Functional habitat suitability and urban encroachment explain temporal and spatial variations in abundance of a declining farmland bird, the Little Bustard Tetrax tetrax
B. Arroyo, A. Estrada, F. Casas, Laura Cardador, M. De Cáceres, G. Bota, D. Giralt, L. Brotóns, F. Mougeot
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引用次数: 4
Abstract
. Species response to land use can be examined under a functional perspective, where habitats are described according to species´ resource dependencies. Distribution or abundance models based on resource availability rather than land use types can be more informative about the ultimate processes behind observed population or distribution trends. Habitat use may depend on resources available, as well as disturbances that affect accessibility to such resources. Increasing human presence and urban encroachment may thus alter the relationships between habitat suitability and species abundance. Using 10 years of field data, we investigated whether variability in Little Bustard ( Tetrax tetrax ) abundance was explained by functional habitat suitability (assessed through resource-based models) and urban encroachment. We found that spatial and temporal variations in Little Bustard abundance were explained by functional habitat suitability and avoidance of urban areas, but that the significance of each variable varied with spatial scale. Little Bustard abundance at each observation point significantly increased with local nesting but not foraging habitat suitability, and decreased with increasing proportion of urban areas. At larger spatial scales, temporal changes in Little Bustard abundance were highly significantly related to changes in foraging habitat suitability. Moreover, the positive relationship between foraging habitat suitability and Little Bustard abundance weakened as the proportion of urban areas increased, and almost disappeared when the proportion of urban areas was more than 5%. Our results underline the benefits of using resource-based models to better understand processes that relate animal abundance and habitat suitability, while simultaneously considering avoided elements of the landscape. 10 ans de données prises sur le terrain, nous avons cherché à savoir si la variabilité de l’abondance de l’Outarde canepetière ( Tetrax tetrax ) s’expliquait par l’adéquation fonctionnelle de l’habitat (évaluée par des modèles basés sur les ressources) et l’empiètement urbain. Nous avons constaté que les variations spatiales et temporelles de l’abondance de l’Outarde canepetière s’expliquaient par l’adéquation fonctionnelle de l’habitat et l’évitement des zones urbaines, mais que l’importance de chaque variable variait selon l’échelle spatiale. L’abondance de l’outarde à chaque point d’observation a augmenté significativement avec l’adéquation de l’habitat local pour la nidification mais pas pour l’alimentation, et a diminué avec la proportion croissante de zones urbaines. À des échelles spatiales plus grandes, les changements temporels de l’abondance de l’outarde étaient fortement liés aux changements de l’adéquation de l’habitat pour l’alimentation. De plus, la relation positive entre l’adéquation de l’habitat pour l’alimentation et l’abondance de l’outarde a diminué à mesure que la proportion de zones urbaines augmentait, et l’espèce était presque totalement absente lorsque la proportion de zones urbaines était supérieure à 5 %. Les présents résultats soulignent les avantages de l’utilisation de modèles fondés sur les ressources pour qu’on comprenne mieux les processus qui relient l’abondance des animaux et l’adéquation de l’habitat, tout en considérant simultanément les éléments du paysage qui sont évités.
期刊介绍:
Avian Conservation and Ecology is an open-access, fully electronic scientific journal, sponsored by the Society of Canadian Ornithologists and Birds Canada. We publish papers that are scientifically rigorous and relevant to the bird conservation community in a cost-effective electronic approach that makes them freely available to scientists and the public in real-time. ACE is a fully indexed ISSN journal that welcomes contributions from scientists all over the world.
While the name of the journal implies a publication niche of conservation AND ecology, we think the theme of conservation THROUGH ecology provides a better sense of our purpose. As such, we are particularly interested in contributions that use a scientifically sound and rigorous approach to the achievement of avian conservation as revealed through insights into ecological principles and processes. Papers are expected to fall along a continuum of pure conservation and management at one end to more pure ecology at the other but our emphasis will be on those contributions with direct relevance to conservation objectives.