Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-75dct Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-02T13:15:50.027Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - Population Trends of Mountain Birds in Europe and North America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2023

By
Aleksi Lehikoinen ,
Åke Lindström ,
John Calladine ,
Tommaso Campedelli ,
William V. Deluca ,
Virginia Escandell ,
Jiří Flousek† ,
Sergi Herrando ,
Frédéric Jiguet  and
John Atle Kålås
...Show all authors
Edited by
Dan Chamberlain ,
Aleksi Lehikoinen  and
Kathy Martin
Dan Chamberlain
Affiliation:
University of Turin
Aleksi Lehikoinen
Affiliation:
Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki
Kathy Martin
Affiliation:
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Get access

Summary

This chapter summaries what is known about population trends of mountain birds, especially in Europe and North America. A European mountain bird indicator, which summaries the population trends of 44 alpine species, suggests an overall slightly increasing mountain bird population during 2002–2020. Regional North American indicators, based on up to seven alpine species showed either stable or declining trends during 1968–2020. In European mountains, cold-dwelling species had on average less favourable regional population trends than warm-dwelling species, and long-distance migrants tended to have more negative trends than short-distance migrants and residents. There were also spatial differences in trends of the indicators in Europe: mountain birds in general increased in the Alps but decreased in the UK. A comparison between two European breeding bird atlases showed that the distribution area of mountain birds has generally decreased since the 1980s, and mountain specialists have lost more of their range than mountain generalists. Monitoring alpine species presents many challenges which has led to poor coverage in surveys even in areas with well organised bird monitoring programmes at low elevation. The necessary future improvements needed for successful bird population monitoring in mountain areas will, in many instances, require strong financial support.

Keywords

abundanceatlas mappingbreeding bird surveyclimate changedistributionlong-term monitoringmulti-species indicatorspopulation trend
Type
Chapter
Information
Ecology and Conservation of Mountain Birds , pp. 176 - 214
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Estatal di Meteorología, Agencia (2022) www.aemet.es/en/serviciosclimaticos/ accessed 29/08/2022.Google Scholar
Archaux, F. (2007) Are mountains refuges for farmland bird species? A case study in the northern French Alps. Bird Study, 54, 73–79.Google Scholar
Barras, A.G., Blache, S., Schaub, M. & Arlettaz, R. (2021a) Variation in demography and life-history strategies across the range of a declining mountain bird species. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 9, 780706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barras, A.G., Niffenegger, C.A., Candolfi, I., Hunziker, Y.A. & Arlettaz, R. (2021b) Nestling diet and parental food provisioning in a declining mountain passerine reveal high sensitivity to climate change. Journal of Avian Biology 52, e02649.Google Scholar
Bogaart, P., van der Loo, M. & Pannekoek, J. (2018) rtrim: Trends and Indices for Monitoring Data. R package version 2.0.6. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=rtrimGoogle Scholar
Britton, A.J. & Fisher, J.M. (2007) Interactive effects of nitrogen deposition, fire and grazing on diversity and composition of low-alpine prostrate Calluna vulgaris heathland. Journal of Applied Ecology, 44, 125–135.Google Scholar
Butchart, S.H.M., Walpole, M., Collen, B., et al. (2010) Global biodiversity: indicators of recent declines. Science, 328, 1164–1168.Google Scholar
Calladine, J., Bielinski, A. & Shaw, G. (2013) Effect on bird abundance and species richness of edge restructuring to include shrubs at the interface between conifer plantations and open moorland. Bird Study, 60, 345–356.Google Scholar
