Changing densities of generalist species underlie apparent homogenization of UK bird communities

Generalist species are becoming increasingly dominant in European bird communities. This has been taken as evidence of biotic homogenization, whereby generalist ‘winners’ systematically replace specialist ‘losers’. We test this pattern by relating changes in the average specialization of UK bird communities to changes in the density of species with different degrees of habitat specialization. Although we find the expected decline in community specialization, this was driven by a combination of a strong increase in the density of the most generalist quartile of species and declines in the density of moderately generalist species. Contrary to expectation, specialist species increased slightly over the 18‐year study period but had little effect on the overall trend in community specialization. Our results indicate that the apparent homogenization of UK bird communities is not driven by the replacement of specialists by generalists, but instead by the changing fortunes of generalist species.     

Functional homogenization of bird communities along habitat gradients: accounting for niche multidimensionality

Aim To test whether functional homogenization of bird communities is promoted by anthropogenic landscape transformation, using specialization and habitat preference indices that account for the multidimensionality of niches. Location Catalonia, north‐east Iberian Peninsula. Methods We used data on bird species occurrences and landscape features in 2834 1‐km² squares. Three orthogonal landscape gradients, which were taken as niche dimensions, were defined by means of principal components analysis (PCA). Specialization and habitat preference indices were created for 103 terrestrial bird species on the basis of their frequency of occurrence variation along the landscape gradients. These indices, together with species rarity, were then averaged for bird communities. We then analysed the patterns of variation of communities’ mean specialization, mean rarity and mean habitat preference values along a gradient of agricultural–forest habitat mosaics. Results Wherever we found a significant variation in the degree of specialization along the agricultural–forest gradient, agricultural habitats held more specialized bird communities than did forest ones and bore, on average, rarer species. Thus, results contradicted our initial hypothesis that humanized areas would bear more functionally homogenized bird communities. Higher α‐diversity values tended to be associated with generalist communities and with those having rarer species. Main conclusions Estimations of bird community specialization for different niche dimensions can behave differently along certain landscape gradients, and some of these differences can be explained by the variation of mean habitat preferences. Thus, we argue that a multidimensional approach to assess average niche breadth of communities can be more informative than a unidimensional measure. Our results suggest that widespread land abandonment and current secondary forest expansion throughout the Mediterranean area are promoting functional homogenization of bird communities. It would be desirable to construct larger‐scale indicators of functional homogenization in order to monitor communities’ responses to widespread landscape changes.     

Habitat quality is more important than matrix quality for bird communities in protected areas

Protected areas are meant to preserve native local communities within their boundaries, but they are not independent from their surroundings. Impoverished habitat quality in the matrix might influence the species composition within the protected areas through biotic homogenization. The aim of this study was to determine the impacts of matrix quality on species richness and trait composition of bird communities from the Finnish reserve area network and whether the communities are being subject of biotic homogenization due to the lowered quality of the landscape matrix. We used joint species distribution modeling to study how characteristics of the Finnish forest reserves and the quality of their surrounding matrix alter species and trait compositions of forest birds. The proportion of old forest within the reserves was the main factor in explaining the bird community composition, and the bird communities within the reserves did not strongly depend on the quality of the matrix. Yet, in line with the homogenization theory, the beta‐diversity within reserves embedded in low‐quality matrix was lower than that in high‐quality matrix, and the average abundance of regionally abundant species was higher. Influence of habitat quality on bird community composition was largely explained by the species' functional traits. Most importantly, the community specialization index was low, and average body size was high in areas with low proportion of old forest. We conclude that for conserving local bird communities in northern Finnish protected forests, it is currently more important to improve or maintain habitat quality within the reserves than in the surrounding matrix. Nevertheless, we found signals of bird community homogenization, and thus, activities that decrease the quality of the matrix are a threat for bird communities.     

