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Temporal changes in bird functional diversity across the United States.
Jean-Yves Barnagaud1,2, Pierre Gaüzère3, Benjamin Zuckerberg4
1Biogéographie et Ecologie des Vertébrés, CNRS, PSL Research University, EPHE, UM, SupAgro, IND, INRA, UMR 5175 CEFE, 1919 route de Mende, Montpellier, France. jean-yves.barnagaud@cefe.cnrs.fr.
Oecologia
|October 24, 2017
Summary
Bird species richness and taxonomic diversity increased over 40 years but plateaued recently. Functional diversity also rose, driven by climate and productivity, offering insights into biodiversity changes.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Biodiversity Science
- Environmental Change
Background:
- Global changes are altering species assemblages, but the drivers and patterns of biodiversity changes are not fully understood.
- Temporal trends in taxonomic and functional diversity can reveal insights into biodiversity dynamics over time.
- Understanding these changes is crucial for conservation and predicting future ecological shifts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate changes in bird taxonomic and functional diversity over 40 years in the conterminous United States.
- To determine if these diversity trends are non-linear.
- To assess the influence of climate and vegetation productivity on temporal variations in functional diversity.
Main Methods:
- Quantified changes in taxonomic and functional diversity for 807 bird assemblages from 1970-2011.
- Analyzed 16 ecological traits for 435 bird species.
- Utilized comparative analysis of multiple facets of functional diversity.
Main Results:
- Local bird species richness and taxonomic equitability increased, plateauing in the early 2000s, while total abundance declined.
- Functional richness increased due to species with atypical life-history strategies, but functional composition remained largely unchanged.
- Inter-annual climate and primary productivity variations explained richness in bird life-history traits, indicating broad-scale environmental influences.
Conclusions:
- Bird diversity trends are complex, with recent plateaus in richness and equitability despite overall abundance declines.
- Functional diversity changes are linked to climate and productivity, highlighting the impact of environmental factors on trait composition.
- Comparative analysis of functional diversity facets provides valuable insights into the processes driving temporal biodiversity trends.
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