Temporal Variation of Ecological Factors Affecting Bird Species Richness in Urban and Peri-Urban Forests in a Changing Environment: A Case Study from Milan (Northern Italy)

ContextThe negative association between elevation and species richness is a well-recognized pattern in macro-ecology. ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate changes in functional evenness of breeding bird communities along an elevation gradient in Europe. MethodsUsing the bird data from the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds we estimated an index of functional evenness which can be assumed as a measure of the potential resilience of communities.ResultsOur findings confirm the existence of a negative association between elevation and bird species richness in all European eco regions. However, we also explored a novel aspect of this relationship, important for conservation: Our findings provide evidence at large spatial scale of a negative association between the functional evenness (potential community resilience) and elevation, independent of the eco region. We also found that the Natura2000 protected areas covers the territory most in need of protection, those characterized by bird communities with low potential resilience, in hilly and mountainous areas.ConclusionsThese results draw attention to European areas occupied by bird communities characterized by a potential lower capacity to respond to strong ecological changes, and, therefore, potentially more exposed to risks for conservation.

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Patterns of bird species richness explained by annual variation in remotely sensed Dynamic Habitat Indices

Ecological Indicators ◽

10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.107774 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 127 ◽

pp. 107774

Author(s):

Martina L. Hobi ◽

Laura S. Farwell ◽

Maxim Dubinin ◽

Dmitrij Kolesov ◽

Anna M. Pidgeon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Annual Variation ◽

Bird Species ◽

Remotely Sensed ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Dynamic Habitat

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Can clearcuts increase bird species richness in managed forests?

Journal of Forest Science ◽

10.17221/787-jfs ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 54 (No. 4) ◽

pp. 189-193

Author(s):

M. Żmihorski

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Cumulative Number ◽

Managed Forests ◽

Managed Forest ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Forest Interior ◽

Transect Counts ◽

The Difference

Clearcuts are one of the results of forest management. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of clearcuts on bird communities in a managed forest in Western Poland. I applied the method of point transect counts. 20 points were located near clearcuts (less than 100 m from the nearest clearcut) and 25 points in the forest interior. In total, 36 bird species were recorded. On average, I found 9.20 bird species at points located near clearcuts and 6.72 species at points situated in the forest interior, and the difference was significant. The cumulative number of bird species for a given number of sampling points in the vicinity of clearcuts was higher than in the forest interior. The obtained results indicate that in managed, even-aged forests the generation of clearcuts can lead to an increase in local bird species richness.

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Bird species richness and abundance in riparian vegetation invaded by exotic Reynoutria spp.

Biologia ◽

10.2478/s11756-013-0296-x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 69 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Lenka Hajzlerová ◽

Jiří Reif

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Plant Species ◽

Riparian Vegetation ◽

Bird Species ◽

Plant Invasions ◽

Alien Plant ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

River Bank ◽

Management Actions ◽

Acrocephalus Palustris

AbstractImpacts of invasive alien plant species are threatening biodiversity worldwide and thus it is important to assess their effects on particular groups of organisms. However, such impacts were studied mostly in case of plant or invertebrate communities and our understanding the response of vertebrate species to plant invasions remains incomplete. To improve our knowledge in this respect, we studied bird communities in riparian vegetation along the rivers with different levels of Reynoutria spp. invasion in the Czech Republic. These findings will be interesting for basic ecology enhancing our knowledge of consequences of plant invasions, as well as for conservation practice. We surveyed understory bird species in 26 vegetation blocks along parts of three rivers running from the Beskydy Mountains in spring 2011. We used principal component analysis to assess vegetation structure of particular blocks and the first axis ordinated the blocks according to the degree of invasion by Reynoutria spp. Using generalized linear mixed-effects models we found that counts of Motacilla cinerea, Cinclus cinclus and Sylvia borin, as well as the total bird species richness, significantly decreased with increasing degree of Reynoutria spp. invasion, while Acrocephalus palustris showed the opposite pattern. These results suggest that Reynoutria spp. impacts negatively on the species strictly bond with river banks and habitats specialists, whereas habitat generalist species like Sylvia atricapilla were not affected. Preference of Acrocephalus palustris for Reynoutria spp. corroborates affinity of this species to large invasive herbs observed also in other studies. Our study showed that Reynoutria spp. invasion can reduce species richness of understory birds in riparian communities. Although the distribution of this plant species is still quite limited in central Europe, our results suggest that its more widespread occurrence could potentially threat some river bank bird species. Therefore, we urge for development of management actions that will act counter the Reynoutria spp. invasion.

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Modelling avian biodiversity using raw, unclassified satellite imagery

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2013.0197 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 369 (1643) ◽

pp. 20130197 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Véronique St-Louis ◽

Anna M. Pidgeon ◽

Tobias Kuemmerle ◽

Ruth Sonnenschein ◽

Volker C. Radeloff ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Habitat Heterogeneity ◽

Bird Species ◽

Image Texture ◽

Spectral Mixture Analysis ◽

Mixture Analysis ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Habitat Composition ◽

Avian Biodiversity ◽

Spectral Mixture

Applications of remote sensing for biodiversity conservation typically rely on image classifications that do not capture variability within coarse land cover classes. Here, we compare two measures derived from unclassified remotely sensed data, a measure of habitat heterogeneity and a measure of habitat composition, for explaining bird species richness and the spatial distribution of 10 species in a semi-arid landscape of New Mexico. We surveyed bird abundance from 1996 to 1998 at 42 plots located in the McGregor Range of Fort Bliss Army Reserve. Normalized Difference Vegetation Index values of two May 1997 Landsat scenes were the basis for among-pixel habitat heterogeneity (image texture), and we used the raw imagery to decompose each pixel into different habitat components (spectral mixture analysis). We used model averaging to relate measures of avian biodiversity to measures of image texture and spectral mixture analysis fractions. Measures of habitat heterogeneity, particularly angular second moment and standard deviation, provide higher explanatory power for bird species richness and the abundance of most species than measures of habitat composition. Using image texture, alone or in combination with other classified imagery-based approaches, for monitoring statuses and trends in biological diversity can greatly improve conservation efforts and habitat management.

