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Waders in winter: long-term changes of migratory bird assemblages facing climate change
Laurent Godet1, Mikaël Jaffré, Vincent Devictor
1CNRS, Laboratoire Géolittomer-UMR 6554 LETG, Nantes University, Nantes, France. laurent.godet@univ-nantes.fr
Biology Letters
|March 25, 2011
Summary
Climate change is altering bird communities. Wader bird (Charadrii) assemblages wintering in Africa and Europe show significant shifts in composition, indicating a strong community response to warming trends.
Area of Science:
- Ecology and climate change research.
- Avian community dynamics.
- High-latitude breeding and Afro-European wintering bird ecology.
Background:
- Climate change impacts on species are known, but community-level responses, especially for migratory birds, remain understudied.
- Understanding how distinct life-cycle areas influence species' vulnerability to climate change is crucial.
- Previous research has focused primarily on individual species' responses rather than assemblage composition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of climate change on the community composition of wader (Charadrii) assemblages over 33 years.
- To determine if and how climate change affects migratory bird assemblages in their wintering grounds.
- To assess the temporal trends in wader assemblage composition in response to climate shifts.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of wader (Charadrii) assemblage composition over a 33-year period.
- Calculation of the community temperature index (CTI) to quantify assemblage thermal composition.
- Statistical analysis of temporal trends in CTI to detect climate change impacts.
Main Results:
- A significant and steep increase in the community temperature index (CTI) was observed over the 33-year study period.
- This CTI increase indicates a substantial shift in the composition of wader assemblages.
- The findings suggest a profound community-level response to recent climate change in wintering areas.
Conclusions:
- Migratory wader bird assemblages exhibit a strong community response to climate change in their wintering areas.
- This study provides novel evidence of community-level climate change impacts on migratory species.
- The findings highlight the importance of considering community dynamics in climate change research for migratory species.
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