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Effects of urbanization on breeding birds in European towns: Impacts of species traits

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An Erratum to this article was published on 24 April 2015

Abstract

Urbanization acts as a filter on bird species behavioral traits so that only few species can tolerate urban constraints. We analyzed how behavioral traits (nesting, feeding, and migratory habits) of breeding bird species affect their frequency of occurrence in the urban centers of 38 European towns. We used binary logistic regression analysis to predict the bird species traits belonging to each trait group. A total of 108 species (21% of the European breeding bird species) were found to breed in the European town centers. According to our broad-scale analyses the bird species most frequently breeding in town centers nest in buildings and/or buildings have diverse diets, in trees (40%) and are resident omnivores, or relied on seeds or fruits as their sources of food. However, almost all bird species also fed on arthropods (92%) during the breeding season. Only a few urban bird species bred on the ground. Four out of the studied 108 species were non-native and five species were predators. Our broad-scale results from Europe indicate that bird species with different behavioral traits can respond differently to urbanization. Bird species that nest in cavities/buildings have diverse diets, that benefit a resident way-of-life, may have an advantage in living and settling in European town centers. Our results from Europe may provide insights related to the development of bird assemblages in the urban core areas of the New World.

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Acknowledgments

JJ and MLKJ were supported by the EU Regional Development Foundation for the project “Rovaniemen kaupunkilintuatlas” (A31026). We wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on the manuscript. In addition, we wish to thank Drs. G. Baeynes and A. Weiserbs for the data they provided for this manuscript. P.C.-R. acknowledges the scholarship by the Centre for International Mobility (CIMO). We also wish to thank Erkki Pekkinen, M.Sc.(for.), for checking the English of this manuscript.

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  1. J. Jokimäki

    Present address: Lapland University of Applied Sciences, Viirinkangas Campus, Viirinkankaantie 1, 96300, Rovaniemi, Finland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arctic Centre, University of Lapland, P.O.Box 122, FI-96101, Rovaniemi, Finland

    J. Jokimäki, M.-L. Jokimäki-Kaisanlahti & P. Carbó-Ramírez

  2. Department of Biology, Section of Ecology, University of Turku, FI-20014, Turku, Finland

    J. Suhonen

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  1. J. Jokimäki
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Correspondence to J. Jokimäki.

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An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11252-015-0451-y.

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Jokimäki, J., Suhonen, J., Jokimäki-Kaisanlahti, ML. et al. Effects of urbanization on breeding birds in European towns: Impacts of species traits. Urban Ecosyst 19, 1565–1577 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-014-0423-7

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