Agriculture and hot temperatures interactively erode the nest success of habitat generalist birds across the United States.

Abstract

Habitat conversion and climate change are fundamental drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide but are often analyzed in isolation. We used a continental-scale, decades-long database of more than 150,000 bird nesting attempts to explore how extreme heat affects avian reproduction in forests, grasslands, and agricultural and developed areas across the US. We found that in forests, extreme heat increased nest success, but birds nesting in agricultural settings were much less likely to successfully fledge young when temperatures reached anomalously high levels. Species that build exposed cup nests and species of higher conservation concern were particularly vulnerable to maximum temperature anomalies in agricultural settings. Finally, future projections suggested that ongoing climate change may exacerbate the negative effects of habitat conversion on avian nesting success, thereby compromising conservation efforts in human-dominated landscapes.