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Bird-habitat associations predict population trends in central European forest and farmland birds

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Abstract

Recent studies show differences in population trends between groups of species occupying different habitats. In Czech birds, as well as in many other European countries, populations of forest species have increased, whereas populations of farmland species have declined. The aim of our study was to test whether population trends of particular species were related to finer bird-habitat associations within farmland and forest birds. We assessed bird-habitat associations using canonical correspondence analysis based on data from a 400 km long transect across the Czech Republic. We calculated population trends of 62 bird species using log-linear models based on data from a large-scale annual monitoring scheme, which covers the time series from 1982 to 2005. Within forest birds, species with a closer association with lowland broad-leaved forest have had more positive population trends, whereas species with a closer association with montane and coniferous forest revealed more negative population trends. We attribute these opposite trends to the gradual replacement of coniferous forests by deciduous ones, which took place in the Czech Republic during recent decades. Our analyses revealed a hump-shaped relationship within farmland birds, species most closely associated with farmland habitat revealing the most negative trends, whereas species with intermediate association to farmland habitat showed the most positive population trends. Such a pattern can be explained by the abandonment of previously cultivated areas followed by the spread of unmanaged meadows and scrubland. Changes in quantity or quality of preferred habitats may thus represent major drivers of observed bird population changes.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank hundreds of volunteers who collected field data providing the material for calculation of population trends. J. Mourková and J. Cepák assisted in the transect bird counts. V. Zámečník, L. Šímová and M. Macková assisted in data management. We are grateful to D. Hořák, J. Mourková, O. Sedláček, A. L. Šizling and T. Telenský for discussions on this topic. Three anonymous referees kindly commented earlier versions of the manuscript. The study was partially supported by the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic (LC06073) and by the Grant Agency of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (IAA601970801). PV was supported by the European Commission and the RSPB.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vinicna 7, 128 44, Praha 2, Czech Republic

    Jiří Reif & David Storch

  2. Center for Theoretical Study, Charles University in Prague, Jilská 1, 110 00, Praha 1, Czech Republic

    David Storch

  3. Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring, Czech Society for Ornithology, Na Belidle 34, 150 00, Praha 5, Czech Republic

    Petr Voříšek

  4. Department of Ecology and Environment, Faculty Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamycka 1176, 165 21, Praha 6, Czech Republic

    Karel Šťastný & Vladimír Bejček

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  1. Jiří Reif
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  5. Vladimír Bejček
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Correspondence to Jiří Reif.

Appendix: List of abbreviations of scientific species names used in Fig. 2

Appendix: List of abbreviations of scientific species names used in Fig. 2

per per, Perdix perdix; pha col, Phasianus colchicus; van van, Vanellus vanellus; col oen, Columba oenas; col pal, Columba palumbus; str tur, Streptopelia turtur; cuc can, Cuculus canorus; jyn tor, Jynx torquilla; pic vir, Picus viridis; dry mar, Dryocopus martius; den maj, Dendrocopos major; den min, Dendrocopos minor; ala arv, Alauda arvensis; ant tri, Anthus trivialis; ant pra, Anthus pratensis; tro tro, Troglodytes troglodytes; pru mod, Prunella modularis; eri rub, Erithacus rubecula; lus meg, Luscinia megarhynchos; sax rub, Saxicola rubetra; oen oen, Oenanthe oenanthe; tur mer, Turdus merula; tur phi, Turdus philomelos; tur vis, Turdus viscivorus; acr pal, Acrocephalus palustris; syl com, Sylvia communis; syl atr, Sylvia atricapilla; phy sib, Phylloscopus sibilatrix; phy col, Phylloscopus collybita; phy tro, Phylloscopus trochilus; reg reg, Regulus regulus; reg ign, Regulus ignicapillus; mus str, Muscicapa striata; fic alb, Ficedula albicollis; aeg cau, Aegithalos caudatus; par pal, Parus palustris; par mon, Parus montanus; par cri, Parus cristatus; par ate, Parus ater; par cae, Parus caeruleus; par maj, Parus major; sit eur, Sitta europea; cer fam, Certhia familiaris; cer bra, Certhia brachydactyla; ori ori, Oriolus oriolus; lan col, Lanius collurio; gar gla, Garrulus glandarius; pic pic, Pica pica; cor coro, Corvus corone; stu vul, Sturnus vulgaris; pas mon, Passer montanus; fri coe, Fringilla coelebs; car spi, Carduelis spinus; lox cur, Loxia curvirostra; pyr pyr, Pyrrhula pyrrhula; coc coc, Coccothraustes coccothraustes; emb cit, Emberiza citrinella.

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Reif, J., Storch, D., Voříšek, P. et al. Bird-habitat associations predict population trends in central European forest and farmland birds. Biodivers Conserv 17, 3307–3319 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9430-4

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