Functional reorganization of North American wintering avifauna

Wintering birds serve as vital climate sentinels, yet they are often overlooked in studies of avian diversity change. Here, we provide a continental‐scale characterization of change in multifaceted wintering avifauna and examine the effects of climate change on these dynamics. We reveal a strong fun...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology letters 2024-05, Vol.27 (5), p.e14430-n/a
Main Authors: Quimbayo, Juan P., Murphy, Stephen J., Jarzyna, Marta A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Avifauna
Biodiversity
biodiversity change
biodiversity science
Birds
Birds - physiology
Christmas Bird Count
Climate Change
Climate effects
Composition
Environmental impact
functional divergence
functional diversity
functional evenness
functional originality
functional richness
Seasons
temporal trends
United States
wintering birds
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Summary:Wintering birds serve as vital climate sentinels, yet they are often overlooked in studies of avian diversity change. Here, we provide a continental‐scale characterization of change in multifaceted wintering avifauna and examine the effects of climate change on these dynamics. We reveal a strong functional reorganization of wintering bird communities marked by a north–south gradient in functional diversity change, along with a superimposed mild east–west gradient in trait composition change. Assemblages in the northern United States saw contractions of the functional space and increases in functional evenness and originality, while the southern United States saw smaller contractions of the functional space and stasis in evenness and originality. Shifts in functional diversity were underlined by significant reshuffling in trait composition, particularly pronounced in the western and northern United States. Finally, we find strong contributions of climate change to this functional reorganization, underscoring the importance of wintering birds in tracking climate change impacts on biodiversity. Wintering birds serve as vital climate sentinels and assemblages in the northern United States saw contractions of the functional space and increases in functional evenness and originality, while the southern United States saw smaller contractions of the functional space and stasis in evenness and originality.
ISSN:1461-023X
1461-0248
DOI:10.1111/ele.14430