Canonne, C. (2021) Drivers of black grouse trends in the French Alps: the prevailing contribution of climate. Diversity and Distributions, 27, 1338–1352.Google Scholar
Chen, I.C., Hill, J.K., Ohlemüller, R., Roy, D.B. & Thomas, C.D. (2011) Rapid range shifts of species associated with high levels of climate warming. Science, 333, 1024–1026.Google Scholar
Cramp, S., Simmons, K.E.L. & Perrins, C.M. (1977–1994) Handbook of the Birds of Europe, Middle East and North America: Birds of the Western Palaearctic. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Devictor, V., Julliard, R., Couvet, D. & Jiguet, F. (2008) Birds are tracking climate warming, but not fast enough. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 275, 2743–2748.Google Scholar
Devictor, V., van Swaay, C., Brereton, T., et al. (2012) Differences in the climatic debts of birds and butterflies at a continental scale. Nature Climate Change, 2, 638–639.Google Scholar
Drake, A., de Zwaan, D.R., Altamirano, T.A., et al. (2021) Combining point counts and autonomous recording units improves avian survey efficacy across elevational gradients on two continents. Ecology and Evolution, 11, 8654–8682.Google Scholar
Duclos, T.R., DeLuca, W.V. & King, D.I. (2019) Direct and indirect effects of climate on bird abundance along elevation gradients in the Northern Appalachian mountains. Diversity and Distributions, 25, 1670–1683.Google Scholar
Dulle, H.I., Ferger, S.W., Cordeiro, N.J., et al. (2016) Changes in abundances of forest understorey birds on Africa’s highest mountain suggest subtle effects of climate change. Diversity and Distributions, 22, 288–299.Google Scholar
Eglington, S.M. & Pearce-Higgins, J.W. (2012) Disentangling the relative importance of changes in climate and land-use intensity in driving recent bird population trends. PLoS ONE, 7, e30407.Google Scholar
Elsen, P.R., Monahan, W.B. & Merenlender, A.M. (2020) Topography and human pressure in mountain ranges alter expected species responses to climate change. Nature Communications, 11, 1974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Enemar, A., Sjöstrand, B., Andersson, G. & von Proschwitz, T. (2004) The 37-year dynamics of a subalpine passerine bird community, with special emphasis on the influence of environmental temperature and Epirrita autumnata cycles. Ornis Svecica, 14, 63–106.Google Scholar
Ewing, S.R., Baxter, A., Wilson, J.D., et al. (2020) Clinging on to alpine life: investigating factors driving the uphill range contraction and population decline of a mountain breeding bird. Global Change Biology, 26, 3771–3787.Google Scholar
Flousek, J., Telenský, T., Hanzelka, J. & Reif, J. (2015) Population trends of Central European montane birds provide evidence for adverse impacts of climate change on high-altitude species. PLoS ONE, 10, e0139465.Google Scholar
Fraixedas, S., Lindén, A., Piha, M., et al. (2020) A state-of-art review on birds as indicators of biodiversity: advances, gaps, challenges, and future directions. Ecological Indicators, 118, 106728.Google Scholar
Fumy, F. & Fartmann, T. (2021) Climate and land-use change drive habitat loss in a mountain bird species. Ibis, 163, 1189–1206.Google Scholar
Furrer, R., Schaub, M., Bossert, A., et al. (2016) Variable decline of Alpine Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus muta helvetica) in Switzerland between regions and sites. Journal of Ornithology, 157, 787–796.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, R.D., van Strien, A., Voříšek, P., et al. (2005) Developing indicators for European birds. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society B, 360, 269–288.Google Scholar
Hadfield, J.D. (2010) MCMC methods for multi-response Generalized Linear Mixed Models: the MCMCglmm R package. Journal of Statistical Software, 33, 1–22.Google Scholar
Hagemeijer, W.J.M. & Blair, M.J. (1997) The EBCC atlas of European Breeding Birds: Their Distribution and Abundance. Calton: Poyser.Google Scholar
Haney, J.C., Lee, D.S. & Wilbert, M. (2001) A half-century comparison of breeding birds in the southern Appalachians. Condor, 103, 268–277.Google Scholar
