6533b853fe1ef96bd12acc46

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Positive impacts of important bird and biodiversity areas on wintering waterbirds under changing temperatures throughout Europe and North Africa

subject

description

Clausen, Preben/0000-0001-8986-294X WOS: 000536149100018 Migratory waterbirds require an effectively conserved cohesive network of wetland areas throughout their range and life-cycle. Under rapid climate change, protected area (PA) networks need to be able to accommodate climate-driven range shifts in wildlife if they are to continue to be effective in the future. Thus, we investigated geographical variation in the relationship between local temperature anomaly and the abundance of 61 waterbird species during the wintering season across Europe and North Africa during 1990-2015. We also compared the spatio-temporal effects on abundance of sites designated as PAs, Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs), both, or neither designation (Unlisted). Waterbird abundance was positively correlated with temperature anomaly, with this pattern being strongest towards north and east Europe. Waterbird abundance was higher inside IBAs, whether they were legally protected or not. Trends in waterbird abundance were also consistently more positive inside both protected and unprotected IBAs across the whole study region, and were positive in Unlisted wetlands in southwestern Europe and North Africa. These results suggest that IBAs are important sites for wintering waterbirds, but also that populations are shifting to unprotected wetlands (some of which are IBAs). Such IBAs may therefore represent robust candidate sites to expand the network of legally protected wetlands under climate change in north-eastern Europe. These results underscore the need for monitoring to understand how the effectiveness of site networks is changing under climate change. Academy of FinlandAcademy of Finland [312579, 275606]; Tiina and Antti Herlin Foundation, Helsinki (Finland); Research Council of NorwayResearch Council of Norway [280952/E20]; project Future Bird Scenarios through the 2017-2018 Belmont Forum; Research Council of Norway (Forskningsradet)Research Council of Norway [NINA: 295767]; Academy of Finland (AKA, Univ. Helsinki) [326338]; Swedish Research Council (Formas, Lund Univ.) [2018-02441] We thank the thousands of volunteer birdwatchers that carry out the International Waterbird Census (IWC) across Europe and Africa. We also thank Wetlands International (www.wetlands.org) for coordinating such a large-scale monitoring scheme and for compiling all these data. We acknowledge all the funding sources that allow the continuation of the IWC. This work was supported by the Academy of Finland (projects 312579 and 275606), the Tiina and Antti Herlin Foundation, Helsinki (Finland), the Research Council of Norway (project 280952/E20, cofounded by Statnett and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate). In addition, this study is framed within the project Future Bird Scenarios funded through the 2017-2018 Belmont Forum and BiodivERsA joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivScen ERANet COFUND programme, with the following funding organisations: the Research Council of Norway (Forskningsradet, NINA: 295767), the Academy of Finland (AKA, Univ. Helsinki: 326338), and the Swedish Research Council (Formas, Lund Univ.: 2018-02441).