Declining population trends of European mountain birds

Lehikoinen, Aleksi; Brotons, Lluís; Calladine, John; Campedelli, Tommaso; Escandell, Virginia; Flousek, Jiri; Grueneberg, Christoph; Haas, Fredrik; Harris, Sarah; Herrando, Sergi; Husby, Magne; Jiguet, Frederic; Kålås, John Atle; Lindström, Åke; Lorrillière, Romain; Molina, Blas; Pladevall, Clara; Calvi, Gianpiero; Sattler, Thomas; Schmid, Hans; Sirkiä, Päivi M.; Teufelbauer, Norbert; Trautmann, Sven

doi:10.1111/gcb.14522

Declining population trends of European mountain birds

Journal Article · Tue Dec 11 00:00:00 EST 2018 · Global Change Biology

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14522· OSTI ID:1485500

^[1]; Brotons, Lluís ^[2]; Calladine, John ^[3]; Campedelli, Tommaso ^[4]; Escandell, Virginia ^[5]; Flousek, Jiri ^[6]; Grueneberg, Christoph ^[7]; Haas, Fredrik ^[8]; Harris, Sarah ^[9]; Herrando, Sergi ^[10]; Husby, Magne ^[11]; Jiguet, Frederic ^[12]; Kålås, John Atle ^[13]; ^[8]; Lorrillière, Romain ^[14]; Molina, Blas ^[5]; Pladevall, Clara ^[15]; Calvi, Gianpiero ^[4]; Sattler, Thomas ^[16]; Schmid, Hans ^[16] more »

Finnish Museum of Natural History University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland
InForest Jru (CTFC‐CREAF) Solsona Spain, CREAF Bellaterra Spain, CSIC Bellaterra Spain
British Trust for Ornithology (Scotland) University of Stirling Stirling Scotland
Italian Common Breeding Bird monitoring programme Parma Italy
Estudio y seguimiento de aves/SEO/BirdLife C/Melquíades Biencinto Madrid Spain
Krkonose National Park Vrchlabi Czech Republic
Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten (DDA) e.V., Geschäftsstelle Münster Germany
Department of Biology Lund University Lund Sweden
The British Trust for Ornithology The Nunnery Norfolk UK
Catalan Ornithological Institute. Natural History Museum of Barcelona Barcelona Spain
Section of Science Nord University Levanger Norway
Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la COnservation (CESCO UMR 7204 Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle Paris France
Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Trondheim Norway
Centre d’Ecologie et des Sciences de la COnservation (CESCO UMR 7204 Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle Paris France, Université Paris‐Sud, UMR 8079 Ecologie Systématique Evolution Orsay France
Snow and Mountain Research Center of Andorra (CENMA) ‐ Andorran Research Institute (IEA) Sant Julià de Lòria Principality of Andorra
Swiss Ornithological Institute Sempach Switzerland
BirdLife Österreich Wien Austria

Abstract

Mountain areas often hold special species communities, and they are high on the list of conservation concern. Global warming and changes in human land use, such as grazing pressure and afforestation, have been suggested to be major threats for biodiversity in the mountain areas, affecting species abundance and causing distribution shifts towards mountaintops. Population shifts towards poles and mountaintops have been documented in several areas, indicating that climate change is one of the key drivers of species’ distribution changes. Despite the high conservation concern, relatively little is known about the population trends of species in mountain areas due to low accessibility and difficult working conditions. Thanks to the recent improvement of bird monitoring schemes around Europe, we can here report a first account of population trends of 44 bird species from four major European mountain regions: Fennoscandia, UK upland, south‐western (Iberia) and south‐central mountains (Alps), covering 12 countries. Overall, the mountain bird species declined significantly (−7%) during 2002–2014, which is similar to the declining rate in common birds in Europe during the same period. Mountain specialists showed a significant −10% decline in population numbers. The slope for mountain generalists was also negative, but not significantly so. The slopes of specialists and generalists did not differ from each other. Fennoscandian and Iberian populations were on average declining, while in United Kingdom and Alps, trends were nonsignificant. Temperature change or migratory behaviour was not significantly associated with regional population trends of species. Alpine habitats are highly vulnerable to climate change, and this is certainly one of the main drivers of mountain bird population trends. However, observed declines can also be partly linked with local land use practices. More efforts should be undertaken to identify the causes of decline and to increase conservation efforts for these populations.

