Sixty years of habitat decline: impact of land-cover changes in northern Italy on the decreasing ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana

Brambilla, Mattia; Gustin, Marco; Vitulano, Severino; Falco, Riccardo; Bergero, Valentina; Negri, Irene; Bogliani, Giuseppe; Celada, Claudio

doi:10.1007/s10113-016-1019-y

Cited by 22 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Even if we cannot rule out the potential impact of land use change, and in particular of land abandonment (see e.g. Brambilla et al 2010Brambilla et al , 2017b, modelling results suggested an overwhelming importance of STI and thus a major impact of climate change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Thermal niche predicts recent changes in range size for bird species

Scridel¹,

Bogliani²,

Pedrini³

et al. 2017

Clim. Res.

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Species distributions are strongly affected by climate, and climate change is largely impacting on species and populations. Thermal niches have been widely used as proxies for estimating thermal sensitivity of species and have been frequently related to community composition, population trends and latitudinal/elevational shifts in distribution. To our knowledge, no work has yet explored the relationship between thermal niche and change in range size (changes in the number of occupied spatial units over time) in bird species. In this paper, we related a 30 years change in range size to Species Thermal Index (STI: average temperature at occurrence sites) and to other factors (i.e. birds' associated habitats, body mass, hunting status) potentially affecting bird populations/range size. We analysed trends of breeding birds range in Italy for a suite of poorly studied cold-adapted animals potentially sensitive to global warming, and a related group of control species taxonomically similar and with comparable mass but mainly occurring at lower/warmer sites. We found a strong positive correlation between change in range size and STI, confirming that recent climatic warming has favoured species of warmer climates and adversely affected species occupying colder areas. A model including STI and birds' associated habitats was only marginally less supported, with forest species performing better than alpine open habitat and agricultural ones. In line with previous works highlighting effects of recent climate change on community composition, species' population trends and on poleward/upward distributional shifts, we found STI to be the most important predictor of change in range size variation in breeding birds.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Thermal niche predicts recent changes in range size for bird species

Scridel¹,

Bogliani²,

Pedrini³

et al. 2017

Clim. Res.

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“…tree alleys, shrubs, hedges, woody corridors, and small woodlots) that provide song-posts, foraging and nesting places (cf. Berg, 2008, De Groot et al 2010, Brambilla et al 2016, 2017). Shrub and woody vegetation within the agricultural landscape is an important habitat attribute for farmland wildlife (Hilty et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…A more heterogeneous landscape pattern, comprising the fine-scale mosaic of different agricultural and non-agricultural habitats with different management types, provides a high diversity of foraging and nesting resources (Benton et al 2003, Vickery and Arlettaz 2012). Landscape heterogeneity is known as a crucial factor in supporting populations of Ortolan Buntings (Vepsäläinen et al 2005, Deutsch and Sudbeck 2009, Berg 2012, Brambilla et al 2017) and other declining farmland birds (Haslem and Bennet 2008, Vickery and Arlettaz 2012, Šálek et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This measure may benefit the Ortolan Bunting, but also other declining farmland birds/taxa with complex requirements, i.e. associated with a combination of different habitat types (Benton et al 2003, Morelli et al 2012, Vickery and Arlettaz 2012, Brambilla et al 2017, Pavliska et al 2018, Šálek et al 2018). In addition, increasing the representation of set-aside and sparsely growing cultivations in farmland may be an effective conservation measure not only for Ortolan Buntings, but also for farmland birds of conservation concern (Henderson et al 2000, Berg 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Habitat selection of an endangered European farmland bird, the Ortolan BuntingEmberiza hortulana, in two contrasting landscapes: implications for management