Harris, S.J., Massimino, D., Balmer, D.E., et al. (2021) The Breeding Bird Survey 2020. BTO Research Report 736. Thetford: British Trust for Ornithology.Google Scholar
Hayhow, D.B., Ewing, S.R., Baxter, A., et al. (2015) Changes in the abundance and distribution of a montane specialist bird, the Dotterel Charadrius morinellus, in the UK over 25 years. Bird Study, 62, 443–456.Google Scholar
Hernando, M.D., Roa, I., Fernández-Gil, J., et al. (2022) Trends in weather conditions favour generalists over specialist species in rear-edge alpine bird communities. Ecosphere, 13, e3953.Google Scholar
Herrando, S., Brotons, L., Anton, M., et al. (2016) Assessing impacts of land abandonment on Mediterranean biodiversity using indicators based on bird and butterfly monitoring data. Environmental Conservation, 43, 69–78.Google Scholar
Herrando, S., Titeux, N., Brotons, L., et al. (2019) Contrasting impacts of precipitation on Mediterranean birds and butterflies. Scientific Reports, 9, 5680.Google Scholar
Hochachka, W.M., Alonso, H., Gutiérrez-Expósito, C., Miller, E. & Johnston, A. (2021) Regional variation in the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quantity and quality of data collected by the project eBird. Biological Conservation, 254, 108974.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Howard, C., Stephens, P.A., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., et al. (2020) Disentangling the relative roles of climate and land cover change in driving the long-term population trends of European migratory birds. Diversity and Distributions, 26, 1442–1455.Google Scholar
Ims, R.A. & Henden, J.‐A. (2012) Collapse of an arctic bird community resulting from ungulate‐induced loss of erect shrubs. Biological Conservation, 149, 2–5.Google Scholar
Jackson, M.M., Gergel, S.E. & Martin, K. (2015) Citizen science and field survey observations provide comparable results for mapping Vancouver Island white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura saxatilis) distributions. Biological Conservation, 181, 162–172.Google Scholar
Järvinen, A. & Rajasärkkä, A. (1992) Population fluctuations in two northern land bird communities: effect of habitat, migration strategy and nest site. Ornis Fennica, 69, 173–183.Google Scholar
Jetz, W., Thomas, G.H., Joy, J.B., Hartmann, K. & Mooers, A.O. (2012) The global diversity of birds in space and time. Nature, 491, 444–448.Google Scholar
Jiguet, F., Devictor, V., Ottvall, R., et al. (2010) Bird population trends are linearly affected by climate change along species thermal ranges. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 277, 3601–3618.Google Scholar
Jiguet, F., Barbet-Massin, M., Devictor, V., Jonzén, N. & Lindström, Å. (2013) Current population trends mirror forecasted changes in climatic suitability for Swedish breeding birds. Bird Study, 60, 60–66.Google Scholar
Jones, S.L. (2008) A forty-year comparison of the breeding avifauna in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. American Midland Naturalist, 159, 172–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Vorisek, P., et al. (2020) European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. Barcelona: European Breeding Bird Council & Lynx Edicions.Google Scholar
Kelly, L.T., Giljohann, K.M., Duane, A., et al. (2020) Fire and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Science 370, eabb0355.Google Scholar
King, D.I., Lambert, J.D., Bounaccorsi, J.P. & Prout, L.S. (2008) Avian population trends in the vulnerable montane forests of the Northern Appalachians, USA. Biodiversity and Conservation, 17, 2691–2700.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kittelberger, K.D., Neate-Clegg, M.H.C., Buechley, E.R. & Şekercioğlu, C.H. (2021) Community characteristics of forest understory birds along an elevational gradient in the Horn of Africa: a multi-year baseline. Ornithological Applications, 123, duab009.Google Scholar
Knaus, P., Antoniazza, S., Guélat, J., et al. (2018) Swiss Breeding Bird Atlas 2013–2016. Distribution and Population Trends of Birds in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Sempach: Swiss Ornithological Institute.Google Scholar
