TY - JOUR

T1 - Contrasting changes in the abundance and diversity of North American bird assemblages from 1971 to 2010

AU - Schipper, Aafke M.

AU - Belmaker, Jonathan

AU - de Miranda, Murilo Dantas

AU - Navarro, Laetitia M.

AU - Böhning-Gaese, Katrin

AU - Costello, Mark J.

AU - Dornelas, Maria

AU - Foppen, Ruud

AU - Hortal, Joaquín

AU - Huijbregts, Mark A.J.

AU - Martín-López, Berta

AU - Pettorelli, Nathalie

AU - Queiroz, Cibele

AU - Rossberg, Axel G.

AU - Santini, Luca

AU - Schiffers, Katja

AU - Steinmann, Zoran J.N.

AU - Visconti, Piero

AU - Rondinini, Carlo

AU - Pereira, Henrique M.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2016 The Authors. Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

PY - 2016/12/1

Y1 - 2016/12/1

N2 - Although it is generally recognized that global biodiversity is declining, few studies have examined long-term changes in multiple biodiversity dimensions simultaneously. In this study, we quantified and compared temporal changes in the abundance, taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, and phylogenetic diversity of bird assemblages, using roadside monitoring data of the North American Breeding Bird Survey from 1971 to 2010. We calculated 12 abundance and diversity metrics based on 5-year average abundances of 519 species for each of 768 monitoring routes. We did this for all bird species together as well as for four subgroups based on breeding habitat affinity (grassland, woodland, wetland, and shrubland breeders). The majority of the biodiversity metrics increased or remained constant over the study period, whereas the overall abundance of birds showed a pronounced decrease, primarily driven by declines of the most abundant species. These results highlight how stable or even increasing metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic diversity may occur in parallel with substantial losses of individuals. We further found that patterns of change differed among the species subgroups, with both abundance and diversity increasing for woodland birds and decreasing for grassland breeders. The contrasting changes between abundance and diversity and among the breeding habitat groups underscore the relevance of a multifaceted approach to measuring biodiversity change. Our findings further stress the importance of monitoring the overall abundance of individuals in addition to metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic diversity, thus confirming the importance of population abundance as an essential biodiversity variable.

AB - Although it is generally recognized that global biodiversity is declining, few studies have examined long-term changes in multiple biodiversity dimensions simultaneously. In this study, we quantified and compared temporal changes in the abundance, taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, and phylogenetic diversity of bird assemblages, using roadside monitoring data of the North American Breeding Bird Survey from 1971 to 2010. We calculated 12 abundance and diversity metrics based on 5-year average abundances of 519 species for each of 768 monitoring routes. We did this for all bird species together as well as for four subgroups based on breeding habitat affinity (grassland, woodland, wetland, and shrubland breeders). The majority of the biodiversity metrics increased or remained constant over the study period, whereas the overall abundance of birds showed a pronounced decrease, primarily driven by declines of the most abundant species. These results highlight how stable or even increasing metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic diversity may occur in parallel with substantial losses of individuals. We further found that patterns of change differed among the species subgroups, with both abundance and diversity increasing for woodland birds and decreasing for grassland breeders. The contrasting changes between abundance and diversity and among the breeding habitat groups underscore the relevance of a multifaceted approach to measuring biodiversity change. Our findings further stress the importance of monitoring the overall abundance of individuals in addition to metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic diversity, thus confirming the importance of population abundance as an essential biodiversity variable.

KW - Transdisciplinary studies

KW - biodiversity change

KW - biodiversity metrics

KW - functional diversity (FD)

KW - phylogenetic diversity (PD)

KW - taxonomic diversity (TD)

KW - species abundance

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969800766&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/262732d5-fd89-38f8-8098-02952af7722b/

U2 - 10.1111/gcb.13292

DO - 10.1111/gcb.13292

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 27002684

VL - 22

SP - 3948

EP - 3959

JO - Global Change Biology

JF - Global Change Biology

SN - 1354-1013

IS - 12

ER -