Spatiotemporal Bird Distribution and Conservation

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity Conservation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 March 2023) | Viewed by 15715

Special Issue Editor

The Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Interests: bird migration; biodiversity conservation; spatial ecology; spatial epidemiology; environmental science; global change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the forthcoming Special Issue of Diversity, focused on spatiotemporal bird distribution and conservation.

Birds are widely recognized as indicators of ecosystem health, because of their sensitivity to environmental changes and the diverse ecological functions provided by their movements. They are highly mobile vertebrates that often depend on networks of sites to survive. A large proportion of birds migrate across expansive regions, seasonally occupying different sites to complete their annual life cycle. Therefore, effective bird conservation requires an understanding of the spatiotemporal distributions of birds, which is associated with a variety of factors, including climatic conditions, habitat quality, resource availability, human activities, and physiological traits, among others. Changes in these factors under climate and land use changes can influence bird distributions and population dynamics, and subsequently affect the ecosystem services they provide. This Special Issue welcomes new and original understandings of relevant topics, namely spatiotemporal bird distribution patterns, relevant ecosystem functions, the causes or consequences/impacts of bird distributional changes, and implications for avian conservation.

We invite you to submit a manuscript on any of the above topics. Both large-scale and/or multi-specific studies and in-depth, fine-resolution case studies with broad implications are welcome. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have questions or are interested in contributing to this Special Issue.

Dr. Yanjie Xu
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bird movement
  • species distribution
  • migration phenology
  • range shift
  • wildlife conservation
  • climate change
  • habitat loss
  • human disturbance

