The European functional tree of bird life in the face of global change.
Despite the recognized joint impact of climate and land cover change on facets of biodiversity and their associated functions, risk assessments have primarily evaluated impacts on species ranges and richness. Here we quantify the sensitivity of the functional structure of European avian assemblages to changes in both regional climate and land cover. We combine species range forecasts with functional-trait information. We show that species sensitivity to environmental change is randomly distributed across the functional tree of the European avifauna and that functionally unique species are not disproportionately threatened by 2080. However, projected species range changes will modify the mean species richness and functional diversity of bird diets and feeding behaviours. This will unequally affect the spatial structure of functional diversity, leading to homogenization across Europe. Therefore, global changes may alter the functional structure of species assemblages in the future in ways that need to be accounted for in conservation planning.
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, UMR CNRS 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, FR-38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
Wilfried
W
Thuiller
1] Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, UMR CNRS 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, FR-38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France [2] Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (CSIC), Zaragoza 50080, Spain.
Samuel
S
Pironon
Landscape Dynamics, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf 8903, Switzerland.
Achilleas
A
Psomas
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, UMR 7204 MNHN-CNRS-UPMC, Centre de Recherches sur la Biologie des Populations d'Oiseaux, CP 51, 55 Rue Buffon, Paris 75005, France.
Morgane
M
Barbet-Massin
Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, UMR 7204 MNHN-CNRS-UPMC, Centre de Recherches sur la Biologie des Populations d'Oiseaux, CP 51, 55 Rue Buffon, Paris 75005, France.
Frédéric
F
Jiguet
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, UMR CNRS 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, FR-38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
Sébastien
S
Lavergne
Landscape Dynamics, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf 8903, Switzerland.
Peter B
PB
Pearman
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, UMR CNRS 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, FR-38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
Julien
J
Renaud
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Alpine, UMR CNRS 5553, Université Joseph Fourier, BP 53, FR-38041 Grenoble Cedex 9, France.
Laure
L
Zupan
Landscape Dynamics, Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf 8903, Switzerland.
Niklaus E
NE
Zimmermann
D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology*; D057231:Climate Change; D005060:Europe; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D013045:Species Specificity