Šálek

Zeman

Václav

2018

Bird Conservation International

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SummaryEffective conservation measures for any bird species across their distribution ranges require detailed knowledge of landscape-specific differences in habitat associations. The Ortolan Bunting Emberiza hortulana is a farmland bird species, which experienced massive population declines during the recent decades and has become a conservation priority in many European countries. Thus, identification of the key habitat features is an important prerequisite for the conservation of the species. Here we investigate habitat associations of the Ortolan Bunting for the remaining breeding population of the species in the Czech Republic. This population is remarkable by its distribution in two markedly different environments – farmland and post-mining landscapes. The main objectives of this study were to identify habitat features associated with Ortolan Bunting occurrence within the two contrasting landscapes and at two spatial scales. Our results reveal a high degree of habitat plasticity by Ortolan Buntings in the Czech Republic which was revealed by the landscape- and scale- specific habitat associations. Habitat heterogeneity, in terms of compositional and configurational diversity, and the cover of bare ground were the most important predictors of Ortolan Bunting occurrence in both landscape types. In farmland, the species occurrence was positively associated with shrub and woody vegetation, poppy fields and set-asides, and negatively associated with grasslands, gardens/orchards, seedlings and urban habitats. In the post-mining landscape, the cover of herb vegetation and greater slope steepness and terrain ruggedness were most important habitat features. Ortolan Buntings in the post-mining landscape appear to avoid patches with a higher cover of shrub and woody vegetation, forests, seedlings and urban areas. We propose that conservation measures for Ortolan Buntings should focus on enhancing farmland habitat heterogeneity, but also on regulating the rate of succession in disturbed environments, such as post-mining landscapes.

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“…(Calviño-Cancela et al 2012, Morán-Ordóñez et al 2012, 2013, Ramil-Rego et al 2013). In the context of ongoing land use change, the loss and fragmentation of heathlands may lead to difficult-to-reverse tipping points for species tightly linked to these habitats (Regos et al 2015, 2016, Brambilla et al 2017, Tapia et al 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the temporal transferability of raptor distribution models: Implications for conservation

Tapia

Regos

Gil-Carrera³

et al. 2017

Bird Conservation International

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SummaryThe aim of this study was to assess the temporal transferability of species distribution models (SDMs) and their potential implications for bird conservation. We quantified the loss and fragmentation of Montagu’s Harrier Circus pygargus and Common Kestrel Falco tinnunculus habitats over 13 years (2001–2014) in a highly dynamic landscape in north-western Spain. For this purpose, priority habitats for the target species were modelled at four different spatial scales using an ensemble forecasting framework. To explore the temporal transferability of our ensemble predictions, the models were back-projected to the land cover conditions in 2001 and evaluated using historical occurrence data. In addition, models calibrated with historical data were projected to the land cover conditions in 2014 and evaluated using updated occurrence data. Changes in availability and connectivity of suitable habitats between both years were estimated at four spatial scales from a set of widely-used indicators. SDMs showed a good predictive accuracy but with limited temporal transferability due to changes in the species-habitat relationships between 2001 and 2014. The results showed a decrease in the avaliability of suitable habitats of 33.4% and 47.7% for Montagu’s Harrier and Common Kestrel, respectively; with the subsequent increase in their fragmentation. However, our estimates were found to be strongly dependent on the scale of analysis and model transferability. Changes in habitat availability and connectivity ranged from -48% to +54% for Montagu’s Harrier, and from +116% to +5.6% for Common Kestrel. We call for caution when using SDMs beyond the model calibration time period to guide bird conservation. This is especially important for raptors, often characterised by low population sizes and large home ranges, and particularly sensitive to unstable, highly dynamic environmental conditions. In light of these results, specific, long-standing monitoring protocols remain essential to ensure accurate modelling performance and reliable future projections.

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Sixty years of habitat decline: impact of land-cover changes in northern Italy on the decreasing ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana

Cited by 22 publications

References 46 publications

Thermal niche predicts recent changes in range size for bird species

Thermal niche predicts recent changes in range size for bird species

Habitat selection of an endangered European farmland bird, the Ortolan BuntingEmberiza hortulana, in two contrasting landscapes: implications for management

Assessing the temporal transferability of raptor distribution models: Implications for conservation

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