Habitat use of breeding birds in Central European reed beds

Riegert, Jan

doi:10.1007/s11273-020-09768-3

Cited by 5 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Waterbirds depend entirely on wetlands for activities such as foraging, resting and moulting (Debela et al 2020). Numerous recent studies examining waterfowl populations in wetlands ecosystems have demonstrated that wetlands are disappearing faster than many other landscape types and are becoming one of the most endangered ecosystems worldwide (Benassi et al 2007, Šťasný & Riegert 2021). A 17-19% decline in overall breeding bird abundance in Europe since 1980 (Burns et al 2021) is likely a consequence of similar decreases in the area of breeding habitat, whether wetland or dry.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The diversity-area relationship for waterbird communities in small artificial reservoirs over winter

Kucherenko

2023

Journal of Vertebrate Biology

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In the middle of the 20th century, artificial reservoirs were created in Crimea due to a lack of freshwater resources. The nearest important hotspot for waterbirds is more than 100 km from these reservoirs. The five reservoirs are differently sized, and their water levels vary in response to regional climatic conditions and ice formation during winter. In this study, we investigate the bird communities of these small reservoirs using long-term waterbird surveys. Data were collected over 18 observation sessions on the five reservoirs in the winters of 2009-2021, with observations from the Simferopolske reservoirs grouped into two clusters for 2009-2014 and 2015-2021. Waterbird species richness was moderate, ranging between three and 19 species, including two considered threatened. Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos), Caspian gull (Larus cachinnans) and common gull (Larus canus) contributed significantly to dissimilarities between observations, with numbers of common gull decreasing significantly in relation to average January temperature and precipitation. Fisher's alpha diversity and Caspian gull number showed negative relationships with water surface area. We suggest that such negative relationships between area and diversity can be observed during cold waves when species are forced to migrate in search of more favourable conditions, leading to increased diversity in small areas.

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