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Changes in forest bird abundance, community structure and composition following a hurricane in Sweden

Chevalier, Mathieu ; Lindström, Åke LU orcid ; Pärt, Tomas and Knape, Jonas LU (2019) In Ecography 42(11). p.1862-1873
Abstract

The effect that extreme natural events have on biological diversity is relatively poorly known. We used a before–after control-impact (BACI) design to analyze changes in bird abundances and communities following Hurricane Gudrun, which struck southern Sweden in January 2005, felling 75 million m3 of forest and causing damage to 5% of forested areas (half a million hectares) in a few hours. We used recent measures of impact in combination with classical BACI contrasts to analyze bird count data from a monitoring program in Sweden. We investigated changes in the abundance of 17 species commonly found in forests, along with changes in species composition and functional structure of the bird community. In total, we considered 34... (More)

The effect that extreme natural events have on biological diversity is relatively poorly known. We used a before–after control-impact (BACI) design to analyze changes in bird abundances and communities following Hurricane Gudrun, which struck southern Sweden in January 2005, felling 75 million m3 of forest and causing damage to 5% of forested areas (half a million hectares) in a few hours. We used recent measures of impact in combination with classical BACI contrasts to analyze bird count data from a monitoring program in Sweden. We investigated changes in the abundance of 17 species commonly found in forests, along with changes in species composition and functional structure of the bird community. In total, we considered 34 response variables and examined whether responses were immediate or long-term. There was no evidence of a strong effect of the hurricane on the abundances of six species. Estimates of the effects on five species were too uncertain to draw inferences. We detected positive and negative effects of the hurricane on the abundances of the remaining six species, but the magnitude of effects often was small. Generally, the effects were in the expected direction: negative on birds associated with mature forest and positive on birds associated with open land or young forest. We found evidence of an increase in the proportion of species that nest on the ground and a decrease in the proportion of species that nest in cavities and trees. In contrast, the hurricane had no discernible effect on functional measures of diversity (richness, evenness or divergence), or on communities’ reproductive or morphological characteristics. Our results suggest that the hurricane affected bird populations and communities, but the magnitude of effects was generally small.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
bayesian inference, before–after control-impact designs, birds, community changes, disturbance, environmental impact assessment, measures of impact, resilience
in
Ecography
volume
42
issue
11
pages
1862 - 1873
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • scopus:85071501413
ISSN
0906-7590
DOI
10.1111/ecog.04578
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cf8a007e-cfcc-4d88-90a3-f8b8426a0267
date added to LUP
2019-09-18 14:53:43
date last changed
2024-03-04 02:14:27
@article{cf8a007e-cfcc-4d88-90a3-f8b8426a0267,
  abstract     = {{<p>The effect that extreme natural events have on biological diversity is relatively poorly known. We used a before–after control-impact (BACI) design to analyze changes in bird abundances and communities following Hurricane Gudrun, which struck southern Sweden in January 2005, felling 75 million m<sup>3</sup> of forest and causing damage to 5% of forested areas (half a million hectares) in a few hours. We used recent measures of impact in combination with classical BACI contrasts to analyze bird count data from a monitoring program in Sweden. We investigated changes in the abundance of 17 species commonly found in forests, along with changes in species composition and functional structure of the bird community. In total, we considered 34 response variables and examined whether responses were immediate or long-term. There was no evidence of a strong effect of the hurricane on the abundances of six species. Estimates of the effects on five species were too uncertain to draw inferences. We detected positive and negative effects of the hurricane on the abundances of the remaining six species, but the magnitude of effects often was small. Generally, the effects were in the expected direction: negative on birds associated with mature forest and positive on birds associated with open land or young forest. We found evidence of an increase in the proportion of species that nest on the ground and a decrease in the proportion of species that nest in cavities and trees. In contrast, the hurricane had no discernible effect on functional measures of diversity (richness, evenness or divergence), or on communities’ reproductive or morphological characteristics. Our results suggest that the hurricane affected bird populations and communities, but the magnitude of effects was generally small.</p>}},
  author       = {{Chevalier, Mathieu and Lindström, Åke and Pärt, Tomas and Knape, Jonas}},
  issn         = {{0906-7590}},
  keywords     = {{bayesian inference; before–after control-impact designs; birds; community changes; disturbance; environmental impact assessment; measures of impact; resilience}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{1862--1873}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Ecography}},
  title        = {{Changes in forest bird abundance, community structure and composition following a hurricane in Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ecog.04578}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/ecog.04578}},
  volume       = {{42}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}