, each showing that elevated short-term rainfall can lead to a pulse in resources (Illan et al, 2014;Tayleur et al, 2015), such as food (Barea & Watson, 2007;McGoldrick & Mac Nally, 1998), but also influence nesting biology (Gibbs et al, 2011;Hennan et al, 2015;Marchant et al, 2016).…”

Section: Rainfall Effectssupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Rainfall is generally regarded as a limiting factor in Australian temperate woodlands (Lindenmayer et al, ; Nimmo et al, ), and hence, bird occurrence would be expected to increase during wet periods and decline during dry periods (Marchant et al, ; although see Bennett et al, ). Consistent with this prediction, we found generally positive impacts of increased rainfall in the preceding 12 months on the occurrence of birds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prediction #2: The occurrence of birds would increase during periods of elevated short‐term rainfall and decreased short‐term temperatures (Marchant, Guppy, & Guppy, ; although see Bennett et al, ) because of reduced physiological stress (Gardner et al, ), more food resources (Barea & Watson, ; Marchant et al, ; McGoldrick & Mac Nally, ), and enhanced breeding success (e.g. Barea & Watson, ; Gibbs et al, ; Hennan, Goodman, & White, ; Marchant et al, ). The effects on birds (irrespective of movement patterns) of increased high rainfall would be muted on climatically dry sites (characterized by low long‐term average rainfall) as such areas may support fewer resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do migratory and resident birds differ in their responses to interacting effects of climate, weather and vegetation?

Lindenmayer

Lane

Foster

et al. 2018

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim Knowledge of the individual and collective effects of habitat, weather variability and climate on bird populations is limited, with the result that species vulnerability to the collective impacts of global change is poorly understood. We quantified the effects of interactions between these potential drivers on the occurrence of resident, migratory and nomadic birds in Australian temperate woodlands. Location A 1.8 million hectare temperate woodland belt in south‐eastern Australia. Time period 2002–2015. Major taxa studied Temperate woodland birds. Methods We used logistic mixed models to quantify the factors affecting the occurrence of three groups of birds (residents, partial migrants and nomads) at 203 long‐term field sites located in three vegetation types (restoration plantings, natural regrowth woodland and old growth woodland) surveyed repeatedly between 2002 and 2015. Potential explanatory variables included vegetation type, three long‐term climate variables (mean annual rainfall, maximum temperature and minimum temperature), and the three corresponding weather variables for 12 months preceding each survey. Results We found four‐way interactions between bird movement category, type of vegetation cover and rainfall (both as a long‐term climate variable and as a short‐term weather variable). Increased occurrence of nomads and partial migrants, but not resident species, was associated with high short‐term rainfall. The effects were more marked in long‐term climatically wet areas, and also differed between vegetation types. Models for maximum and minimum temperature were simpler than those for rainfall but showed evidence of partial migrants and nomadic species avoiding low minimum or high maximum temperatures in some vegetation types. Main conclusions Our analyses revealed that birds with different movement patterns exhibit different responses to weather and long‐term climate. Nomadic species in particular respond to rainfall strongly in climatically wet locations (presumably because of large pulses in resources). Drying conditions resulting from climate change may therefore create problems for the future persistence of nomadic bird species.

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Section: Rainfall Effectssupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Do migratory and resident birds differ in their responses to interacting effects of climate, weather and vegetation?

Lindenmayer

Lane

Foster

et al. 2018

Diversity and Distributions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Some of our key results contrasted strongly with those expected under the three multi‐faceted predictions we outlined at the outset of this investigation. A simple prediction, especially for temperate woodlands (where rainfall can often be a limiting factor; Lindenmayer et al, ), was that bird occurrence would increase during wet periods and decline during dry periods (Marchant, Guppy, & Guppy, ; although see Bennett et al, ). Consistent with this (see “Section 1.1” in the Introduction), small bird occurrence was positively associated with wet years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several (and non‐mutually exclusive) mechanisms may explain the differential impacts of weather, climate, and vegetation type on birds of different body sizes. It is possible that the increase in small birds in wet years could be due to high rainfall providing a pulse in resources (Illan et al, ; Tayleur et al, ) such as food (Barea & Watson, ; McGoldrick & Mac Nally, ), but also influencing nesting biology (Gibbs et al, ; Heenan, Goodman, & White, ; Marchant et al, ). Most small birds are insectivorous in our study (Supporting Information Figure S1), and insects can pulse rapidly in response to rainfall.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Weather effects on birds of different size are mediated by long‐term climate and vegetation type in endangered temperate woodlands

Lindenmayer

Lane

Crane

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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Species occurrence is influenced by a range of factors including habitat attributes, climate, weather, and human landscape modification. These drivers are likely to interact, but their effects are frequently quantified independently. Here, we report the results of a 13‐year study of temperate woodland birds in south‐eastern Australia to quantify how different‐sized birds respond to the interacting effects of: (a) short‐term weather (rainfall and temperature in the 12 months preceding our surveys), (b) long‐term climate (average rainfall and maximum and minimum temperatures over the period 1970–2014), and (c) broad structural forms of vegetation (old‐growth woodland, regrowth woodland, and restoration plantings). We uncovered significant interactions between bird body size, vegetation type, climate, and weather. High short‐term rainfall was associated with decreased occurrence of large birds in old‐growth and regrowth woodland, but not in restoration plantings. Conversely, small bird occurrence peaked in wet years, but this effect was most pronounced in locations with a history of high rainfall, and was actually reversed (peak occurrence in dry years) in restoration plantings in dry climates. The occurrence of small birds was depressed—and large birds elevated—in hot years, except in restoration plantings which supported few large birds under these circumstances. Our investigation suggests that different mechanisms may underpin contrasting responses of small and large birds to the interacting effects of climate, weather, and vegetation type. A diversity of vegetation cover is needed across a landscape to promote the occurrence of different‐sized bird species in agriculture‐dominated landscapes, particularly under variable weather conditions. Climate change is predicted to lead to widespread drying of our study region, and restoration plantings—especially currently climatically wet areas—may become critically important for conserving bird species, particularly small‐bodied taxa.

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Estimating density of forest bats and their long‐term trends in a climate refuge

Law

Brassil

Proud³

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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For many species, estimating density is challenging, but it is important for conservation planning and understanding the functional role of species. Bats play key ecological roles, yet little is known about their free-ranging density. We used a long-term banding study of four species caught in an extensively forested climate refuge and spatial capture-recapture models (SCR) to estimate density and its change over time.Between 1999 and 2020, there were 3671 captures of four bat species, which were all edge-space foragers. Recaptures represented 16% (n = 587) of all captures, of which 89 were between-trap-cluster movements. Closed spatial mark-recapture models es-

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The influence of ENSO and rainfall on the numbers of breeding pairs in a woodland bird community from south-eastern Australia

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

Do migratory and resident birds differ in their responses to interacting effects of climate, weather and vegetation?

Do migratory and resident birds differ in their responses to interacting effects of climate, weather and vegetation?

Weather effects on birds of different size are mediated by long‐term climate and vegetation type in endangered temperate woodlands

Estimating density of forest bats and their long‐term trends in a climate refuge

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