Abstract
Wetland bird species have been declining in population size worldwide as climate warming and land-use change affect their suitable habitats. We used species distribution models (SDMs) to ...predict changes in range dynamics for 64 non-passerine wetland birds breeding in Europe, including range size, position of centroid, and margins. We fitted the SDMs with data collected for the first European Breeding Bird Atlas and climate and land-use data to predict distributional changes over a century (the 1970s–2070s). The predicted annual changes were then compared to observed annual changes in range size and range centroid over a time period of 30 years using data from the second European Breeding Bird Atlas. Our models successfully predicted ca. 75% of the 64 bird species to contract their breeding range in the future, while the remaining species (mostly southerly breeding species) were predicted to expand their breeding ranges northward. The northern margins of southerly species and southern margins of northerly species, both, predicted to shift northward. Predicted changes in range size and shifts in range centroids were broadly positively associated with the observed changes, although some species deviated markedly from the predictions. The predicted average shift in core distributions was ca. 5 km yr
−1
towards the north (5% northeast, 45% north, and 40% northwest), compared to a slower observed average shift of ca. 3.9 km yr
−1
. Predicted changes in range centroids were generally larger than observed changes, which suggests that bird distribution changes may lag behind environmental changes leading to ‘climate debt’. We suggest that predictions of SDMs should be viewed as qualitative rather than quantitative outcomes, indicating that care should be taken concerning single species. Still, our results highlight the urgent need for management actions such as wetland creation and restoration to improve wetland birds’ resilience to the expected environmental changes in the future.
Species' range shifts and local extinctions caused by climate change lead to community composition changes. At large spatial scales, ecological barriers, such as biome boundaries, coastlines, and ...elevation, can influence a community's ability to shift in response to climate change. Yet, ecological barriers are rarely considered in climate change studies, potentially hindering predictions of biodiversity shifts. We used data from two consecutive European breeding bird atlases to calculate the geographic distance and direction between communities in the 1980s and their compositional best match in the 2010s and modeled their response to barriers. The ecological barriers affected both the distance and direction of bird community composition shifts, with coastlines and elevation having the strongest influence. Our results underscore the relevance of combining ecological barriers and community shift projections for identifying the forces hindering community adjustments under global change. Notably, due to (macro)ecological barriers, communities are not able to track their climatic niches, which may lead to drastic changes, and potential losses, in community compositions in the future.
Climate change has been associated with both latitudinal and elevational shifts in species' ranges. The extent, however, to which climate change has driven recent range shifts alongside other ...putative drivers remains uncertain. Here, we use the changing distributions of 378 European breeding bird species over 30 years to explore the putative drivers of recent range dynamics, considering the effects of climate, land cover, other environmental variables, and species' traits on the probability of local colonisation and extinction. On average, species shifted their ranges by 2.4 km/year. These shifts, however, were significantly different from expectations due to changing climate and land cover. We found that local colonisation and extinction events were influenced primarily by initial climate conditions and by species' range traits. By contrast, changes in climate suitability over the period were less important. This highlights the limitations of using only climate and land cover when projecting future changes in species' ranges and emphasises the need for integrative, multi-predictor approaches for more robust forecasting.
There are 40 regularly occurring raptor species in Croatia (diurnal raptors and owls), but only for two species (Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus and Eleonora’s Falcon F. eleonorae) long-term monitoring ...(more than 10 years) of significant parts (i.e. > 80%) of their national population has been implemented. For 23 species (58%), the coverage of monitoring is limited to several locations (often within borders of given protected area), involving small percentage of national population or/and has started recently. Therefore, they do not satisfy the main purpose of national monitoring programmes, i.e. to draw conclusions about the trend of the species’ national population and to support the decision-making process about conservation measures to be applied. Besides the Institute of Ornithology and several ornithological NGOs, which are recognized as main actors for the implementation of raptors monitoring, the State Institute for Nature Protection (SINP) is setting up a framework for the nationwide bird monitoring complying with the legal provisions of the EU Birds Directive and the Natura 2000 network. The highest priority is to improve the coordination between state institutions, scientific and non-governmental organizations involved in raptor conservation with the final aim to develop a national raptor conservation strategy that sets priority target species and standardized monitoring systems
Utvrđivanje činjenica i okolnosti događaja koji se vežu za smrt strogo zaštićenih vrsta sisavaca i ptica uginulih pod nerazjašnjenim okolnostima predstavlja složenu istražnu radnju koja uz postupanje ...od strane nadležnih tijela nužno zahtjeva uključivanje stručnjaka iz područja veterinarske medicine te stručnjake iz područja forenzičnih ispitivanja, istraživanja i vještačenja. Prepoznavanje i postavljanje sumnje na način smrti (prirodna, nasilna i nenasilna) na mjestu pronalaska lešine te postupanje od strane stručnih i kompetentnih tijela koja provode pretraživanja predstavljaju važne dijelove sustava koje je potrebno uspostaviti od samog početka nalaza i istražnih radnji. U ovom radu ukazali smo na glavne potrebne
nadopune i rješenja za postojeće kapacitete i sustave. Međusobna povezanost i sinergija djelovanja predstavljaju nužnu okosnicu sustava kojim bi osiguralo da se u što je moguće kraćem vremenu dođe do materijalne istine i relevantnih dokaza za učinkovito procesuiranje nezakonitih radnji.
Prvo gniježđenje crnoglavog galeba Larus melanocephalus u Hrvatskoj zabilježeno je tijekom proljeća 2023. godine u Slavoniji (istočna Hrvatska). Najmanje dva aktivna gnijezda zabilježena su dron ...letjelicom u miješanoj koloniji riječnih galebova Larus ridibundus,
vlastelica Himantopus himantopus i modronogih sabljarki Recurvirostra avosetta na malenom otočiću na šaranskim ribnjacima Našice. Tijekom naknadnog obilaska otočića s ciljem prstenovanja
ptići crnoglavog galeba nisu zabilježeni.
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