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Untangling the positive association of phylogenetic, functional, and taxonomic diversity with alien bird species richness

Ecosphere ◽

10.1002/ecs2.3007 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

Author(s):

A. Andrikou‐Charitidou ◽

G. Boutsis ◽

E. Karadimou ◽

A. S. Kallimanis

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Positive Association ◽

Taxonomic Diversity ◽

Bird Species Richness

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Estimating bird species richness: How should repeat surveys be organized in time?

Austral Ecology ◽

10.1046/j.1442-9993.2002.01223.x ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 27 (6) ◽

pp. 624-629 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Scott A. Field ◽

Andrew J. Tyre ◽

Hugh P. Possingham

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Species Richness

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Long-term species richness-abundance dynamics in relation to species departures and arrivals in wintering urban bird assemblages

European Journal of Ecology ◽

10.2478/eje-2019-0002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jukka Suhonen ◽

Jukka Jokimäki

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Total Abundance ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Abundance Dynamics ◽

Local Species Richness ◽

Local Species ◽

The Mean ◽

Urban Bird ◽

Number Of Individuals

Abstract Temporal dynamics of local assemblages depend on the species richness and the total abundance of individuals as well as local departure and arrival rates of species. We used urban bird survey data collected from the same 31 study plots and methods during three winters (1991–1992; 1999–2000 and 2009–2010) to analyze the temporal relationship between bird species richness and total number of individuals (abundance). We also evaluated local departures and arrivals of species in each assemblage. In total, 13,812 individuals of 35 species were detected. The temporal variation in bird species richness followed the variation in the total number of individuals. The numbers of local departure and arrival events were similar. Also, the mean number of individuals of the recently arrived species (8.6) was almost the same as the mean number of individuals of the departed species (8.2). Risk of species departure was inversely related to number of individuals. Local species richness increased by one species when the total abundance of individuals increased by around 125 individuals and vice versa. Our results highlight the important role of local population departures and arrivals in determining the local species richness-abundance dynamics in human-dominated landscapes. Local species richness patterns depend on the total number of individuals as well as both the departure-arrival dynamics of individual species as well as the dynamics of all the species together. Our results support the more individuals hypothesis, which suggests that individual-rich assemblages have more species.

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Distribution of birds in Colombia

Biodiversity Data Journal ◽

10.3897/bdj.9.e59202 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Author(s):

Danny Vélez ◽

Edwin Tamayo ◽

Fernando Ayerbe-Quiñones ◽

Julián Torres ◽

Juan Rey ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Species Richness ◽

Land Use Planning ◽

Scientific Information ◽

Sustainable Use ◽

Bird Species ◽

Geographic Information ◽

Huge Number ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Taxonomic Groups

1. Colombia with 1941 known recorded bird species is one of the most species rich countries in the world. Efforts are necessary to conserve, study and promote sustainable use of this important taxonomic group throughout Colombia’s vast territory. 2. In an ideal world, informed decisions that are based on sound scientific information should be likelier to have successful outcomes. Nevertheless, there are barriers that make it difficult to access and use information in a timely fashion. Those same barriers impede the study, conservation and sustainable use of bird species in Colombia. On the other hand, given that there is good documentation about the ecology of a large number of species, information about the distribution of birds can be easily incorporated into decision-making processes, once this information becomes readily available in a consumable format using Geographic Information Sciences tools. 3. In this context, the main objective of this paper is to present the first compilation of the current distribution of 1889 (97%) species of birds in Colombia, using expert criteria. The shapefiles were used to show the distribution and diversity of bird species in Colombia under both geopolitical and conservation geographic units. 4. The information provided in this paper can be used as a baseline for a huge number of initiatives that aim to strengthen conservation efforts and improve knowledge about one the most unique taxonomic groups in the country. These range from land use planning strategies at the municipal or department scale to sustainable use of bird species - such as those initiatives related to bird watching - in Colombia. This study has considered three key aspects: 1) the importance of birds for Colombia’s ecosystems, 2) the privileged place of Colombia in bird species richness and 3) the importance of data mobilisation in formats easily consumable by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to facilitate the processes of informed decision-making. We present the first compilation - in shapefile format - for 1889 of the 1941 bird species recorded from Colombia. Using this novel collection, we showed the species richness of birds in Colombia’s 33 Departments plus its Captial District (DPs), 1122 Municipalities (MNs), 58 protected areas (PAs), 39 Regional Autonomous Corporations (the authorities responsible within their respective jurisdictions for regulating the environment and renewable natural resources in Colombia; CARs) and 916 Collectively Titled Territories (including both indigenous reservations and afro-descendant communities; CTTs). In addition, we provide a list of known bird species richness for the above geographic units found in the available literature. The information provided here can be used as a baseline for a huge number of initiatives concerning the study, conservation and sustainable use of bird species present in Colombia, providing access to key features of bird distribution that should facilitate decision-making.

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