Forest edges have high conservation value for bird communities in mosaic landscapes

A major conservation challenge in mosaic landscapes is to understand how trait‐specific responses to habitat edges affect bird communities, including potential cascading effects on bird functions providing ecosystem services to forests, such as pest control. Here, we examined how bird species richness, abundance and community composition varied from interior forest habitats and their edges into adjacent open habitats, within a multi‐regional sampling scheme. We further analyzed variations in Conservation Value Index (CVI), Community Specialization Index (CSI) and functional traits across the forest‐edge‐open habitat gradient. Bird species richness, total abundance and CVI were significantly higher at forest edges while CSI peaked at interior open habitats, i.e., furthest from forest edge. In addition, there were important variations in trait‐ and species‐specific responses to forest edges among bird communities. Positive responses to forest edges were found for several forest bird species with unfavorable conservation status. These species were in general insectivores, understorey gleaners, cavity nesters and long‐distance migrants, all traits that displayed higher abundance at forest edges than in forest interiors or adjacent open habitats. Furthermore, consistently with predictions, negative edge effects were recorded in some forest specialist birds and in most open‐habitat birds, showing increasing densities from edges to interior habitats. We thus suggest that increasing landscape‐scale habitat complexity would be beneficial to declining species living in mosaic landscapes combining small woodlands and open habitats. Edge effects between forests and adjacent open habitats may also favor bird functional guilds providing valuable ecosystem services to forests in longstanding fragmented landscapes.     

Pattern and process of biotic homogenization in the New Pangaea

Human activities have reorganized the earth''s biota resulting in spatially disparate locales becoming more or less similar in species composition over time through the processes of biotic homogenization and biotic differentiation, respectively. Despite mounting evidence suggesting that this process may be widespread in both aquatic and terrestrial systems, past studies have predominantly focused on single taxonomic groups at a single spatial scale. Furthermore, change in pairwise similarity is itself dependent on two distinct processes, spatial turnover in species composition and changes in gradients of species richness. Most past research has failed to disentangle the effect of these two mechanisms on homogenization patterns. Here, we use recent statistical advances and collate a global database of homogenization studies (20 studies, 50 datasets) to provide the first global investigation of the homogenization process across major faunal and floral groups and elucidate the relative role of changes in species richness and turnover. We found evidence of homogenization (change in similarity ranging from −0.02 to 0.09) across nearly all taxonomic groups, spatial extent and grain sizes. Partitioning of change in pairwise similarity shows that overall change in community similarity is driven by changes in species richness. Our results show that biotic homogenization is truly a global phenomenon and put into question many of the ecological mechanisms invoked in previous studies to explain patterns of homogenization.     

More and more generalists: two decades of changes in the European avifauna

Biotic homogenization (BH) is a process whereby some species (losers) are systematically replaced by others (winners). While this process has been related to the effects of anthropogenic activities, whether and how BH is occurring across regions and the role of native species as a driver of BH has hardly been investigated. Here, we examine the trend in the community specialization index (CSI) for 234 native species of breeding birds at 10 111 sites in six European countries from 1990 to 2008. Unlike many BH studies, CSI uses abundance information to estimate the balance between generalist and specialist species in local assemblages. We show that bird communities are more and more composed of native generalist species across regions, revealing a strong, ongoing BH process. Our result suggests a rapid and non-random change in community composition at a continental scale is occurring, most likely driven by anthropogenic activities.     

雾网在森林鸟类群落研究中的应用

雾网应用于森林鸟类群落生态学研究已有20多年的历史,用雾网研究森林中行动隐蔽、少鸣唱、没有领域的鸟类,特别是森林林下鸟类十分有效．该方法不受研究者经验的影响,可以对不同地区、不同群落进行比较研究．国外学者认为雾网是研究森林鸟类群落必不可少的研究工具．文中着重介绍了雾网的优缺点及其在森林鸟类群落研究中的应用,以期推动我国相关学科的研究．     

长江师范学院校园夏季鸟类群落与多样性分析

2008年3～7月采用样线法对长江师范学院李渡校园鸟类组成和种群数量进行了调查,共记录鸟类6目21科28种,数量1633只,物种多样性指数为3．9204,均匀性指数为1．1765,其中国家“三有”名录鸟类25种,CITES名录鸟类1种。鸟类区系以东洋界成分为主。对不同生境鸟类多样性的分析结果表明：（1）乔灌林鸟类多样性指数和均匀性指数最高,水域鸟类多样性指数最低,建筑区均匀性指数最低;（2）乔灌林与竹林的相似性指数最高,竹林与水域的相似性最低。     

