Abstract
Climate change causes altitudinal shifts of animal distributions and this effect can potentially be accentuated or altered due to human agricultural activities. Because of the availability of uniquely long-term monitoring data, we chose the white stork (Ciconia ciconia) as a model species. We analyzed large data sets (record cards from 1191 nests) covering the long-term period from 1875 to 2005 in the Czech Republic, central Europe. We analyzed nest altitude during years of founding of the nest, temperature, land use variables and types of nests (natural vs. human provided nest pads). Consistent with findings from previous studies we predicted a temporal increase in the altitude of white stork nests. Surprisingly, we found that the altitude of nests was decreasing, despite an increase in local mean spring temperatures. The altitude of nests was higher when the proportion of arable land, water areas and developed land was lower and when the proportion of grass and forest cover was greater. The decrease in altitude was significant in natural nests (built by storks) but non-significant in nests on nest platforms (built by humans). Thus, human agricultural activities might potentially override the opposing effects of global climate change on animal altitudinal distribution shifts.
Published Version
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