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- Heim, Wieland, et al.
(author)
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Using geolocator tracking data and ringing archives to validate citizen-science based seasonal predictions of bird distribution in a data-poor region
- 2020
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In: Global Ecology and Conservation. - : Elsevier BV. - 2351-9894. ; 24
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Unstructured citizen-science data are increasingly used for analysing the abundance and distribution of species. Here we test the usefulness of such data to predict the seasonal distribution of migratory songbirds, and to analyse patterns of migratory connectivity. We used bird occurrence data from eBird, one of the largest global citizen science databases, to predict the year-round distribution of eight songbird taxa (Agropsar philippensis, Calliope calliope, Cecropis daurica, Emberiza aureola, Hirundo rustica, Locustella certhiola, Oriolus chinensis, Saxicola torquatus stejnegeri) that migrate through East Asia, a region especially poor in data but globally important for the conservation of migratory land birds. Maximum entropy models were built to predict spring stopover, autumn stopover and wintering areas. Ring recovery and geolocator tracking data were then used to evaluate, how well the predicted occurrence at a given period of the annual cycle matched sites where the species were known to be present from ringing and tracking data. Predicted winter ranges were generally smaller than those on published extent-of-occurrence maps (the hitherto only available source of distribution information). There was little overlap in stopover regions. The overlap between areas predicted as suitable from the eBird data and areas that had records from geolocator tracking was high in winter, and lower for spring and autumn migration. Less than 50% of the ringing recoveries came from locations within the seasonal predicted areas, with the highest overlap in autumn. The seasonal range size of a species affected the matching of tracking/ringing data with the predictions. Strong migratory connectivity was evident in Siberian Rubythroats and Barn Swallows. We identified two migration corridors, one over the eastern mainland of China, and one along a chain of islands in the Pacific. We show that the combination of disparate data sources has great potential to gain a better understanding of the non-breeding distribution and migratory connectivity of Eastern Palearctic songbirds. Citizen-science observation data are useful even in remote areas to predict the seasonal distribution of migratory species, especially in periods when birds are sedentary and when supplemented with tracking data.
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- Sim, Thomas G., et al.
(author)
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Regional variability in peatland burning at mid-to high-latitudes during the Holocene
- 2023
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In: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 305
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Northern peatlands store globally-important amounts of carbon in the form of partly decomposed plant detritus. Drying associated with climate and land-use change may lead to increased fire frequency and severity in peatlands and the rapid loss of carbon to the atmosphere. However, our understanding of the patterns and drivers of peatland burning on an appropriate decadal to millennial timescale relies heavily on individual site-based reconstructions. For the first time, we synthesise peatland macrocharcoal re-cords from across North America, Europe, and Patagonia to reveal regional variation in peatland burning during the Holocene. We used an existing database of proximal sedimentary charcoal to represent regional burning trends in the wider landscape for each region. Long-term trends in peatland burning appear to be largely climate driven, with human activities likely having an increasing influence in the late Holocene. Warmer conditions during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (similar to 9e6 cal. ka BP) were associated with greater peatland burning in North America's Atlantic coast, southern Scandinavia and the Baltics, and Patagonia. Since the Little Ice Age, peatland burning has declined across North America and in some areas of Europe. This decline is mirrored by a decrease in wider landscape burning in some, but not all sub-regions, linked to fire-suppression policies, and landscape fragmentation caused by agricultural expansion. Peatlands demonstrate lower susceptibility to burning than the wider landscape in several instances, probably because of autogenic processes that maintain high levels of near-surface wetness even during drought. Nonetheless, widespread drying and degradation of peatlands, particularly in Europe, has likely increased their vulnerability to burning in recent centuries. Consequently, peatland restoration efforts are important to mitigate the risk of peatland fire under a changing climate. Finally, we make recommendations for future research to improve our understanding of the controls on peatland fires.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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