Freitag Kelsey, McKellar Ann E, Bradley David W, Flemming Scott A, LaZerte Steffi, Shaikh Mateen, Reudink Matthew W
Department of Biological Sciences Thompson Rivers University Kamloops British Columbia Canada.
Wildlife Research Division Environment and Climate Change Canada Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Jun 5;15(6):e71537. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71537. eCollection 2025 Jun.
Changes to the distributions of bird populations are becoming increasingly common as climate change and habitat loss continue to alter environments at a global scale. Grassland habitats have been disproportionately impacted by these stressors, leading to unprecedented declines of grassland bird species. Many grassland birds, such as the long-billed curlew (), have wide ranges across North America, and thus may face different threats and pressures in different parts of their range. Community science databases, such as eBird provide large-scale, long-term temporal and spatial data, allowing for studies that examine changes in species distribution both regionally and range-wide. Using 13 years of eBird data, we examined changes to the long-billed curlew breeding range boundaries and centroid position in North America, and centroid position within eight Bird Conservation Regions (BCR; groupings of similar bird communities and habitats across North America) in which the species occurs. We found an overall northward range expansion of approximately 198 km. At the BCR scale, the Northern Rockies (BCR 10) also showed a northern centroid shift. The Prairie Potholes showed an eastern centroid shift, consistent with a declining population in the northeast Canadian portion of this BCR. Furthermore, we found a pattern of western centroid shifts in several BCRs, consistent with grassland loss in eastern North America. These results reinforce the importance of understanding both range-wide and regional population dynamics to effectively manage at-risk species.
随着气候变化和栖息地丧失在全球范围内持续改变环境，鸟类种群分布的变化正变得越来越普遍。草原栖息地受到这些压力源的影响尤为严重，导致草原鸟类物种数量空前下降。许多草原鸟类，如长嘴杓鹬（），在北美分布范围广泛，因此在其分布范围的不同地区可能面临不同的威胁和压力。像eBird这样的社区科学数据库提供了大规模、长期的时空数据，使得能够开展研究，在区域和整个分布范围内考察物种分布的变化。利用13年的eBird数据，我们研究了北美长嘴杓鹬繁殖范围边界和质心位置的变化，以及该物种出现的八个鸟类保护区域（BCR；北美类似鸟类群落和栖息地的分组）内的质心位置。我们发现其分布范围总体向北扩展了约198公里。在BCR尺度上，北落基山脉（BCR 10）也显示质心向北移动。草原坑洼地区显示质心向东移动，这与该BCR加拿大东北部地区种群数量下降一致。此外，我们在几个BCR中发现了质心向西移动的模式，这与北美东部草原面积减少一致。这些结果强化了了解整个分布范围和区域种群动态对于有效管理濒危物种的重要性。
