Avian species richness and abundance at Lake Constance: diverging long-term trends in Passerines and Nonpasserines |
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Authors: | Hans-Günther Bauer Nicole Lemoine and Markus Peintinger |
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Institution: | (1) Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Max-Planck-Institute for Ornithology, Schlossallee 2, 78315 Radolfzell, Germany;(2) Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bodensee (OAB), Beyerlestr. 22, 78464 Konstanz, Germany;(3) Dech.-Kamper-Str. 26, 52538 Selfkant, Germany;(4) Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstr. 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland |
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Abstract: | In Central Europe, massive losses in species richness of breeding birds have been documented in the last decades, but the
question arises whether species richness is currently still decreasing or again increasing due to conservation efforts. In
this study, we investigated regional and local species richness as well as mean number of breeding pairs and mean biomass
per tetrad over a period of some 20 years at Lake Constance. Three quantitative censuses of 303 tetrads (2 × 2 km2) repeated at 10-year intervals (1980–1981, 1990–1992, 2000–2002) revealed an increase in regional species richness (total
number of breeding species). At the same time, however, a strong decline in local species richness (number of breeding species
per tetrad), number of breeding pairs, and estimated biomass were observed. Changes of species richness differed markedly
between Nonpasserine and Passerine birds. Whereas species richness of Nonpasserines remained constant from 1980 to 1990, and
even increased between 1990 and 2000, that of Passerines decreased in both periods. This indicates that effects of conservation
efforts apparently eclipse more general effects of climate and habitat change in Nonpasserines. The massive abundance and
biomass losses observed in formerly common Passerine species are not compensated by gains in populations of Nonpasserine species.
The results of the three bird censuses at Lake Constance imply that ongoing habitat degradation and human impacts as well
as increasing effects of climate change are the main drivers of the observed population changes. |
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Keywords: | Breeding birds Biodiversity Central Europe Monitoring |
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