Koleček, J. & Reif, J. (2011) Differences between the predictors of abundance, trend and distribution as three measures of avian population change. Acta Ornithologica, 46, 143–153.Google Scholar
Krüger, S.C., Allan, D.G., Jenkins, A.R. & Amar, A. (2014) Trend in territory, distribution and density of the Bearded Vulture Gypaetus barbatus meridionalis in southern Africa. Bird Conservation International, 24, 162–177.Google Scholar
Lambert, J.D., King, D.I., Buonaccorsi, J.P. & Prout, L.S. (2008) Decline of a New Hampshire Bicknell’s Thrush population 1993–2003. Northeastern Naturalist, 15, 607–618.Google Scholar
Lehikoinen, A., Green, M., Husby, M., Kålås, J.A. & Lindström, Å. (2014) Common montane birds are declining in northern Europe. Journal of Avian Biology, 45, 3–14.Google Scholar
Lehikoinen, A., Brotons, L., Calladine, J., et al. (2019) Declining population trends of European mountain birds. Global Change Biology 25, 577–588.Google Scholar
Lehikoinen, A., Lindström, Å., Santangeli, A., et al. (2021) Wintering bird communities are tracking climate change faster than breeding communities. Journal of Animal Ecology, 90, 1085–1095.Google Scholar
Lindström, Å., Green, M., Paulson, G., Smith, H.G. & Devictor, V. (2013) Rapid changes in bird community composition at multiple temporal and spatial scales in response to recent climate change. Ecography, 36, 313–322.Google Scholar
Massimino, D., Johnston, A., Gillings, S., Jiguet, F. & Pearce-Higgins, J.W. (2017) Projected reductions in climate suitability for vulnerable British birds. Climatic Change, 145, 117–130.Google Scholar
Meehan, T.D., LeBaron, G.S., Dale, K., et al. (2020) Abundance Trends of Birds Wintering in the USA and Canada, from Audubon Christmas Bird Counts, 1966–2019. Version 3.0. New York: National Audubon Society. www.audubon.org/conservation/where-have-all-birds-gone accessed 29/08/2022.Google Scholar
Mizel, J.D., Schmidt, J.H. & Mcintyre, C.L. (2021) Climate and weather have differential effects in a high latitude passerine community. Oecologia, 195, 355–365.Google Scholar
Neate-Clegg, M.H.C., Stanley, T.R., Şekercioğlu, Ç.H. & Newmark, W.D. (2021) Temperature-associated decreases in demographic rates of Afrotropical bird species over 30 years. Global Change Biology, 27, 2254–2268.Google Scholar
Newbold, T. (2018) Future effects of climate and land-use change on terrestrial vertebrate community diversity under different scenarios. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B, 285, 20180792.Google Scholar
PavlackyJr, D.C., Lukacs, P.M., Blakesley, J.A., et al. (2017) A statistically rigorous sampling design to integrate avian monitoring and management within Bird Conservation Regions. PLoS ONE, 12, e0185924.Google Scholar
Pearce-Higgins, J.W. & Green, R.E. (2014) Birds and Climate Change: Impacts and Conservation Responses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Eglingon, S.M., Martay, B. & Chamberlain, D.E. (2015) Drivers of climate change impacts on bird communities. Journal of Animal Ecology, 84, 943–954.Google Scholar
R Core Team. (2021) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Retrieved from www.R-project.org/Google Scholar
Ralston, J., King, D.I., DeLuca, W.V., et al. (2015) Analysis of combined data sets yields trend estimates for vulnerable spruce-fir birds in northern United States. Biological Conservation, 187, 270–278.Google Scholar
Regos, A., Dominguez, J., Gil-Tena, A., Brotons, L., Ninyerola, M. & Pons, X. (2016) Rural abandoned landscapes and bird assemblages: winners and losers in the rewilding of a marginal mountain area (NW Spain). Regional Environmental Change 16, 199–211.Google Scholar
Reif, J. & Flousek, J. (2012) The role of species’ ecological traits in climatically driven altitudinal range shifts of central European birds. Oikos, 121, 1053–1060.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riegert, J., Chmel, K., Vlček, J., et al. (2021) Alarming declines in bird abundance in an Afromontane global biodiversity hotspot. Biodiversity and Conservation, 30, 3385–3408.Google Scholar
