Ecological filtering shapes the impacts of agricultural deforestation on biodiversity

Funding: This project was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants 32122057 and 3198810 to FH) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant 2022YFF0802300 to FH), and received further support from Tsinghua University Initiative Scientific Research Program (Grant 20223080017 to LY).The biodiversity impacts of agricultural deforestation vary widely across regions. Previous efforts to explain this variation have focused exclusively on the landscape features and management regimes of agricultural systems, neglecting the potentially critical role of ecological filtering in shaping deforestation tolerance of extant species assemblages at large geographical scales via selection for functional traits. Here we provide a large-scale test of this role using a global database of species abundance ratios between matched agricultural and native forest sites that comprises 71 avian assemblages reported in 44 primary studies, and a companion database of 10 functional traits for all 2,647 species involved. Using meta-analytic, phylogenetic and multivariate methods, we show that beyond agricultural features, filtering by the extent of natural environmental variability and the severity of historical anthropogenic deforestation shapes the varying deforestation impacts across species assemblages. For assemblages under greater environmental variability—proxied by drier and more seasonal climates under a greater disturbance regime—and longer deforestation histories, filtering has attenuated the negative impacts of current deforestation by selecting for functional traits linked to stronger deforestation tolerance. Our study provides a previously largely missing piece of knowledge in understanding and managing the biodiversity consequences of deforestation by agricultural deforestation.Peer reviewe

Long-term and large-scale multispecies dataset tracking population changes of common European breeding birds

Around fifteen thousand fieldworkers annually count breeding birds using standardized protocols in 28 European countries. The observations are collected by using country-specific and standardized protocols, validated, summarized and finally used for the production of continent-wide annual and long-term indices of population size changes of 170 species. Here, we present the database and provide a detailed summary of the methodology used for fieldwork and calculation of the relative population size change estimates. We also provide a brief overview of how the data are used in research, conservation and policy. We believe this unique database, based on decades of bird monitoring alongside the comprehensive summary of its methodology, will facilitate and encourage further use of the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme results.publishedVersio

Effects of the European Common Agricultural Policy on Preserving Biodiversity: Farmland Birds in Slovenia

This paper assesses the effects of agricultural payments on changes in farmland bird diversity in Slovenia. Diversity was measured by Shannon index, while the impacts were estimated with the first-difference estimator on panel data for municipalities with and without special protection areas for birds. The effects of agricultural payments on farmland biodiversity require that the balance of financial instruments be taken into account when the agricultural policy is being drafted. The effects of payments in municipalities with and without special protection areas indicate the need to consider the landscape perspective and adapt schemes to landscape type while preparing the national agricultural policy

Multi-scale habitat association of the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana in a sub-mediterranean area in Slovenia

The habitat selection of the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana has been examined on multiple spatial scales. Habitat variables of territories and random points were measured in the field on a 25 m radius and from GIS layers on scales of 25 m, 100 m, 500 m and 1,000 m radius. Habitat variables were analysed by a generalized linear model. The ortolan bunting was found on a 25 m radius in areas with a few black pines, with low grass and open patches within the herbaceous layer. On a 100 m radius scale, the probability of occurrence was highest in areas with meadows with large trees, permanent and partly overgrown meadows, and small areas of forests. On a 500 m radius scale, the occurrence of the ortolan bunting was negatively affected by urban areas and their infrastructure and by forests, and positively by partly overgrown meadows and permanent meadows with or without large trees. On a 1,000 m radius, permanent meadows with or without large trees, and the absence of large urban areas and infrastructure positively affected the presence of the ortolan bunting. In conclusion, factors influencing habitat selection by the ortolan bunting differ according to spatial scale. On the territorial level, its presence was only influenced by cover of open and partly overgrown meadows and by forest, while on larger scales it was also affected by the cover of urban areas. Factors influence habitat selection differently on different scales; a forest influences the probability of a territory positively on a small scale while negatively on larger scales. Factors influencing the habitat selection positively on a larger scale are becoming less common and therefore fewer suitable sites are available for the ortolan bunting in Kra

Asociación de hábitat en multiescala del escribano hortelano Emberiza hortulana en un área submediterránean area in Slovenia

The habitat selection of the ortolan bunting Emberiza hortulana has been examined on multiple spatial scales. Habitat variables of territories and random points were measured in the field on a 25 m radius and from GIS layers on scales of 25 m, 100 m, 500 m and 1,000 m radius. Habitat variables were analysed by a generalized linear model. The ortolan bunting was found on a 25 m radius in areas with a few black pines, with low grass and open patches within the herbaceous layer. On a 100 m radius scale, the probability of occurrence was highest in areas with meadows with large trees, permanent and partly overgrown meadows, and small areas of forests. On a 500 m radius scale, the occurrence of the ortolan bunting was negatively affected by urban areas and their infrastructure and by forests, and positively by partly overgrown meadows and permanent meadows with or without large trees. On a 1,000 m radius, permanent meadows with or without large trees, and the absence of large urban areas and infrastructure positively affected the presence of the ortolan bunting. In conclusion, factors influencing habitat selection by the ortolan bunting differ according to spatial scale. On the territorial level, its presence was only influenced by cover of open and partly overgrown meadows and by forest, while on larger scales it was also affected by the cover of urban areas. Factors influence habitat selection differently on different scalesa forest influences the probability of a territory positively on a small scale while negatively on larger scales. Factors influencing the habitat selection positively on a larger scale are becoming less common and therefore fewer suitable sites are available for the ortolan bunting in Kra