Gilroy, James, Gill, Jennifer, Butchart, Stuart, Jones, Victoria and Franco, Aldina (2016) Migratory diversity predicts population declines in birds. Ecology Letters, 19 (3). 308–317. ISSN 1461-023X

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Abstract

Declines in migratory species are a pressing concern worldwide, but the mechanisms underpinning these declines are not fully understood. We hypothesised that species with greater within-population variability in migratory movements and destinations, here termed ‘migratory diversity’, might be more resilient to environmental change. To test this, we related map-based metrics of migratory diversity to recent population trends for 340 European breeding birds. Species that occupy larger non-breeding ranges relative to breeding, a characteristic we term ‘migratory dispersion’, were less likely to be declining than those with more restricted non-breeding ranges. Species with partial migration strategies (i.e. overlapping breeding and non-breeding ranges) were also less likely to be declining than full migrants or full residents, an effect that was independent of migration distance. Recent rates of advancement in Europe-wide spring arrival date were greater for partial migrants than full migrants, suggesting that migratory diversity may also help facilitate species responses to climate change.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 13 - climate action ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science > School of Environmental Sciences Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	03 Jun 2016 10:00
Last Modified:	06 May 2022 02:55
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/59205
DOI:	10.1111/ele.12569

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