Seasonality in spatial distribution: Climate and land use have contrasting effects on the species richness of breeding and wintering birds.

Kazuhiro Kawamura,Mutsuyuki Ueta,Yuichi Yamaura,Masayuki Senzaki,Futoshi Nakamura

doi:10.1002/ece3.5286

Kazuhiro Kawamura, Mutsuyuki Ueta + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5286

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Abstract

AimMany studies have examined large‐scale distributions of various taxa and their drivers, emphasizing the importance of climate, topography, and land use. Most studies have dealt with distributions over a single season or annually without considering seasonality. However, animal distributions and their drivers can differ among seasons because many animals migrate to suitable climates and areas with abundant prey resources. We aim to clarify seasonality in bird distributions and their drivers.LocationJapan.MethodsWe examined the effects of climate (annual mean temperature, snow depth), topography (elevation), and land use (extent of surrounding habitat) on bird species richness, in the breeding and wintering seasons separately, using nationwide data (254 forest and 43 grassland sites, respectively). We separately analyzed the species richness of all species, residents, short‐, and long‐distance migrants in forests and grasslands.ResultsIn the breeding season, the annual mean temperature negatively affected all groups (except for forest and grassland residents), and the extent of surrounding habitat positively affected many groups. By contrast, in the wintering season, temperature positively affected all groups (except for forest residents), and the extent of surrounding habitat positively affected only grassland long‐distance migrants. In both seasons, the species richness of forest and grassland residents was high in regions of moderate and high temperature, respectively. Moreover, snow depth negatively affected all forest groups in the wintering season. Mapping expected species richness suggested that regions with different climates served as habitats for different groups during different seasons.Main conclusionsAll regions were important bird habitats depending on the season, reflecting the contrasting effects of temperature across seasons. In the breeding season, surrounding land use was also an important driver. To understand the seasonal role that each region and environment plays in maintaining species/communities, a large‐scale study considering both environmental seasonality and species distribution is needed.

Highlights

Exploration of large‐scale biodiversity patterns and drivers thereof is a fundamental theme of ecology (Gaston, 2000; Wallace, 1876)
In this study, we explored the effects of climate, topography, and land use on bird species rich‐ ness, in the breeding and wintering seasons separately, using a large monitoring dataset (254 forest and 43 grassland sites evaluated by the same method in both seasons)
For grassland in the wintering season, we found that the variance inflation fac‐ tors (VIFs) of the annual mean temperature was >3; we consid‐ ered temperature a important driver in both seasons

Summary

| INTRODUCTION

Exploration of large‐scale biodiversity patterns and drivers thereof is a fundamental theme of ecology (Gaston, 2000; Wallace, 1876). Many studies have evaluated the relationships between environ‐ mental factors and the large‐scale distribution patterns of various taxa (Barbet‐Massin, Thuiller, & Jiguet, 2012; Kreft & Jetz, 2007; Howard, Stephens, Pearce‐Higgins, Gregory, & Willis, 2015) Both climate (e.g., temperature and precipitation) and topography (e.g., elevation) are major drivers of large‐scale organism distributions; these factors determine the productivity of vegetation (Hawkins et al, 2003). In this study, we explored the effects of climate (annual mean temperature and maximum snow depth), topography (elevation), and land use (extent of suitable habi‐ tat within 1.25, 5, or 10 km of a monitoring site) on bird species rich‐ ness, in the breeding and wintering seasons separately, using a large monitoring dataset (254 forest and 43 grassland sites evaluated by the same method in both seasons). To explore the seasonal role played by each region in terms of bird species richness, we separately mapped the expected species richness of each group and of all species as functions of climate, land use, and topography in the breeding and wintering seasons

| MATERIALS AND METHODS

Findings

| DISCUSSION