Rapid elevational shifts of Switzerland's avifauna and associated species traits
Abstract Global change in climate and land use has profound effects on species' geographic and elevational distributions. In European birds, while species are predicted to track their climatic niches upslope, lowland agricultural intensification and high‐elevation land abandonment can drive ele...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Ecosphere |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4194 |
| _version_ | 1811183156942864384 |
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| author | Tyler A. Hallman Jérôme Guélat Sylvain Antoniazza Marc Kéry Thomas Sattler |
| author_facet | Tyler A. Hallman Jérôme Guélat Sylvain Antoniazza Marc Kéry Thomas Sattler |
| author_sort | Tyler A. Hallman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Global change in climate and land use has profound effects on species' geographic and elevational distributions. In European birds, while species are predicted to track their climatic niches upslope, lowland agricultural intensification and high‐elevation land abandonment can drive elevational shifts. Species traits that can predict response to change in climate and land use can inform conservation, but a thorough examination of their relationships with elevational shifts in European birds is lacking. We estimate the change in the elevational distributions of 71 species from 1996 to 2016 in a region of the western Palearctic with wide elevational gradients (approximately 3000 m) and large changes in temperature. We model the relationships between elevational shifts and species traits associated with resource preference and adaptive capacity at five reference points including the cool edge, warm edge, and the core of species' elevational distributions. When intermediate reference points were removed, changes to the results were negligible, indicating that three reference points are likely sufficient. We found significant upslope and downslope shifts in 56% and 23% of our study species, respectively. Asymmetric rates of shifts in the cool and warm edges caused significant contractions in elevational extent in 30% of our study species. The effect of elevational preference (i.e., midpoint elevation) was habitat dependent. Movement in alpine birds was unidirectionally upslope, with nearly half displaying significant or apparent elevational range contractions. In woodland birds, asymmetries of shifts in reference points led to expansions in extent in low‐elevation species and contractions in high‐elevation species. Generally, migrants, species with smaller mass, smaller relative brain size, smaller hand‐wing index, and generalists in diet, habitat, and elevation had greater upslope shifts. While elevational shifts in European birds were heterogenous and species‐specific, many were rapid, and species traits associated with resource preference and adaptive capacity were associated with common patterns of elevation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:43:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-67aaf8edadb3488c84f58512a5437226 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2150-8925 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T09:43:06Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecosphere |
| spelling | doaj.art-67aaf8edadb3488c84f58512a54372262022-12-22T04:31:08ZengWileyEcosphere2150-89252022-08-01138n/an/a10.1002/ecs2.4194Rapid elevational shifts of Switzerland's avifauna and associated species traitsTyler A. Hallman0Jérôme Guélat1Sylvain Antoniazza2Marc Kéry3Thomas Sattler4Swiss Ornithological Institute Sempach SwitzerlandSwiss Ornithological Institute Sempach SwitzerlandSwiss Ornithological Institute Sempach SwitzerlandSwiss Ornithological Institute Sempach SwitzerlandSwiss Ornithological Institute Sempach SwitzerlandAbstract Global change in climate and land use has profound effects on species' geographic and elevational distributions. In European birds, while species are predicted to track their climatic niches upslope, lowland agricultural intensification and high‐elevation land abandonment can drive elevational shifts. Species traits that can predict response to change in climate and land use can inform conservation, but a thorough examination of their relationships with elevational shifts in European birds is lacking. We estimate the change in the elevational distributions of 71 species from 1996 to 2016 in a region of the western Palearctic with wide elevational gradients (approximately 3000 m) and large changes in temperature. We model the relationships between elevational shifts and species traits associated with resource preference and adaptive capacity at five reference points including the cool edge, warm edge, and the core of species' elevational distributions. When intermediate reference points were removed, changes to the results were negligible, indicating that three reference points are likely sufficient. We found significant upslope and downslope shifts in 56% and 23% of our study species, respectively. Asymmetric rates of shifts in the cool and warm edges caused significant contractions in elevational extent in 30% of our study species. The effect of elevational preference (i.e., midpoint elevation) was habitat dependent. Movement in alpine birds was unidirectionally upslope, with nearly half displaying significant or apparent elevational range contractions. In woodland birds, asymmetries of shifts in reference points led to expansions in extent in low‐elevation species and contractions in high‐elevation species. Generally, migrants, species with smaller mass, smaller relative brain size, smaller hand‐wing index, and generalists in diet, habitat, and elevation had greater upslope shifts. While elevational shifts in European birds were heterogenous and species‐specific, many were rapid, and species traits associated with resource preference and adaptive capacity were associated with common patterns of elevation.https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4194climate changeelevation shiftsfunctional traitsglobal changeland‐use changelife history |
| spellingShingle | Tyler A. Hallman Jérôme Guélat Sylvain Antoniazza Marc Kéry Thomas Sattler Rapid elevational shifts of Switzerland's avifauna and associated species traits Ecosphere climate change elevation shifts functional traits global change land‐use change life history |
| title | Rapid elevational shifts of Switzerland's avifauna and associated species traits |
| title_full | Rapid elevational shifts of Switzerland's avifauna and associated species traits |
| title_fullStr | Rapid elevational shifts of Switzerland's avifauna and associated species traits |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rapid elevational shifts of Switzerland's avifauna and associated species traits |
| title_short | Rapid elevational shifts of Switzerland's avifauna and associated species traits |
| title_sort | rapid elevational shifts of switzerland s avifauna and associated species traits |
| topic | climate change elevation shifts functional traits global change land‐use change life history |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4194 |
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