| 2. |
- Fraixedas, Sara, et al.
(författare)
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Substantial decline of Northern European peatland bird populations : Consequences of drainage
- 2017
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Ingår i: Biological Conservation. - : Elsevier BV. - 0006-3207. ; 214, s. 223-232
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Northern European peatlands are important habitats for biological conservation because they support rich biodiversity and unique species compositions. However, historical management of peatland habitats has had negative consequences for biodiversity and their degradation remains a major conservation concern. Despite increasing awareness of the conservation value of peatlands, the statuses and ecological requirements of peatland species have remained largely understudied. Here, we first analysed temporal trends of Northern European peatland birds to document the status of their populations using bird data from five different countries. Second, we used Finnish monitoring data to assess habitat preferences of peatland bird species, hence helping to target conservation to the most relevant habitat types. There was a general decline of 40% in Northern European peatland bird population sizes in 1981–2014 (speed of decline 1.5%/year) largely driven by Finland, where populations declined almost 50% (2.0% annual decline). In Sweden and Norway, peatland bird populations declined by 20% during 1997–2014 (1.0% annual decline). In contrast, southern populations in Estonia and Latvia, where the majority of open peatlands are protected, showed a 40% increase during 1981–2014 (1.0% annual increase). The most important habitat characteristics preferred by common peatland species in Finland were openness and low tree height, while wetness proved to be an important feature for waders. Drainage of peatlands had clear negative effects on the densities of many species, with the only exception of rustic bunting, which specializes on edge habitats. Our findings call for more effective conservation actions in Northern European peatland habitats, especially in Finland where peatland drainage represents a major threat to biodiversity.
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| 3. |
- Lehikoinen, Aleksi, et al.
(författare)
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The impact of weather and the phase of the rodent cycle on breeding populations of waterbirds in Finnish Lapland
- 2016
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Ingår i: Ornis Fennica. - 0030-5685. ; 93:1, s. 31-46
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Climate change may affect bird populations both directly by changing the weather conditions, and indirectly through changes in the food chain. While both theoretical and empirical studies have shown climate change having drastic impacts on polar areas, its consequences on Arctic bird species are still poorly known. Here we investigated how weather and changes in predator-prey interactions affected the annual growth rates of sub-Arctic birds by monitoring the breeding numbers of three duck and seven wader species in the alpine tundra of Finnish Lapland during 2005-2015 (except for 2006). We hypothesized that growth rates of waterbirds would be positively associated with warm and dry weather due to improved reproductive success. Furthermore, we tested the hypothesis that water-birds have a higher reproductive success during the cyclic rodent peaks, when predators mainly prey on rodents, than during the decline and low phases of the cycle, when predation pressure towards waterbirds increases. Results showed that population growth rates of breeding ducks were negatively associated with the sum of rainfall in the previous year. In waders, growth rates were positively associated with the phase of the rodent cycle in the same year. Our results emphasize the importance of monitoring Arctic bird populations on their breeding areas to explore what the consequences of climate change might be for breeding waterbirds by linking the effects of both weather and rodent abundance.
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