Rosenberg, K.V., Docter, A.M., Blancher, P.J., et al. (2019) Decline of the North American avifauna. Science, 366, 120–124.Google Scholar
Sauer, J.R. & Link, W.A., (2011) Analysis of the North American breeding bird survey using hierarchical models. Auk, 128, 87–98.Google Scholar
Sauer, J.R., Niven, D.K., Hines, J.E., et al. (2019) The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966–2019. Version 2.07. Laurel, MD: USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov accessed 29/08/2022.Google Scholar
Sauer, J.R., Link, W.A. & Hines, J.E. (2020) The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Analysis Results 1966–2019. U.S. Geological Survey data release. https://doi.org/10.5066/P96A7675.Google Scholar
Scridel, D., Bogliani, G., Pedrini, P., et al. (2017) Thermal niche predicts recent changes in range size for bird species. Climate Research, 73, 207–216.Google Scholar
Scridel, D., Brambilla, M., Martin, K., et al. (2018) A review and meta-analysis of the effects of climate change on Holarctic mountain and upland bird populations. Ibis, 160, 489–515.Google Scholar
Scridel, D., Brambilla, M., de Zwaan, D.R., et al. (2021) A genus at risk: predicted current and future distribution of all three Lagopus species reveal sensitivity to climate change and efficacy of protected areas. Diversity and Distributions, 27, 1759–1774.Google Scholar
Soldaat, L.L., Pannekoek, J., Verweij, R.J.T., van Turnhout, C.A.M. & van Strien, A.J. (2017) A Monte Carlo method to account for sampling error in multi-species indicators. Ecological Indicators, 81, 340–347.Google Scholar
Soykan, C.U., Sauer, J., Schuetz, J.G., et al. (2016) Population trends for North American winter birds based on hierarchical models. Ecosphere, 7, e01351.Google Scholar
Srinivasan, U. & Wilcove, D.S. (2021) Interactive impacts of climate change and land-use change on the demography of montane birds. Ecology, 102, e03223.Google Scholar
Strinella, E., Scridel, D., Brambilla, M., Schano, C. & Korner-Nievergelt, F. (2020) Potential sex-dependent effects of weather on apparent survival of a high-elevation specialist. Scientific Reports, 10, 8386.Google Scholar
Svensson, S. (2006) Species composition and population fluctuations of alpine bird communities during 38 years in the Scandinavian mountain range. Ornis Svecica, 16, 183–210.Google Scholar
Svensson, S. & Andersson, T. (2013) Population trends of birds in alpine habitats at Ammarnäs in southern Swedish Lapland 1972–2011. Ornis Svecica, 23, 81–107.Google Scholar
Tayleur, C., Devictor, V., Gaüzère, P., et al. (2016) Regional variation in climate change winners and losers highlights the rapid loss of cold-dwelling species. Diversity and Distributions, 22, 468–480.Google Scholar
Tinoco, B., Latta, S.C., Astudilo, P.X., Nieto, A. & Graham, C.H. (2021) Temporal stability in species richness but reordering in species abundances within avian assemblages of a tropical Andes conservation hot spot. Biotropica, 53, 1673–1684.Google Scholar
Vickery, J.A., Ewing, S.R., Smith, K.W., et al. (2014) The decline of Afro‐Palaearctic migrants and an assessment of potential causes. Ibis, 156, 1–22.Google Scholar
van der Wal, R., Pearce, I., Brooker, R., et al. (2003) Interplay between nitrogen deposition and grazing causes habitat degradation. Ecology Letters, 6, 141–146.Google Scholar
Wann, G.T, Aldridge, C.L. & Braun, C.E. (2014) Estimates of annual survival, growth, and recruitment of a white-tailed ptarmigan population in Colorado over 43 years. Population Ecology, 56, 555–567.Google Scholar
Wauchope, H.S., Amano, T., Sutherland, W.J. & Johnston, A. (2019) When can we trust population trends? A method for quantifying the effects of sampling interval and duration. Methods in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 2067–2078.Google Scholar
Zamora, R. & Barea-Azcón, J.M. (2015) Long-term changes in mountain passerine bird communities in the Sierra Nevada (Southern Spain): a 30-year case study. Ardeola, 62, 3–18.Google Scholar
Zuur, A., Ieno, E.N., Walker, N., Saveliev, A.A. & Smith, G.M. (2009) Mixed Effects Models and Extensions in Ecology with R. New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×