Population changes in Czech passerines are predicted by their life-history and ecological traits

A species’ susceptibility to environmental change might be predicted by its ecological and life-history traits. However, the effects of such traits on long-term bird population trends have not yet been assessed using a comprehensive set of explanatory variables. Moreover, the extent to which phylogeny affects patterns in the interspecific variability of population changes is unclear. Our study focuses on the interspecific variability in long-term population trends and annual population fluctuations of 68 passerine species in the Czech Republic, assessing the effects of eight life-history and five ecological traits. Ordination of life-history traits of 68 species revealed a life-history grad…