View Accepted Manuscript (Publisher)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

OSTI ID:: 1485500

Journal Information:: Global Change Biology, Journal Name: Global Change Biology Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 25; ISSN 1354-1013

Publisher:: Wiley-BlackwellCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

References (55)

Specialists in ancient trees are more affected by climate than generalists Gough, Leonie A.; Sverdrup-Thygeson, Anne; Milberg, Per Ecology and Evolution, Vol. 5, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1799	journal	November 2015
EURO-CORDEX: new high-resolution climate change projections for European impact research Jacob, Daniela; Petersen, Juliane; Eggert, Bastian Regional Environmental Change, Vol. 14, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-013-0499-2	journal	July 2013
Upland heather moorland in Great Britain: A review of international importance, vegetation change and some objectives for nature conservation Thompson, D. B. A.; MacDonald, A. J.; Marsden, J. H. Biological Conservation, Vol. 71, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(94)00043-P	journal	January 1995
Quantifying the impact of land-use change to European farmland bird populations Butler, S. J.; Boccaccio, L.; Gregory, R. D. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 137, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2010.03.005	journal	May 2010
Long-term population declines in Afro-Palearctic migrant birds Sanderson, Fiona J.; Donald, Paul F.; Pain, Deborah J. Biological Conservation, Vol. 131, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2006.02.008	journal	July 2006
Glorious past, uncertain present, bad future? Assessing effects of land-use changes on habitat suitability for a threatened farmland bird species Brambilla, Mattia; Casale, Fabio; Bergero, Valentina Biological Conservation, Vol. 143, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2010.07.025	journal	November 2010
Progress towards international targets for protected area coverage in mountains: A multi-scale assessment Rodríguez-Rodríguez, David; Bomhard, Bastian; Butchart, Stuart H. M. Biological Conservation, Vol. 144, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2011.08.023	journal	December 2011
Collapse of an arctic bird community resulting from ungulate-induced loss of erect shrubs Ims, Rolf A.; Henden, John-André Biological Conservation, Vol. 149, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.02.008	journal	May 2012
Population trends in boreal birds: Continuing declines in agricultural, northern, and long-distance migrant species Laaksonen, Toni; Lehikoinen, Aleksi Biological Conservation, Vol. 168 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2013.09.007	journal	December 2013
Indicator framework for measuring quantity and quality of biodiversity—Exemplified in the Nordic countries Normander, Bo; Levin, Gregor; Auvinen, Ari-Pekka Ecological Indicators, Vol. 13, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2011.05.017	journal	February 2012
A Monte Carlo method to account for sampling error in multi-species indicators Soldaat, Leo L.; Pannekoek, Jeroen; Verweij, Richard J. T. Ecological Indicators, Vol. 81 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.05.033	journal	October 2017
Are Swiss birds tracking climate change? Maggini, Ramona; Lehmann, Anthony; Kéry, Marc Ecological Modelling, Vol. 222, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.09.010	journal	January 2011
Exposure of global mountain systems to climate warming during the 21st Century Nogués-Bravo, D.; Araújo, M. B.; Errea, M. P. Global Environmental Change, Vol. 17, Issue 3-4 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2006.11.007	journal	August 2007
Assessing impacts of land abandonment on Mediterranean biodiversity using indicators based on bird and butterfly monitoring data Herrando, Sergi; Brotons, LluÍS; Anton, Marc Environmental Conservation, Vol. 43, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892915000260	journal	August 2015
The generation and use of bird population indicators in Europe Gregory, Richard D.; Vořišek, Petr; Noble, David G. Bird Conservation International, Vol. 18, Issue S1 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270908000312	journal	August 2008
Are lemmings prey or predators? Turchin, P.; Oksanen, L.; Ekerholm, P. Nature, Vol. 405, Issue 6786 https://doi.org/10.1038/35014595	journal	June 2000
Differences in the climatic debts of birds and butterflies at a continental scale Devictor, Vincent; van Swaay, Chris; Brereton, Tom Nature Climate Change, Vol. 2, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1347	journal	January 2012
Climate-driven changes in northeastern US butterfly communities Breed, Greg A.; Stichter, Sharon; Crone, Elizabeth E. Nature Climate Change, Vol. 3, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1663	journal	August 2012
Effects of elevated temperature on multi-species interactions: the case of Pedunculate Oak, Winter Moth and Tits Buse, A.; Dury, S. J.; Woodburn, R. J. W. Functional Ecology, Vol. 13, Issue s1 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2435.1999.00010.x	journal	June 1999
