Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in Pakistan
Evaluating the impact of future changes in land-use and climate on species communities, especially species richness, is one of the most important challenges of current research in ecology and conservation. The impact of environmental changes on species richness depends on its sensitivity (i.e., how...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PeerJ Inc.
2023-10-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/16212.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797411318431481856 |
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| author | Imran Khaliq Matthias Biber Diana E. Bowler Christian Hof |
| author_facet | Imran Khaliq Matthias Biber Diana E. Bowler Christian Hof |
| author_sort | Imran Khaliq |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Evaluating the impact of future changes in land-use and climate on species communities, especially species richness, is one of the most important challenges of current research in ecology and conservation. The impact of environmental changes on species richness depends on its sensitivity (i.e., how strongly a given level of change influences the ecological community) and its exposure (i.e., the amount of change that occurs). To examine the sensitivity, exposure, and potential impact of future environmental conditions on bird communities, we compiled data on bird species richness for Pakistan—a neglected region in macro- or country-scale studies. Since bird species richness strongly varies across seasons due to the seasonal occurrence of migratory species in winter, we compared both wintering (migratory plus resident species) and breeding (resident species only) bird richness. We found breeding and wintering species richness to be sensitive to temperature, precipitation and rainfed cropland by being positively related to these factors. Exposure varied regionally, with projected temperature changes being most profound in northern regions while the strongest projected precipitation changes occurred in central and southern regions. The projected impact of future environmental change were highly heterogeneous across the country and differed between the wintering and breeding communities. Overall, the most negatively impacted region was projected to be the Khyber Pakhtunkha province in the North of Pakistan, due to reductions in precipitation and rainfed cropland, resulting in a projected negative impact, especially on wintering species richness. By highlighting the regional and seasonal bird communities most at risk, our findings provide useful information for policy makers to help devise new policies for mitigating negative impacts of future environmental changes on birds within Pakistan. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:44:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cc8596617dd84db5a49281198f70634b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2167-8359 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T04:44:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-10-01 |
| publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PeerJ |
| spelling | doaj.art-cc8596617dd84db5a49281198f70634b2023-12-03T13:18:06ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592023-10-0111e1621210.7717/peerj.16212Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in PakistanImran Khaliq0Matthias Biber1Diana E. Bowler2Christian Hof3Department of Aquatic Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Dubendorf, Zurich, SwitzerlandTerrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department for Life Science Systems, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Munich, GermanyUK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology Maclean Building, Wallingford, Oxford, United KingdomTerrestrial Ecology Research Group, Department for Life Science Systems, School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Munich, GermanyEvaluating the impact of future changes in land-use and climate on species communities, especially species richness, is one of the most important challenges of current research in ecology and conservation. The impact of environmental changes on species richness depends on its sensitivity (i.e., how strongly a given level of change influences the ecological community) and its exposure (i.e., the amount of change that occurs). To examine the sensitivity, exposure, and potential impact of future environmental conditions on bird communities, we compiled data on bird species richness for Pakistan—a neglected region in macro- or country-scale studies. Since bird species richness strongly varies across seasons due to the seasonal occurrence of migratory species in winter, we compared both wintering (migratory plus resident species) and breeding (resident species only) bird richness. We found breeding and wintering species richness to be sensitive to temperature, precipitation and rainfed cropland by being positively related to these factors. Exposure varied regionally, with projected temperature changes being most profound in northern regions while the strongest projected precipitation changes occurred in central and southern regions. The projected impact of future environmental change were highly heterogeneous across the country and differed between the wintering and breeding communities. Overall, the most negatively impacted region was projected to be the Khyber Pakhtunkha province in the North of Pakistan, due to reductions in precipitation and rainfed cropland, resulting in a projected negative impact, especially on wintering species richness. By highlighting the regional and seasonal bird communities most at risk, our findings provide useful information for policy makers to help devise new policies for mitigating negative impacts of future environmental changes on birds within Pakistan.https://peerj.com/articles/16212.pdfSpecies richnessBirdsClimate changeLand-usePakistan |
| spellingShingle | Imran Khaliq Matthias Biber Diana E. Bowler Christian Hof Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in Pakistan PeerJ Species richness Birds Climate change Land-use Pakistan |
| title | Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in Pakistan |
| title_full | Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in Pakistan |
| title_fullStr | Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in Pakistan |
| title_full_unstemmed | Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in Pakistan |
| title_short | Global change impacts on bird biodiversity in South Asia: potential effects of future land-use and climate change on avian species richness in Pakistan |
| title_sort | global change impacts on bird biodiversity in south asia potential effects of future land use and climate change on avian species richness in pakistan |
| topic | Species richness Birds Climate change Land-use Pakistan |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/16212.pdf |
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