内蒙古草原繁殖鸟类群聚组成之比较

利用 5月份温带草原鸟类繁殖期 ,在荒漠草原、草原、湿地、沙地和山地等植被 ,选取 1 1个面积 1 0 0 hm2 ( 50 0 m×2 0 0 0 m)同样大小的样区 ,由 3人各隔 1 50 m作平行的穿越线调查 ,并记录所见鸟类的种类与数量。同时 ,也在每一样区任取面积 1 m2 之植被样方 ,记载样方内植物的种类、垂直高度、覆盖度和植物鲜重。调查结果显示草原繁殖鸟类的种类不多 ,在无树的荒漠草原植被是 4～ 6种 ,草原植被在 5～ 8种之间 ,湿地植被 1 5种 ;在有树的沙地植被是 9～ 1 2种 ,山地植被 6种。鸟种多样性和丰富度指数不大 ,由大而小依序是沙地植被、湿地植被、山地植被、草原植被、荒漠草原植被 ;密度也不高 ,由大而小依序是无树草原的湿地植被、草原植被、荒漠草原植被 ,而后是有树草原的沙地植被、山地植被。鸟类食性分布方面 ,荒漠草原和草原植被以食杂性鸟类为优势 ;湿地植被以食虫性鸟类为多 ;沙地植被以食杂与食肉性鸟类为胜 ;山地植被以食虫和食杂性鸟类较多 ,并增加一些食肉性鸟类。     

Rise of the generalists: evidence for climate driven homogenization in avian communities

Aims Biogeographical evidence suggests a strong link between climate and patterns of species diversity, and climate change is known to cause range shifts. However, there is little understanding of how shifts affect community composition and we lack empirical evidence of recent impacts of climate change on the diversity of vertebrates. Using a long‐term comprehensive dataset on bird abundance, we explore recent patterns of change in different components of species diversity and avian communities, and postulate a process to explain the observed changes in diversity and specialization. Location Britain. Methods We used Breeding Bird Survey data for Britain from 1994 to 2006 to calculate site‐specific diversity and community specialization indices. We modelled these indices using generalized additive models to examine the relationship between local climate and spatial and temporal trends in community metrics and the relationship between changes in diversity and specialization. Results Local temperature was positively associated with alpha diversity, which increased over the study period, supporting empirical and theoretical predictions of the effect of climate warming. Diversity increased in all habitats, but the rate of increase was greatest in upland areas. However, temperature was negatively associated with community specialization indices, which declined over the same period. Our modelling revealed a nonlinear relationship between community specialization and species diversity. Main conclusions Our models of diversity and specialization provide stark empirical evidence for a link between warming climate and community homogenization. Over a 13‐year period of warming temperatures, diversity indices increased while average community specialization decreased. We suggest that the observed diversity increases were most likely driven by range expansion of generalist species and that future warming is likely to increase homogenization of community structure. When assessed in combination, diversity and specialization measures provide a powerful index for monitoring the impacts of climate change.     

Low‐head dams induce biotic homogenization/differentiation of fish assemblages in subtropical streams

Extensive distribution of widespread species and the loss of native species driven by anthropogenic disturbances modify community similarity, resulting in a decrease or increase in community distinctiveness. Data from four basins in the Wannan Mountains, China, were used to evaluate the effects of low‐head dams on patterns of fish faunal homogenization and differentiation based on abundance data. We aimed to examine the spatial changes in taxonomic and functional similarities of fish assemblages driven by low‐head dams and to examine whether the changes in the similarity of fish assemblages differed between taxonomic and functional components. We found that low‐head dams significantly decreased the mean taxonomic similarity but increased the mean functional similarity of fish assemblages in impoundments using abundance‐based approaches, suggesting that taxonomic differentiation accompanied functional homogenization in stream fish assemblages. These results show the importance of population abundance in structuring fish faunal homogenization and differentiation at small scales, especially when the major differences among assemblages are in species abundance ranks rather than species identities. Additionally, we also found only a weak positive correlation between changes in mean taxonomic and functional similarities, and partial pairs exhibited considerable variation in patterns of fish faunal homogenization and differentiation for taxonomic and functional components. In conclusion, this study highlighted that the observed taxonomic differentiation of current fish assemblages (short‐term phenomenon) is probably an early warning sign of further homogenization in regions where native species are completely predominated and that changes in taxonomic similarity cannot be used to predict changes in functional similarity.     

