Modelling the responses of Australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients
Montane birds face significant threats from a warming climate, so determining the environmental factors that most strongly influence the composition of such assemblages is of critical conservation importance. Changes in temperature and other environmental conditions along elevational gradients are k...
Published in: | Austral Ecology |
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Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
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Blackwell Publishing Asia
2018
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10072/381566 https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12586 |
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ftgriffithuniv:oai:research-repository.griffith.edu.au:10072/381566 2024-06-23T07:47:26+00:00 Modelling the responses of Australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients Leach, Elliot C Burwell, Chris J Jones, Darryl N Kitching, Roger L 2018 http://hdl.handle.net/10072/381566 https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12586 English eng eng Blackwell Publishing Asia Austral Ecology http://hdl.handle.net/10072/381566 1442-9985 doi:10.1111/aec.12586 Environmental sciences Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified Biological sciences Altitude Bird assemblage Climate change Fourth-corner problem Generalized linear mixed model Traits Journal article 2018 ftgriffithuniv https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12586 2024-06-04T23:57:53Z Montane birds face significant threats from a warming climate, so determining the environmental factors that most strongly influence the composition of such assemblages is of critical conservation importance. Changes in temperature and other environmental conditions along elevational gradients are known to influence the species richness and abundance of bird assemblages occupying mountains. However, the role of species‐specific traits in mediating the responses of bird species to changing conditions remains poorly understood. We aimed to determine whether different bird species responded differently to changing environmental conditions in a relatively understudied biodiversity hotspot in subtropical rainforest on the east coast of Australia. We examined patterns in avian species richness and abundance along two rainforest elevational gradients using monthly point counts between September 2015 and October 2016. Environmental data on temperature, wetness, canopy cover and canopy height were collected simultaneously, and trait information on body size and feeding guild membership for each bird species was obtained from the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. We used a generalized linear mixed modelling (GLMM) framework to determine the drivers of species richness and abundance and to quantify species’ trait–environment interactions. GLMMs indicated that temperature alone was significantly positively correlated with species richness and abundance. Species richness declined with increasing elevation. When modelling abundance, we found that feeding guild membership did not significantly affect species’ responses to environmental conditions. In contrast, the predicted abundance of a species was found to depend on its body size, due to significant positive interactions between this trait, temperature and canopy cover. Our findings indicate that large‐bodied birds are likely to increase in abundance more rapidly than small‐bodied birds with continued climatic warming. These results underline the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Griffith University: Griffith Research Online Antarctic New Zealand Austral Ecology 43 5 490 501 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Griffith University: Griffith Research Online |
op_collection_id |
ftgriffithuniv |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified Biological sciences Altitude Bird assemblage Climate change Fourth-corner problem Generalized linear mixed model Traits |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified Biological sciences Altitude Bird assemblage Climate change Fourth-corner problem Generalized linear mixed model Traits Leach, Elliot C Burwell, Chris J Jones, Darryl N Kitching, Roger L Modelling the responses of Australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences Other environmental sciences not elsewhere classified Biological sciences Altitude Bird assemblage Climate change Fourth-corner problem Generalized linear mixed model Traits |
description |
Montane birds face significant threats from a warming climate, so determining the environmental factors that most strongly influence the composition of such assemblages is of critical conservation importance. Changes in temperature and other environmental conditions along elevational gradients are known to influence the species richness and abundance of bird assemblages occupying mountains. However, the role of species‐specific traits in mediating the responses of bird species to changing conditions remains poorly understood. We aimed to determine whether different bird species responded differently to changing environmental conditions in a relatively understudied biodiversity hotspot in subtropical rainforest on the east coast of Australia. We examined patterns in avian species richness and abundance along two rainforest elevational gradients using monthly point counts between September 2015 and October 2016. Environmental data on temperature, wetness, canopy cover and canopy height were collected simultaneously, and trait information on body size and feeding guild membership for each bird species was obtained from the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. We used a generalized linear mixed modelling (GLMM) framework to determine the drivers of species richness and abundance and to quantify species’ trait–environment interactions. GLMMs indicated that temperature alone was significantly positively correlated with species richness and abundance. Species richness declined with increasing elevation. When modelling abundance, we found that feeding guild membership did not significantly affect species’ responses to environmental conditions. In contrast, the predicted abundance of a species was found to depend on its body size, due to significant positive interactions between this trait, temperature and canopy cover. Our findings indicate that large‐bodied birds are likely to increase in abundance more rapidly than small‐bodied birds with continued climatic warming. These results underline the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Leach, Elliot C Burwell, Chris J Jones, Darryl N Kitching, Roger L |
author_facet |
Leach, Elliot C Burwell, Chris J Jones, Darryl N Kitching, Roger L |
author_sort |
Leach, Elliot C |
title |
Modelling the responses of Australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients |
title_short |
Modelling the responses of Australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients |
title_full |
Modelling the responses of Australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients |
title_fullStr |
Modelling the responses of Australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modelling the responses of Australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients |
title_sort |
modelling the responses of australian subtropical rainforest birds to changes in environmental conditions along elevational gradients |
publisher |
Blackwell Publishing Asia |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10072/381566 https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12586 |
geographic |
Antarctic New Zealand |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic New Zealand |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
Austral Ecology http://hdl.handle.net/10072/381566 1442-9985 doi:10.1111/aec.12586 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12586 |
container_title |
Austral Ecology |
container_volume |
43 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
490 |
op_container_end_page |
501 |
_version_ |
1802651527283736576 |