Interplay between nitrogen deposition and grazing causes habitat degradation van der Wal, Rene; Pearce, Imogen; Brooker, Rob Ecology Letters, Vol. 6, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00407.x	journal	February 2003
Contrasting patterns of change in the distribution and abundance of farmland birds in relation to farming system in lowland Britain Chamberlain, D. E.; Fuller, R. J. Global Ecology and Biogeography, Vol. 10, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1466-822X.2001.00236.x	journal	July 2001
Climate change causes upslope shifts and mountaintop extirpations in a tropical bird community Freeman, Benjamin G.; Scholer, Micah N.; Ruiz-Gutierrez, Viviana Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, Issue 47 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1804224115	journal	October 2018
Effects on bird abundance and species richness of edge restructuring to include shrubs at the interface between conifer plantations and moorland Calladine, John; Bielinski, Andrew; Shaw, Geoff Bird Study, Vol. 60, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1080/00063657.2013.797953	journal	August 2013
Climate change and habitat destruction: a deadly anthropogenic cocktail Travis, J. M. J. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 270, Issue 1514 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2002.2246	journal	March 2003
Spreading free-riding snow sports represent a novel serious threat for wildlife Arlettaz, Raphaël; Patthey, Patrick; Baltic, Marjana Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 274, Issue 1614 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.0434	journal	February 2007
Using Red List Indices to measure progress towards the 2010 target and beyond Butchart, S. H. M.; Stattersfield, A. J.; Baillie, J. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 360, Issue 1454 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1583	journal	February 2005
Developing indicators for European birds Gregory, Richard D.; van Strien, Arco; Vorisek, Petr Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 360, Issue 1454 https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1602	journal	February 2005
Impact of climate change on communities: revealing species' contribution Davey, Catherine M.; Devictor, Vincent; Jonzén, Niclas Journal of Animal Ecology, Vol. 82, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12035	journal	February 2013
Assessing species vulnerability to climate and land use change: the case of the Swiss breeding birds Maggini, Ramona; Lehmann, Anthony; Zbinden, Niklaus Diversity and Distributions, Vol. 20, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12207	journal	March 2014
Continent-scale global change attribution in European birds - combining annual and decadal time scales Jørgensen, Peter Søgaard; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; Thorup, Kasper Global Change Biology, Vol. 22, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13097	journal	October 2015
Open tundra persist, but arctic features decline—Vegetation changes in the warming Fennoscandian tundra Vuorinen, Katariina E. M.; Oksanen, Lauri; Oksanen, Tarja Global Change Biology, Vol. 23, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13710	journal	May 2017
Species’ traits as predictors of range shifts under contemporary climate change: A review and meta-analysis MacLean, Sarah A.; Beissinger, Steven R. Global Change Biology, Vol. 23, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13736	journal	June 2017
Impacts of global change on species distributions: obstacles and solutions to integrate climate and land use: Land-use and climate change integration Sirami, Clélia; Caplat, Paul; Popy, Simon Global Ecology and Biogeography, Vol. 26, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12555	journal	December 2016
The decline of Afro-Palaearctic migrants and an assessment of potential causes Vickery, Juliet A.; Ewing, Steven R.; Smith, Ken W. Ibis, Vol. 156, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12118	journal	November 2013
A review and meta-analysis of the effects of climate change on Holarctic mountain and upland bird populations Scridel, Davide; Brambilla, Mattia; Martin, Kathy Ibis, Vol. 160, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/ibi.12585	journal	March 2018
Interactive effects of nitrogen deposition, fire and grazing on diversity and composition of low-alpine prostrate Calluna vulgaris heathland: N deposition and biodiversity of low-alpine heath Britton, A. J.; Fisher, J. M. Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol. 44, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2006.01251.x	journal	November 2006
Post-Little Ice Age tree line rise and climate warming in the Swedish Scandes: a landscape ecological perspective Kullman, Leif; Öberg, Lisa Journal of Ecology, Vol. 97, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2009.01488.x	journal	May 2009