破碎化次生林斑块面积及栖息地质量对繁殖鸟类群落结构的影响

于1998～2000年夏季。运用GPS定位系统确定了12块面积范围为6．5～112．8hm。的彼此隔离的森林斑块。比较了斑块面积和栖息地质量对繁殖鸟类群落结构的影响。结果表明：不同面积斑块中繁殖鸟类的群落结构有所差异。各斑块所容纳的繁殖鸟类的物种数从4种到26种不等。鸟类物种数随着斑块面积的增大而增多。不同鸟类对斑块面积的反应并不相同,耐边缘种偏爱面积较小的斑块。而非边缘种偏爱在大面积的斑块中繁殖。斑块栖息地质量也是影响鸟类群落结构的重要因素,质量好的斑块包容的鸟类物种较多。鸟类物种丰富度与斑块质量的相关性(R2=0．67)小于与斑块面积的相关性(R2=0．88)。各斑块中的鸟类群落结构在不同年份间比较相似。栖息地破碎化不但缩小了栖息地面积。同时也不同程度地降低了栖息地的质量。从而消极地影响着鸟类群落结构的稳定性和鸟类的物种多样性。     

样线法和网捕法在机场鸟情调查中的应用比较

鸟击事件主要发生在机场范围内,对机场周边生境的鸟类组成进行调查,是制定鸟击防范对策的重要前提。国内多数机场已经开展了相关的鸟类组成调查,但是选用的调查方法却存在较大差异。以样线法和网捕法两种常用的调查方法对沈阳桃仙国际机场周边的迁徙期鸟类进行了研究,旨在比较两种调查方法在机场鸟类群落组成调查中的效果及调查的鸟类群落组成差异。结果表明：两种方法均适合机场鸟类调研,共记录到鸟类97种,网捕法记录的鸟类种数(83种vs. 57种)高于样线法,网捕法单独记录的鸟类种数(40种vs. 14种)也高于样线法。尽管两种方法每期(半个月)调查的物种数和目的数量无明显差别,但随调查强度(如调查次数)增加,网捕法累计记录到的鸟类种类明显高于样线法,且较晚达到渐近线。另外,两种方法调查记录的鸟类群落组成也具有显著的差别,如网捕法记录到较多鹌鹑和鸮形目等夜间迁徙或活动鸟类,而样线法可记录到鹭科和雁鸭类水鸟等。这说明两种调研方法在鸟类调查中有较好的互补性。因此,本研究认为机场鸟情调研时应该根据鸟情特点,选择合适的鸟类调研方法,综合采用多种调研方法可更有利于获得科学的鸟情信息。     

盐城自然保护区新洋港河口不同生境冬季鸟类群落组成及其梯度变化

沿海湿地是鸟类重要的栖息地,人类活动导致的湿地生境变化对鸟类群落造成了一定的影响。在盐城自然保护区新洋港河口内,人类活动大体上导致了由陆向海方向,形成芦苇沼泽、农田、鱼塘和滩涂4种不同干扰程度的生境。分别在不同生境中设置3条长3 km的样线,对越冬鸟类的种类、数量进行了调查,运用多响应置换过程测试、指示种分析、双向聚类分析和除趋势对应分析等统计方法,研究了不同生境中冬季鸟类的指示物种、群落结构及梯度变化,结果表明:1)4种生境共记录鸟类67种,其中鱼塘生境的鸟类种类最多,为37种;滩涂生境的D'多样性指数在各生境不同时段中为最高,芦苇沼泽生境的H'多样性指数在各生境不同时段中为最高。与其余生境比较,芦苇沼泽、滩涂的均匀度也更高。生境间的差异性与鸟类群落的组成有关。2)MRPP分析表明,芦苇沼泽、农田生境的鸟类组成差异不显著(P0.05);其余组合各生境间的鸟类组成具有显著差异。灰鹤等9种鸟类可分别作为4种不同生境的指示种。3)双向聚类分析法把12种观测条件分为4大类,与生境划分非常吻合。在剩余信息40%水平上,鸟类可聚为7类。利用12种观测条件作为变量进行DCA排序的结果表明,鸟类类群在轴1上可以分为3个集群,分别为适应开阔水域环境的鸟类、依赖水生植被环境的鸟类和依赖陆地植被环境的鸟类。根据结果分析,生境异质性、干扰程度及潮水涨落等与鸟类多样性组成有密切关系;不同生境具有明显的指示种;鸟类群落结构为适应生境变化而出现一定的梯度变化。应加强芦苇沼泽的保护,在开垦农田、鱼塘和在光滩引入互花米草时应考虑到人类活动对鸟类多样性的影响。