The homogenizing influence of agriculture on forest bird communities at landscape scales

Endenburg, Sarah; Mitchell, Greg W.; Kirby, Patrick; Fahrig, Lenore; Pasher, Jon; Wilson, Scott

doi:10.1007/s10980-019-00895-8

Cited by 35 publications

(40 citation statements)

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“…We determined the total number of 30 * 30 m pixels for each land cover class within the 1km buffer and converted these to proportions based on the total number of pixels in each landscape. While we have previously summarized land cover at larger 3km and 5km spatial scales, the results of earlier analyses examining the response of alpha and beta diversity to land cover amounts are very similar regardless of the scale used (Endenburg et al 2019). We added the proportions of cropland (including cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables) and pasture to determine the total proportion of agricultural land within the landscape around each transect.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…A higher proportion of species in forest will be adapted to wooded environments and agriculture likely affects these species at both spatial scales. In other words, expanding agriculture initially filters out woodland species that do not tolerate the conversion to a semi-open landscape and of those species that do tolerate greater openness, only a subset use agricultural land covers or adjacent field edge habitats like hedge rows at finer scales (Endenburg et al 2019). In contrast, the general openness of agricultural landscapes in prairie differs less from that of the native ecosystem (i.e., greater similarity) and thus the effect on species diversity may be determined primarily by the extent to which species are influenced by local tolerance to agricultural land covers rather than landscape characteristics (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Along one axis is the extent to which agricultural land replaces natural land covers (‘extensification’ axis). The negative impacts of extensification across taxa are well recognized globally and include effects such as declines in species diversity and/or abundance (Tilman 1999, Donald et al 2001), community homogenization (Ekroos et al 2010, Karp et al 2012, Endenburg et al 2019) and the loss of ecosystem services (Kremen et al 2002). Along the other axis is the similarity of the agricultural production system to the natural ecosystem into which agriculture expanded (‘similarity’ axis).…”

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Extent of similarity between agricultural and natural land covers shapes how biodiversity responds to agricultural expansion at landscape scales

Wilson

Alavi-Shoushtari

Pouliot

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The impact of agriculture on biodiversity depends on the extent and types of 23 agriculture and the degree to which agricultural land contrasts with the natural ecosystem. Most 24 research on the latter comes from studies on the influence of different agricultural types within a 25 single ecosystem with far less study on how the natural ecosystem context shapes the response of 26 biodiversity to agricultural production. We used citizen science data from agricultural areas in 27 Canada's Eastern Hardwood-Boreal (forest ecosystem, n=108 landscapes) and Prairie Pothole 28 (prairie ecosystem, n=99) regions to examine how ecosystem context shapes the response of 29 avian species diversity, functional diversity and abundance to the amount of arable crop and 30 pastoral agriculture at landscape scales. Avian surveys were conducted along 8km transects of 31 Breeding Bird Survey routes with land cover assembled within a 20km 2 landscape around each 32 transect. The amount of agriculture at which species diversity peaked differed between the forest 33 (15%) and prairie (51%) ecosystems, indicating that fewer species tolerated the expansion of 34 agriculture in the former. In both ecosystems, functional diversity initially increased with 35 agriculture and peaked at higher amounts (forest: 42%, prairie: 77%) than species diversity 36 suggesting that functional redundancy was lost first as agriculture increased. Species turnover 37 with increasing agriculture was primarily among functional groups in forest where a shift from a 38 low to a high agriculture landscape led to a decline in the percent of the community represented 39 by Neotropical migrants, insectivores, upper foliage gleaners and bark foragers, and an increase 40 in the percent of the community represented by short-distance migrants, granivores, omnivores 41 and ground gleaners. There were few distinct shifts in the percent of the community represented 42 by different functional groups in the prairie ecosystem. Total abundance was the least sensitive 43 measure examined in both ecosystems and indicated that species losses with agriculture are 44 likely followed by numerical compensation from agriculture tolerant species. Our results 45 3 highlight the importance of ecosystem context for understanding how biodiversity is affected by 46 agricultural production with declines in diversity occurring at lower agricultural extents in 47 ecosystems with lower similarity between natural and agricultural land covers. These findings 48 allow for more specific conservation recommendations including managing for species intolerant 49 to agriculture in prairie ecosystems and limiting the expansion of high contrast agriculture and 50 the loss of semi-natural habitat, such as hedge rows, in historically forested ecosystems.51 52

