Changes in the abundance and distribution of a montane specialist bird, the Dotterel<i>Charadrius morinellus</i>, in the UK over 25 years

Hayhow, Daniel B.; Ewing, Steven R.; Baxter, Alistair; Douse, Andy; Stanbury, Andrew; Whitfield, D. Philip; Eaton, Mark A.

doi:10.1080/00063657.2015.1054145

Cited by 10 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Due to scrub and grass invasion related to N deposition the coastal dune habitats in which they feed have become more homogenous reducing the availability of larger prey species (Dise et al., ). Similarly in the UK N deposition has been implicated in the decline of dotterel ( Charadrius morinellus ) where the moss‐sedge heaths in which they live have been replaced by grass and sedge dominated communities (Hayhow et al., ).…”

Section: Impacts On Higher Trophic Levelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in terrestrial ecosystems: Its impact on plant communities and consequences across trophic levels

2018

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The global nitrogen cycle has been greatly perturbed by human activities resulting in elevated nitrogen deposition in many parts of the world. The threat nitrogen deposition poses to ecosystem function and biodiversity is increasingly recognised. In terrestrial systems, impacts on the plant community are mainly through eutrophication and soil acidification. Interactions with secondary environmental drivers such as extreme weather and disease are also key mechanisms. Impacts on consumers can be caused by changes in the quality or quantity of food as a result of changes in food plant chemistry or species composition, changes in vegetation structure leading to a change in the availability of prey species, nesting sites or cooled microclimates or changes in the phenology of plants leading to causing phenological asynchrony. Primary consumers have received considerably less research attention than plants but negative impacts have been observed for both folivorous insects and pollinators. Mammal herbivores have received little research attention. New analysis of changes in plant traits along a gradient of nitrogen deposition in the UK shows that plants pollinated by large bees were negatively associated with N deposition whilst low pH was associated with lower nectar production, reduced occurrence of plants pollinated by long‐tongued insects and a reduction in plants with larger floral units. Very few studies have investigated the effects on secondary consumers, but those that have suggest that there are likely to be negative impacts. This review identifies considerable knowledge gaps in the impacts of N deposition on higher tropic levels and highlights that for many groups, knowledge of N deposition impacts is patchy at best. Evidence that has been collected suggests that there are likely to be impacts on primary and secondary consumers making this a priority area for investigation.

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Section: Impacts On Higher Trophic Levelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in terrestrial ecosystems: Its impact on plant communities and consequences across trophic levels

2018

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“…In particular, we identified several a priori hypotheses accounting for changes in dotterel populations (Table 1) TA B L E 1 Summary of the survey, topographic, site and climatic explanatory variables fitted to generalized linear mixed models and dynamic occupancy models, including an ecological justification for each covariate. In the 'Period(s) and parameter(s) modelled' and 'Predicted effects' columns, ψ 1 reflects the initial occupancy probability, γ the local colonization probability, ε the local extinction probability and p the detection probability from dynamic occupancy models The population size of dotterel in Scotland decreased between 1987 and 2011 (Hayhow et al, 2015), and thus we expect a negative trend in site densities during the study period. We also fitted period as a factor in dynamic occupancy models to permit period-specific (1987-1990 vs. 2011-2014) The frequency of survey visits differed depending on whether a site was monitored using standard or intensive field methods.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This habitat is of high conservation concern, being an environment rich in rare species and assemblages of temperate, alpine and arctic origin (Van der Wal, Bonn, Monteith, & Reed, 2011). Exceptionally for an alpine species, the dotterel has been the subject of long-term and spatially widespread monitoring effort in Scotland, which has shown a decline of 57% in the population of breeding males over a period of 24 years, from 1987/88 (981; 95% CIs: 873-1,101) to 1999 (747; 676-1,232) and 2011 (423;279-644;Galbraith, Murray, Rae, Whitfield, & Thompson, 1993;Hayhow et al, 2015;Whitfield, 2002a). Similar declines were also apparent across much of northern Europe (Meltofte, 1993;Pulliainen & Saari, 1992;Saari, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Clinging on to alpine life: Investigating factors driving the uphill range contraction and population decline of a mountain breeding bird

