This data set is aimed at monitoring the effects of climate change on the timing of breeding by forest birds (Fig.1). The data were collected in the forests of Teshio (Hokkaido Pref.), Ashoro ...(Hokkaido Pref.), Tomakomai (Hokkaido Pref.), Kayanodaira (Nagano Pref.), Ooyamazawa (Saitama Pref.) and Ichinomata (Kochi Pref.) by using Integrated Circuit (IC) recorders between April to May, 2009-2019 (Table 1). We listened to the recorded sounds to identify bird species and sound type (e.g. song, drumming, or call). We collected the data in two minute-intervals during two periods each morning. The first period was from six minutes before sunrise to four minutes after sunrise, and the second period was from 50 minutes to 60 minutes after sunrise.We expect that this data set will provide useful basic information for various types of bird studies.Data download:http://www.bird-research.jp/appendix/br15/15r01.html
The importance of landscape heterogeneity to biodiversity may depend on the size of the geographic range of species, which in turn can reflect species traits (such as habitat generalization) and the ...effects of historical and contemporary land covers. We used nationwide bird survey data from Japan, where heterogeneous landscapes predominate, to test the hypothesis that wide-ranging species are positively associated with landscape heterogeneity in terms of species richness and abundance, whereas narrow-ranging species are positively associated with landscape homogeneity in the form of either open or forest habitats. We used simultaneous autoregressive models to explore the effects of climate, evapotranspiration, and landscape heterogeneity on the richness and abundance of breeding land-bird species. The richness of wide-ranging species and the total species richness were highest in heterogeneous landscapes, where many wide-ranging species showed the highest abundance. In contrast, the richness of narrow-ranging species was not highest in heterogeneous landscapes; most of those species were abundant in either open or forest landscapes. Moreover, in open landscapes, narrow-ranging species increased their species richness with decreasing temperature. These results indicate that heterogeneous landscapes are associated with rich bird diversity but that most narrow-ranging species prefer homogeneous landscapes--particularly open habitats in colder regions, where grasslands have historically predominated. There is a need to reassess the generality of the heterogeneity-biodiversity relationship, with attention to the characteristics of species assemblages determined by environments at large spatiotemporal scales.
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Aim
Many studies have examined large‐scale distributions of various taxa and their drivers, emphasizing the importance of climate, topography, and land use. Most studies have dealt with distributions ...over a single season or annually without considering seasonality. However, animal distributions and their drivers can differ among seasons because many animals migrate to suitable climates and areas with abundant prey resources. We aim to clarify seasonality in bird distributions and their drivers.
Location
Japan.
Methods
We examined the effects of climate (annual mean temperature, snow depth), topography (elevation), and land use (extent of surrounding habitat) on bird species richness, in the breeding and wintering seasons separately, using nationwide data (254 forest and 43 grassland sites, respectively). We separately analyzed the species richness of all species, residents, short‐, and long‐distance migrants in forests and grasslands.
Results
In the breeding season, the annual mean temperature negatively affected all groups (except for forest and grassland residents), and the extent of surrounding habitat positively affected many groups. By contrast, in the wintering season, temperature positively affected all groups (except for forest residents), and the extent of surrounding habitat positively affected only grassland long‐distance migrants. In both seasons, the species richness of forest and grassland residents was high in regions of moderate and high temperature, respectively. Moreover, snow depth negatively affected all forest groups in the wintering season. Mapping expected species richness suggested that regions with different climates served as habitats for different groups during different seasons.
Main conclusions
All regions were important bird habitats depending on the season, reflecting the contrasting effects of temperature across seasons. In the breeding season, surrounding land use was also an important driver. To understand the seasonal role that each region and environment plays in maintaining species/communities, a large‐scale study considering both environmental seasonality and species distribution is needed.
Many studies have examined large‐scale distributions of various taxa and their drivers, emphasizing the importance of climate, topography, and land use. Most studies have dealt with distributions over single seasons or annually without considering seasonality. We showed that all regions of Japan were important bird habitats depending on the season, reflecting the contrasting effects of temperature across seasons.
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The Ministry of the Environment compiles information on injured and sick birds rescued by prefectures throughout Japan, and presents that data as 'Statistics on Birds and Animals.' Since this data ...set may serve to augment studies of trends in bird populations in Japan, the statistics from 1998 onward are presented here as a database.Data download: http://www.bird-research.jp/appendix/br17/17r01.html
Exploiting the nest defence behaviour of another relatively aggressive species is one of the most unusual amongst a great diversity of strategies used by animals to evade predation. Here we review 62 ...studies that have looked at protective nesting associations in which at least one species is a bird. Most 'protected' associates are found in the Anseriformes, the Charadriiformes and the Passeriformes, while most 'protective' associates come from the Charadriiformes and the Falconiformes. Protected associates primarily benefit from a reduced predation rate when nesting near protective species although a variety of other, often unusual benefits have been described, including early warning of predators, lower parasitism, lower brood-parasitism, nest stability and higher mating success. Protected associates sometimes also pay costs when they or their young are killed by their aggressive associate, or when they are forced to abandon their nest. Two studies demonstrate that protected species manipulate the trade-off between the costs and benefits of nesting near an aggressive associate, while only a handful of studies have found specific adaptations to help avoid costs. In contrast, there is little evidence to suggest that the protective associates pay costs or gain benefits. This is probably because few researchers set out to test this hypothesis specifically, but we tentatively conclude that the majority of nesting associations are commensal in nature, and that only a few are parasitic or mutualistic. Many studies show that nesting associations occur by active choice and not because the associate species choose similar habitat, but only one study does so experimentally. In two cases the nesting association is obligatory for one of the species but there was also evidence for significant local adaptation to nesting near protective species, sometimes across a broad geographical range. Finally, we identify potential pathways that may have led to the evolution of nesting associations, discuss some possible implications for the populations involved and argue that nesting associations provide many novel research opportunities.
