0000000000244126
AUTHOR
Monika Schwager
showing 4 related works from this author
Limitations of population models in predicting climate change effects : a simulation study of sociable weavers in southern Africa
2008
Current approaches for predicting climate change effects on populations comprise static models based on the geographical distribution of species, and dynamic population models based on the relationship between population processes and the recent variation in climate. Population models have the inherent advantage of considering a species' response to climate as resulting from distinct mechanisms. However, they may have the disadvantage of considering only short-term processes as they occur under the current climate, disregarding slowly adapting mechanisms. It would be important, however, to know whether slowly adapting processes occur, and whether they will respond to climate change. A way o…
Population trends of birds across the iron curtain: Brain matters
2011
One approach to assess human impact on species’ population dynamics is to correlate ecological traits of species with their long-term population trends. Yet, few studies investigated population trends in multiple regions that differ in human impact to reveal which traits explain population trends over larger geographic areas and which only regionally. We examined the relationship between various species traits and long-term population trends of 57 common passerine bird species from 1991 to 2007 in three adjacent regions in central Europe that experienced differences in socioeconomic history: North-Western Germany, Eastern Germany and the Czech Republic. We tested effects of habitat, dietary…
Towards a more mechanistic understanding of traits and range sizes
2012
Aim An important, unresolved question in macroecology is to understand the immense inter-specific variation in geographic range sizes. While species traits such as fecundity or body size are thought to affect range sizes, a general understanding on how multiple traits jointly influence them is missing. Here, we test the influence of a multitude of species traits on global range sizes of European passerine birds in order to better understand possible mechanisms behind macroecological relationships. Location Global. Methods We evaluated the effect of life-history traits (fecundity, dispersal ability), ecological traits (habitat niche, diet niche, migratory behaviour, migratory flexibility) an…
Consequences of correlations between habitat modifications and negative impact of climate change for regional species survival
2011
Abstract While several empirical and theoretical studies have clearly shown the negative effects of climate or landscape changes on population and species survival only few of them addressed combined and correlated consequences of these key environmental drivers. This also includes positive landscape changes such as active habitat management and restoration to buffer the negative effects of deteriorating climatic conditions. In this study, we apply a conceptual spatial modelling approach based on functional types to explore the effects of both positive and negative correlations between changes in habitat and climate conditions on the survival of spatially structured populations. We test the…