Hillier-Weltman Zoë, Lortie C J, Zuliani Mario
Department of Biological Science, York University, 4700 Keele St, Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3, Canada.
BMC Ecol Evol. 2025 Jul 1;25(1):63. doi: 10.1186/s12862-025-02410-x.
Interactions between key landscape features in desert ecosystems such as shrubs and other foundation plants can influence avian community assembly. Bird species often use resources and microhabitats provided by these shrubs for food, perching sites, and as thermal refuges. Citizen science data are broadly accessible and can be used to examine fine-scale avian distribution. Coupling this accessible data with key factors, such as native shrubs, can be used for conservation practices. eBird data offers the opportunity to examine avian communities across regional ecological gradients. Using eBird, we tested the hypothesis that shrub density and relative differences in aridity among sites within this region shape the structure of bird communities throughout Central California drylands. Shrub density positively influenced the observation rates of avian communities sampled. Decreasing aridity increased the positive associations of birds with shrubs. Citizen science data such as eBird offers promise for testing predictions at fine spatial scales, and further research can explore availability and reporting of data for other regions - particularly in drylands subject to substantial pressures from climate change globally. Simple landscape features in drylands, such as native shrub density and cover, offer a viable path forward for avian community conservation and potential habitat restoration in drylands in the face of a changing climate and increasing desertification.
沙漠生态系统中关键景观特征（如灌木和其他基础植物）之间的相互作用会影响鸟类群落的聚集。鸟类通常利用这些灌木提供的资源和微生境来获取食物、寻找栖息场所，并作为热避难所。公民科学数据广泛可得，可用于研究鸟类的精细分布。将这些可得数据与关键因素（如本土灌木）相结合，可用于保护实践。eBird数据提供了一个机会，来研究区域生态梯度上的鸟类群落。利用eBird，我们检验了这样一个假设：该区域内各地点的灌木密度和干旱程度的相对差异塑造了整个加利福尼亚中部旱地鸟类群落的结构。灌木密度对所采样的鸟类群落的观测率有积极影响。干旱程度的降低增加了鸟类与灌木的正向关联。像eBird这样的公民科学数据为在精细空间尺度上检验预测提供了希望，进一步的研究可以探索其他地区数据的可得性和报告情况——特别是在全球气候变化带来巨大压力的旱地。旱地中简单的景观特征，如本土灌木的密度和覆盖度，为面对气候变化和日益严重的荒漠化时旱地鸟类群落保护和潜在栖息地恢复提供了一条可行之路。