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 4216 KiB  
Article
Potential Effects of Habitat Change on Migratory Bird Movements and Avian Influenza Transmission in the East Asian-Australasian Flyway
by John Y. Takekawa, Diann J. Prosser, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Shenglai Yin, Xinxin Wang, Geli Zhang and Xiangming Xiao
Diversity 2023, 15(5), 601; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15050601 - 28 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2015
Abstract
Wild waterbirds, and especially wild waterfowl, are considered to be a reservoir for avian influenza viruses, with transmission likely occurring at the agricultural-wildlife interface. In the past few decades, avian influenza has repeatedly emerged in China along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), where [...] Read more.
Wild waterbirds, and especially wild waterfowl, are considered to be a reservoir for avian influenza viruses, with transmission likely occurring at the agricultural-wildlife interface. In the past few decades, avian influenza has repeatedly emerged in China along the East Asian-Australasian Flyway (EAAF), where extensive habitat conversion has occurred. Rapid environmental changes in the EAAF, especially distributional changes in rice paddy agriculture, have the potential to affect both the movements of wild migratory birds and the likelihood of spillover at the agricultural-wildlife interface. To begin to understand the potential implications such changes may have on waterfowl and disease transmission risk, we created dynamic Brownian Bridge Movement Models (dBBMM) based on waterfowl telemetry data. We used these dBBMM models to create hypothetical scenarios that would predict likely changes in waterfowl distribution relative to recent changes in rice distribution quantified through remote sensing. Our models examined a range of responses in which increased availability of rice paddies would drive increased use by waterfowl and decreased availability would result in decreased use, predicted from empirical data. Results from our scenarios suggested that in southeast China, relatively small decreases in rice agriculture could lead to dramatic loss of stopover habitat, and in northeast China, increases in rice paddies should provide new areas that can be used by waterfowl. Finally, we explored the implications of how such scenarios of changing waterfowl distribution may affect the potential for avian influenza transmission. Our results provide advance understanding of changing disease transmission threats by incorporating real-world data that predicts differences in habitat utilization by migratory birds over time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatiotemporal Bird Distribution and Conservation)
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17 pages, 3241 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Population Trends and Diversity Shifts among Shorebirds: A Predictor of Biodiversity Loss along the Arabian Gulf Coasts
by H. Shamna, K. A. Rubeena, Humood A. Naser, T. R. Athira, Ajay Kumar Singh, Ali H. Almusabeh, Stamatis Zogaris, Omar F. Al-Sheikhly, Yanjie Xu, Aymen Nefla, Durga Rao Gijjappu, Sabir Bin Muzaffar and K. M. Aarif
Diversity 2023, 15(3), 468; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030468 - 22 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1929
Abstract
Bahrain is a cluster of islands in the mid-section of the Arabian Gulf that serves as an important wintering and stop-over ground for many migratory shorebirds in the Central Asian Flyway (CAF). However, natural and anthropogenic factors have had a significant impact on [...] Read more.
Bahrain is a cluster of islands in the mid-section of the Arabian Gulf that serves as an important wintering and stop-over ground for many migratory shorebirds in the Central Asian Flyway (CAF). However, natural and anthropogenic factors have had a significant impact on these ecosystems over the last few decades. Long-term, systematic studies based on standardized survey observations are needed to understand the population dynamics and diversity changes of shorebirds in these critical sites. We systematically surveyed the shorebird population and community in Bahrain between 2010 January to 2021 December. This is the first comprehensive study from the entire Kingdom of Bahrain, and covered 13 sites over 12 years to establish the results. A total of 39 species were encountered during the study period from all 13 sites in Bahrain, of which 27 species were common and regular migrants to all the study sites; these were selected to analyze the population trend. Five species represented 77% or more of the total wintering shorebird population. All the shorebird species assessed exhibited significant declining trends over the years, and majority of them had over 1% relative abundance. Shorebirds in Bahrain were severely threatened at these sites, indicating that their population trend in the area could be crucially affected. Further conservation efforts are needed, aided by an understanding of the mechanisms driving the decline and diversity changes of shorebirds in the most stressed coastal regions of Bahrain. Further studies organized throughout the country’s coasts may aid in establishing improved conservation measures to protect the shorebirds of the CAF in Bahrain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatiotemporal Bird Distribution and Conservation)
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14 pages, 5088 KiB  
Article
Large-Scale Reduction in the Extent of Agriculture around Stopover Sites of Migratory Geese in European Russia between 1990 and 2015
by Mikhail Grishchenko, Ronald C. Ydenberg and Herbert H. T. Prins
Diversity 2023, 15(3), 447; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030447 - 17 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1111
Abstract
Stopover sites are vital to the state of the population of many migratory bird species. The greater white-fronted goose Anser albifrons is the most numerous Eurasian goose species, and migrates on a broad front over European Russia. Stopover and staging sites have specific [...] Read more.
Stopover sites are vital to the state of the population of many migratory bird species. The greater white-fronted goose Anser albifrons is the most numerous Eurasian goose species, and migrates on a broad front over European Russia. Stopover and staging sites have specific habitat requirements. They are located near open water, have nearby (<5 km) foraging areas, must be open, and lie at least 500 m from the nearest woodland. Extensive agricultural land abandonment in European Russia since 1990 is leading to widespread land cover changes, and may be lowering the availability and perhaps the suitability of stopover sites for greater white-fronted geese. To measure the extent of land cover change, we compiled Landsat images of three areas in European Russia over which geese migrate. The images were taken May 1990, 2002 and 2014, and used to create a scene that covered completely each area in each of these years. We classified each pixel into one of six land cover classes (LCCs: urban, water, arable, grass, peat bog and forest), and tallied the number changing LCC between the successive maps. For ground truthing, we made field visits in June 2014 to 150 locations chosen randomly in advance, and among them, 64 identified as stopover sites recently used by geese. At each, we assessed vegetation composition and cover, successional stage and the duration (in years) since agriculture on the site had been abandoned. The extent of arable land that changed to another classification 1990–2014 was 56%, and was matched closely by the increase in the extent of the ‘grassland’ and ‘forest’ categories, as expected if agricultural abandonment allows vegetation succession to proceed. The magnitude of change around identified stopover sites was similar to that in the areas as a whole. The extent of land cover change in the northern part of European Russia is making migration by greater white-fronted geese more challenging, which is consistent with the documented southward shift in stopover site usage. This could lead to abandonment of the route across northern European Russia altogether, in favour of a longer migration around the expanding boreal forest, which is inhospitable for goose species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatiotemporal Bird Distribution and Conservation)
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13 pages, 1475 KiB  
Article
Abiotic and Biotic Factors from the Past as Predictors of Alien Bird Richness and Temporal Beta-Diversity
by Aristi Andrikou-Charitidou, Georgios Boutsis, Elpida Karadimou, Mariana A. Tsianou, Maria Lazarina and Athanasios S. Kallimanis
Diversity 2023, 15(3), 417; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15030417 - 13 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1386
Abstract
The challenge of predicting the distribution of alien species has long been a focus of invasion ecology. Herein, we assessed biotic and abiotic factors from the 1980s as potential predictors of alien bird species patterns 20 years later in the state of New [...] Read more.
The challenge of predicting the distribution of alien species has long been a focus of invasion ecology. Herein, we assessed biotic and abiotic factors from the 1980s as potential predictors of alien bird species patterns 20 years later in the state of New York. To assess the ability of each factor to predict future alien species patterns, we analysed the influence of biotic (native taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity, and human population density) and abiotic (climate and land use) factors from the 1980s on the observed alien species richness patterns in the 2000s and the temporal change in the composition of the alien communities between the 1980s and the 2000s using both single-predictor and multivariate models. Alien species richness from the 1980s was a reliable predictor of the alien species richness and temporal beta-diversity patterns in the 2000s. Among abiotic factors, maximum temperature and agricultural land-uses constituted sufficient predictors of future alien species richness and better predictors than the native biotic factors. The performance of single-predictor models was generally weaker in predicting temporal alien beta-diversity; however, past alien species richness and maximum temperature again outperformed the other factors. Predictions and management decisions should focus on warm and agricultural areas, as well as areas with an already high number of established alien species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatiotemporal Bird Distribution and Conservation)
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15 pages, 2351 KiB  
Article
Current and Future Distribution Modeling of Socotra Cormorants Using MaxEnt
by Areej Jaradat, Taoufik Ksiksi and Sabir Bin Muzaffar
Diversity 2022, 14(10), 840; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14100840 - 06 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1653
Abstract
The Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) is a regionally endemic seabird that is vulnerable due to human disturbance and habitat degradation. This study aimed to predict the potential current and future marine distribution of the species under different climate change scenarios using [...] Read more.
The Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis) is a regionally endemic seabird that is vulnerable due to human disturbance and habitat degradation. This study aimed to predict the potential current and future marine distribution of the species under different climate change scenarios using environmental variables affecting distribution using MaxEnt. Occurrence data were collected over several years using satellite tagged adults in the Arabian Gulf. The current model showed large areas of high suitability, mainly in the Arabian Gulf and in the Red Sea, where 31,300 km2 or 48% of total highly suitable areas existed. These areas are currently not utilized by the species. The future model predicted a sharp decline in suitable areas with 73% loss under the SSP5-8.5 climate change scenario of 2050 (extreme scenario). Nevertheless, the Red Sea is predicted to still hold considerable moderately suitable areas. Suitable areas increased around the Socotra archipelago. The model did not include biological variables due to lack of fish distribution data. Two variables, namely, mixed layer thickness and sea floor depth, explained most of the species’ distribution. These variables significantly influence nutrient cycling and forage fish distribution patterns, which in turn influence seabird distributions. Thus, the model could be useful in predicting the distribution of Socotra cormorants. However, the model outcomes should be interpreted with caution as potential areas of future expansion of the species to be further tested and validated. Conserving these areas as a precaution might encourage the Socotra Cormorant to colonize the region and persist in the future under the most extreme climate change scenarios, given that small forage fish that are eaten by the species are abundant in the predicted areas outside of the Arabian Gulf. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatiotemporal Bird Distribution and Conservation)
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Review