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Extent of similarity between agricultural and natural land covers shapes how biodiversity responds to agricultural expansion at landscape scales

Wilson

Alavi-Shoushtari

Pouliot

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Thus, forest birds are not interacting directly with cropland, but rather adjusting to the loss of forest habitat. A previous study in the region showed that agricultural expansion results in a homogenization of the forest bird community mainly due to the decline of Neotropical migrant foliage-gleaning insectivores (Endenburg et al 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These species benefit from the openness of agriculture as long as suitable shrub and edge habitat are present in the landscape (Wilson et al 2017). For forest birds, the openness created by agricultural expansion into forested areas results in a loss of habitat and a decline in species diversity (Endenburg et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Direct and Indirect Effects of Agricultural Land Cover on Bird Species Richness

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Agriculture is one of the largest threats to global biodiversity including to birds. But we know little about whether the effects of agriculture on birds are mainly direct through farming operations, or indirect through effects on natural habitats. We sampled birds at 127 sites in eastern Ontario Canada. We used structural equation modelling (SEM) to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of agriculture on species richness of three bird guilds: forest birds, shrubedge birds, and grassland birds. We found that forest bird richness was driven by the negative indirect effect of cropland via habitat loss. Shrub-edge and grassland bird richness increased with the amount of agriculture, despite negative indirect effects. Management efforts for bird diversity in agricultural landscapes should focus on preserving grassland and forest habitat including forest edges, while managing agricultural land, for instance, by selecting perennial crops and low impact agricultural activities. from both of you. I would like to thank Julia Put from Carleton University and Christine Eberl, Dr. Gregory Mitchell, and Dr. Scott Wilson at the National Wildlife Research Center for their assistance preparing for and conducting field work. Thanks also to Kevin Hannah at Environment and Climate Change Canada for providing field equipment and funding for an expert to identify the bird species from the survey data. I would also like to thank Lindsay Daly, Adrianne Hajdasz, and Joe Gabriel from the Geomatics and Landscape Ecology Lab (GLEL) for sharing their methods for corridor connectivity. This project would not have been possible without the funding and support provided by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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Community modeling reveals the importance of elevation and land cover in shaping migratory bird abundance in the Andes

Arias

Wilson

Bayly

2021

Ecological Applications

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The tropical Andes are characterized by extreme topographic and climatic complexity, which has likely contributed to their outstanding current species diversity, composed of many range‐restricted species. However, little is known about how the distribution and abundance of highly mobile organisms, like long‐distance migratory birds, varies across different land covers, elevations, and climatic conditions within the Andes. We conducted 1,606 distance‐sampling point counts across the Colombian Andes, spanning elevations from 253 to 3,708 m, a range of precipitation regimes and representative land covers. We then employed a novel application of a multispecies hierarchical modeling approach to evaluate how elevation, local land cover, aboveground woody biomass, cloud cover, precipitation, and seasonality in precipitation shape the abundance of the migratory land bird community in the Andes. We detected 1,824 individuals of 29 species of migratory land birds, six of which were considered incidental in our study region. We modeled the abundance of the remaining 23 species, while considering observer and time of day effects on detectability. We found that both elevation and land cover had an overriding influence on the abundance of migratory species across the Andes, with strong evidence for a mid‐elevation peak in abundance, and species‐specific responses to both variables. As a community, migratory birds had the highest mean abundance in shade coffee plantations, secondary forest, and mature forest. Aboveground woody biomass did not affect the abundance of all species as a group, but a few showed strong responses to this variable. Contrary to predictions of a positive correlation between abundance and precipitation, we found no evidence for community‐level responses to precipitation, aside for a weak tendency for birds to select areas with intermediate levels of precipitation. This novel use of a multispecies model sheds new light on the mechanisms shaping the winter distribution of migratory birds and highlights the importance of elevation and land cover types over climatic variables in the context of the Colombian Andes.

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The homogenizing influence of agriculture on forest bird communities at landscape scales

Cited by 35 publications

References 50 publications

Extent of similarity between agricultural and natural land covers shapes how biodiversity responds to agricultural expansion at landscape scales

Extent of similarity between agricultural and natural land covers shapes how biodiversity responds to agricultural expansion at landscape scales

Direct and Indirect Effects of Agricultural Land Cover on Bird Species Richness

Community modeling reveals the importance of elevation and land cover in shaping migratory bird abundance in the Andes

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