Ewing

Baxter

Wilson

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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Climate change and anthropogenic nitrogen deposition are widely regarded as important drivers of environmental change in alpine habitats. However, due to the difficulties working in high‐elevation mountain systems, the impacts of these drivers on alpine breeding species have rarely been investigated. The Eurasian dotterel (Charadrius morinellus) is a migratory wader, which has been the subject of uniquely long‐term and spatially widespread monitoring effort in Scotland, where it breeds in alpine areas in dwindling numbers. Here we analyse data sets spanning three decades, to investigate whether key potential drivers of environmental change in Scottish mountains (snow lie, elevated summer temperatures and nitrogen deposition) have contributed to the population decline of dotterel. We also consider the role of rainfall on the species' wintering grounds in North Africa. We found that dotterel declines—in both density and site occupancy of breeding males—primarily occurred on low and intermediate elevation sites. High‐elevation sites mostly continued to be occupied, but males occurred at lower densities in years following snow‐rich winters, suggesting that high‐elevation snow cover displaced dotterel to lower sites. Wintering ground rainfall was positively associated with densities of breeding males two springs later. Dotterel densities were reduced at low and intermediate sites where nitrogen deposition was greatest, but not at high‐elevation sites. While climatic factors explained variation in breeding density between years, they did not seem to explain the species' uphill retreat and decline. We cannot rule out the possibility that dotterel have increasingly settled on higher sites previously unavailable due to extensive snow cover, while changes associated with nitrogen deposition may also have rendered lower lying sites less suitable for breeding. Causes of population and range changes in mountain‐breeding species are thus liable to be complex, involving multiple anthropogenic drivers of environmental change acting widely across annual and migratory life cycles.

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“…, Hayhow et al. , Ralston et al. ), including Bicknell's Thrush in both the United States and Canada (Townsend et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This shapefile is available in Data S1. (Lehikoinen et al 2014, Flousek et al 2015, Hayhow et al 2015, Ralston et al 2015, including Bicknell's Thrush in both the United States and Canada (Townsend et al 2015). The Canadian BBS data estimated a 9% annual decline of Bicknell's Thrush from 1968 to 2008 (COSEWIC 2009), and High Elevation Surveys (1993-2003 in the White Mountains suggested a 7% total decline from 1993 to 2003 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A fine‐scale U.S. population estimate of a montane spruce–fir bird species of conservation concern

Hill¹,

Lloyd²

2017

Ecosphere

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Citation: Hill, J. M., and J. D. Lloyd. 2017. A fine-scale U.S. population estimate of a montane spruce-fir bird species of conservation concern. Ecosphere 8(8):e01921. 10. 1002/ecs2.1921 Abstract. Bicknell's Thrush (Catharus bicknelli) is one of the most range-restricted bird species in North America. In the United States (U.S.), it occurs only in the disturbed montane forests of fir (Abies balsamea) and spruce (Picea spp.) in the northeastern states of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Climate change is expected to substantially diminish this vegetation community (>50% extinction from current range) by 2300. Despite the increasingly tenuous conservation status of the species, fundamental demographic parameters remain unknown and overall population size is uncertain. We used N-mixture models in a hierarchical Bayesian framework to predict population size and to elucidate spatial and temporal patterns of Bicknell's Thrush abundance in the northeastern United States. From 2011 to 2016, as part of Mountain Birdwatch, citizen-scientists conducted 14,552 five-minute point counts at 747 sampling locations along hiking trails. Observers detected Bicknell's Thrush at 49.4% of points and tallied 1079 observations of the species. Bicknell's Thrush abundance was parsimoniously modeled as a complex function of elevation, forest canopy cover, and latitude. Using our model results, and the estimated U.S. range of the Bicknell's Thrush, we produced the first fine-scale (<1.0 ha resolution) abundance estimate and map of Bicknell's Thrush density across their U.S. range. We predicted the U.S. Bicknell's Thrush population in 2016 as 71,318 (95% credible interval: 56,080-89,748), and 95% of that population occurred above 805 m. Combining our results with existing estimates of population size in Canada suggests a global population size of <120,000; Bicknell's Thrush likely have one of the smallest population sizes of regularly occurring bird species within the contiguous United States and Canada. By cross-referencing the U.S. Geological Survey Protected Areas Database, we estimated that 76.6% of Bicknell's Thrush habitat occurred on conserved lands across the United States and that this habitat supported 84.6% of the predicted population. The White Mountain National Forest (New Hampshire and Maine) is the largest conservator of Bicknell's Thrush habitat in the United States and supports~31% of the predicted U.S. population. Our model provides a testable framework for assessing the success of future conservation and management actions on Bicknell's Thrush populations throughout their U.S. range.

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Changes in the abundance and distribution of a montane specialist bird, the DotterelCharadrius morinellus, in the UK over 25 years

Cited by 10 publications

References 32 publications

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in terrestrial ecosystems: Its impact on plant communities and consequences across trophic levels

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition in terrestrial ecosystems: Its impact on plant communities and consequences across trophic levels

Clinging on to alpine life: Investigating factors driving the uphill range contraction and population decline of a mountain breeding bird

A fine‐scale U.S. population estimate of a montane spruce–fir bird species of conservation concern

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