Interactions between climate warming and management actions determining bird community change in protected areas

Jonas, L. and Brommer, J.E. and Jung, M. and Baláž, M. and Borg, J.J. and Božič, L. and Clausen, P. and Deroux, A. and Devos, K. and Domșa, C. and Faragó, Sándor and Fitzgerald, N. and Georgiev, V. and Haas, F. and Hornman, M. and Ieronymidou, C. and Langendoen, T. and Lehikoinen, A.S. and Lindner, K. and Luigujõe, L. and Meissner, W. and Mikuska, T. and Molina, B. and Moniz, F. and Musilová, Z. and Portolou, D. and Quaintenne, G. and Rantanen, J. and Šniaukšta, L. and Stīpniece, A. (2025) Interactions between climate warming and management actions determining bird community change in protected areas. BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, 308. ISSN 0006-3207

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Abstract

Biodiversity is increasingly negatively affected by climate warming, making this issue a major conservation concern. Many bird species respond to warming temperatures by shifting distribution ranges, but these shifts often lag behind temperature changes. Protected areas (PAs) can facilitate such shifts, but a growing body of literature suggests that not all PAs facilitate climate warming responses equally, as realized management actions can differ. Here, we study waterbird community change as a response to climate warming in relation to targets of conservation projects implemented in Natura 2000 protected areas across the EU. We combine long-term waterbird survey data (i.e. International Waterbird Census) with data on conservation funded by the EU LIFE program, the main EU instrument for conservation. We used the community temperature index to measure thermal community changes over 28 years. We found community adjustment to climate warming lagged behind temperature. However, community change was twice as fast in sites were conservation was targeting wetland habitats compared with sites without habitat conservation. Targeting waterbirds directly did not lead to variation in community change compared with other types of species conservation. Our results imply that on the management level conservation targeting a community's habitat (rather than targeting the species group directly) is more likely to provide benefits for community adjustment to climate warming. This study demonstrates that management actions currently not targeting climate warming impacts on biodiversity, have the potential to support species responding to climate warming. However, conservation strategies need to be adapted to the challenges arising with climate warming. © 2025 The Authors

Tudományterület / tudományág

agricultural sciences > forestry and wildlife management
natural sciences > environmental science

Faculty

Not relevant

Institution

Soproni Egyetem

Item Type:	Article
SWORD Depositor:	Teszt Sword
Depositing User:	Csaba Horváth
Identification Number:	MTMT:36144452
Date Deposited:	16 May 2025 06:32
Last Modified:	16 May 2025 06:32
URI:	http://publicatio.uni-sopron.hu/id/eprint/3627

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