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22 pages, 2219 KiB  
Review
The Paradox of Shorebird Diversity and Abundance in the West Coast and East Coast of India: A Comparative Analysis
by A. P. Rashiba, K. Jishnu, H. Byju, C. T. Shifa, Jasmine Anand, K. Vichithra, Yanjie Xu, Aymen Nefla, Sabir Bin Muzaffar, K. M. Aarif and K. A. Rubeena
Diversity 2022, 14(10), 885; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14100885 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 2682
Abstract
Migratory shorebirds that move across continents along their flyways are undergoing a drastic decline globally. A greater proportion of them that regularly winter along the Indian coasts within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) are also undergoing severe declines. However, the mechanisms underlying the [...] Read more.
Migratory shorebirds that move across continents along their flyways are undergoing a drastic decline globally. A greater proportion of them that regularly winter along the Indian coasts within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) are also undergoing severe declines. However, the mechanisms underlying the population trends in these areas remain little understood. This study investigated the diversity, abundance, population dynamics and distribution patterns of shorebirds along the Indian coasts based on the available literature. The west coast of India is relatively less studied than the east coast in the CAF. Further, we observed that the diversity, abundance, population dynamics and distribution pattern of the shorebirds follow different trends on the west coast compared to the east coast. These variations are in accordance with the differences in topography and biotic and abiotic factors between the coasts. Anthropogenic activities have far-reaching effects on the survival and persistence of shorebirds along the coasts. The west coast is evidently more productive than the east coast at every trophic level and thus the west coast is expected to account for more abundance and diversity of shorebirds. Paradoxically, we found that the east coast supports a greater abundance and diversity of shorebirds than the west coast. The west coast, therefore, requires further investigations to obtain a better understanding of the causes of apparent differences in abundance and diversity as well as the observed declines in shorebirds, compared to the east coast of India. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatiotemporal Bird Distribution and Conservation)
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Other

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16 pages, 1069 KiB  
Viewpoint
Beyond Site-Specific Criteria: Conservation of Migratory Birds and Their Habitats from a Network Perspective
by Yanjie Xu, Andy J. Green, Taej Mundkur, Ward Hagemeijer, Haitham Mossad, Herbert H. T. Prins and Willem F. de Boer
Diversity 2022, 14(5), 353; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14050353 - 29 Apr 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3402
Abstract
Many populations of birds depend on networks of sites to survive. Sufficient connectivity that allows movement between the sites throughout the year is a critical requirement. We found that existing international frameworks and policies for identifying sites important for bird conservation focus more [...] Read more.
Many populations of birds depend on networks of sites to survive. Sufficient connectivity that allows movement between the sites throughout the year is a critical requirement. We found that existing international frameworks and policies for identifying sites important for bird conservation focus more at the level of the individual site than on the site network and its connectivity. Only 21% of site criteria acknowledge the importance of movement networks for birds, and such network criteria were mostly (67%) qualitative. We suggest a three-step quantitative approach for informing conservation about the connectivity of bird movements (especially when migrating) from a network perspective, by reviewing current scientific knowledge. The first step is to construct a bird movement network by identifying sites frequently used by birds as ‘nodes’, and then define ‘edges’ from the probability of non-stop flight between each pair of nodes. The second step is to quantify network connectivity, i.e., the extent to which the site network facilitates bird movements. The last step is to assess the importance of each site from its contribution to network connectivity. This approach can serve as a tool for comprehensive and dynamic monitoring of the robustness of site networks during global change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Spatiotemporal Bird Distribution and Conservation)
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