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To clarify effects of climate change on birds, we recorded the dates when forest birds began actively singing and analyzed the relationships with temperature and precipitation. Observations were ...conducted at four forest sites from 2009 to 2021. The mean temperature in May was identified as a factor that influenced the timing of active singing for all five species (Asian Stubtail Urosphena squameiceps, Eastern Crowned-warbler Phylloscopus coronatus, Siberian Blue Robin Larvivora cyane, Narcissus Flycatcher Ficedula narcissina, Grey Bunting Emberiza variabilis). The mean temperature in April was significantly correlated only in Narcissus Flycatcher. The temperature during the most recent period to the start of singing may have had a strong influence on singing behavior. In the case of the Asian Stubtail, precipitation in April had the strongest effect on the date when the species became active. The Asian Stubtail typically forages and nests in the bushes near the ground, so April precipitation, which melts snow cover, possibly has a strong influence on stubtail behavior. Species like Grey Bunting and the Siberian Blue Robin also forage close to the ground, so monitoring the snow cover by interval cameras may be an important additional method of study.
In order to identify the phenological responses of birds to climate change, I have been using small temperature loggers in nest boxes to monitor the temperature conditions during phases of breeding ...phenology of Varied Tits Poecile varius at the University of Tokyo’s Chichibu Forest since 2010. Until 2014, 6-9 nest boxes were used by Varied Tits each year at the forest. The fledging dates of Varied Tits were not correlated to the temperature of the laying period, but were significantly correlated to the effective accumulated temperature of the breeding season until the laying period. The effective accumulated temperature is known to correlate with the phenology of plants and insects, so these results suggest that Varied Tits may adjust their breeding period according to the phenology of plants and insects. We need further monitoring to confirm if Varied Tits are adapting to the rapidly changing climatic conditions.
TThe species temperature index (STI), which is the mean temperature of the distribution area for bird species, has been calculated to evaluate the response of birds to climate change. In Japan, the ...STI for the breeding season has been calculated based on the results of the “Japan Breeding Bird Atlas.” Since the effects of climate change are more pronounced during the wintering season of birds (Lehikoinen et al. 2021), it is important to know the STI for the wintering season in Japan. We surveyed to determine the wintering distribution of birds in Japan between January 2016 and February 2022. However, the 40 km grid to collect distribution information used in this survey included areas of low to high elevation in the steep terrain of Japan which made the temperature differences within the grid too large to show STI. Since the Japanese archipelago extends from southwest to northeast, the distribution of any bird species in the Japanese archipelago can be indicated by the value obtained by adding latitude and longitude. Therefore, we calculated ”Latitude-Longitude Index” values that describe the distribution of various bird species during the wintering season in Japan to replace the STI. Here we present this method and propose it is a useful approach for studying the effects of climate change on birds.
Birds are known to respond to climatic factors such as ambient temperature and day length. In the context of global climate trends, understanding a bird species’ response to the local temperature is ...a basic ecological factor that has conservation value. As an index to determine the start of the breeding season for the Japanese Bush Warbler Cettia diphone, we created a model based on effective accumulated air temperature to predict the date of the species’ first song of the spring season. From the “Seasonal Front Watch” data set of the Japan Bird Research Association, we used recorded date of the species’ first song at 39 monitoring sites during the period of 2005 to 2019. For each recorded date of the first song, we calculated the effective accumulated air temperature within 80 km of the monitoring site. We then developed a model to predict the first song date in all parts of Japan by obtaining the equation for the relationship between the effective accumulated temperature and the average temperature at each monitoring site. We validated the model by using the date of the first song in 2020, and found that it predicted the date of the first song of the Japanese bush warbler better than the average date of the first song over the period from 2005 to 2019. The result indicated that the effective accumulated temperature is an accurate method to predict the date of the first song of the warbler.
I recorded the caution behavior of Japanese Tits Parus minor.The tits sometimes give alarm calls against Oriental turtle doves Streptopelia orientalis probably because of the similarity of their ...flight form to that of a hawk. This behavior is thought to be a false recognition of tits that show their increased caution levels. I recorded the rate of this false recognition in the groves of Tokyo during late March to early May 2012 and 2013, and compared the difference of the rates between breeding (11 sites) and non breeding sites (17 sites) of Japanese Sparrowhawks Accipiter gularis.Japanese Tits frequency of alarm calls against Oriental turtle doves was significantly greater in the breeding sites of Japanese Sparrowhawks (61.0±12.5％，N=11) than in the non breeding sites (7.1±14.3％，N=17).It suggested that Japanese Tits tended to increase the caution levels in the breeding territories of predatory birds such as Japanese Sparrowhawks.
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