Global patterns in the vulnerability of ecosystems to vegetation shifts due to climate change: Global vulnerability to climate change Gonzalez, Patrick; Neilson, Ronald P.; Lenihan, James M. Global Ecology and Biogeography, Vol. 19, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00558.x	journal	June 2010
Rise of the generalists: evidence for climate driven homogenization in avian communities: Avian diversity, homogenization and warming climate Davey, Catherine M.; Chamberlain, Dan E.; Newson, Stuart E. Global Ecology and Biogeography, Vol. 21, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2011.00693.x	journal	June 2011
The altitudinal frontier in avian climate impact research Chamberlain, Dan; Arlettaz, RaphaËL; Caprio, Enrico Ibis, Vol. 154, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1474-919X.2011.01196.x	journal	November 2011
Climate Change, Elevational Range Shifts, and Bird Extinctions Sekercioglu, Cagan H.; Schneider, Stephen H.; Fay, John P. Conservation Biology, Vol. 22, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2007.00852.x	journal	December 2007
Monitoring Change in Vertebrate Abundance: the Living Planet Index Collen, Ben; Loh, Jonathan; Whitmee, Sarah Conservation Biology, Vol. 23, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01117.x	journal	April 2009
Common montane birds are declining in northern Europe Lehikoinen, Aleksi; Green, Martin; Husby, Magne Journal of Avian Biology, Vol. 45, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-048X.2013.00177.x	journal	December 2013
Rapid changes in bird community composition at multiple temporal and spatial scales in response to recent climate change Lindström, Åke; Green, Martin; Paulson, Göran Ecography, Vol. 36, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2012.07799.x	journal	September 2012
Uninformative Parameters and Model Selection Using Akaike's Information Criterion Arnold, Todd W. The Journal of Wildlife Management, Vol. 74, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1937-2817.2010.tb01236.x	journal	August 2010
Global Biodiversity: Indicators of Recent Declines Butchart, S. H. M.; Walpole, M.; Collen, B. Science, Vol. 328, Issue 5982 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1187512	journal	April 2010
Rapid Range Shifts of Species Associated with High Levels of Climate Warming Chen, I. -C.; Hill, J. K.; Ohlemuller, R. Science, Vol. 333, Issue 6045 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1206432	journal	August 2011
Consistent response of bird populations to climate change on two continents Stephens, P. A.; Mason, L. R.; Green, R. E. Science, Vol. 352, Issue 6281 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4858	journal	March 2016
Effects of Habitat Fragmentation on Biodiversity Fahrig, Lenore Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, Vol. 34, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132419	journal	November 2003
Multimodel Inference: Understanding AIC and BIC in Model Selection Burnham, Kenneth P.; Anderson, David R. Sociological Methods & Research, Vol. 33, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1177/0049124104268644	journal	November 2004
Disentangling the Relative Importance of Changes in Climate and Land-Use Intensity in Driving Recent Bird Population Trends Eglington, Sarah M.; Pearce-Higgins, James W. PLoS ONE, Vol. 7, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030407	journal	March 2012
Temperate Mountain Forest Biodiversity under Climate Change: Compensating Negative Effects by Increasing Structural Complexity Braunisch, Veronika; Coppes, Joy; Arlettaz, Raphaël PLoS ONE, Vol. 9, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097718	journal	May 2014
Population Trends of Central European Montane Birds Provide Evidence for Adverse Impacts of Climate Change on High-Altitude Species Flousek, Jiří; Telenský, Tomáš; Hanzelka, Jan PLOS ONE, Vol. 10, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139465	journal	October 2015
Specialist Predators, Generalist Predators, and the Microtine Rodent Cycle Hanski, Ilkka; Hansson, Lennart; Henttonen, Heikki The Journal of Animal Ecology, Vol. 60, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.2307/5465	journal	February 1991
The Impact of Climate Change on Recent Vegetation Changes on Dovrefjell, Norway Michelsen, Ottar; Syverhuset, Anne Olga; Pedersen, Bård Diversity, Vol. 3, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.3390/d3010091	journal	January 2011

Similar Records

Spatial distribution modelling reveals climatically suitable areas for bumblebees in undersampled parts of the Iberian Peninsula

Journal Article · Mon Aug 08 20:00:00 EDT 2016 · Insect Conservation and Diversity · OSTI ID:1400580

Mercury in feathers of Swedish gyrfalcons, Falco rusticolus, in relation to diet

Journal Article · Sat Mar 31 23:00:00 EST 1984 · Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol.; (United States) · OSTI ID:7012178

Anthropogenic disturbance favours generalist over specialist parasites in bird communities: Implications for risk of disease emergence

Journal Article · Sat Jun 12 20:00:00 EDT 2021 · Ecology Letters · OSTI ID:1788121

Declining population trends of European mountain birds

Citation Formats

References (55)

Similar Records

Related Subjects