Ecological barriers mediate spatiotemporal shifts of bird communities at a continental scale

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2213330120
• Publication Date: 2023-05-30T17:31:38Z
• Authors: Emma-Liina Marjak...; Laura Bosco; Martijn Versluijs; Yanjie Xu; Andrea Santangeli; Sari Holopainen; Sanna Mäkeläinen; Sergi Herrando; Verena Keller; Petr Voříšek; Lluís Brotons; Alison Johnston; Karine Princé; Stephen G. Willis; Karen Aghababyan; Vitalie Ajder; Dawn E. Balmer; Taulant Bino; Kerem Ali Boyla; Tomasz Chodkiewicz; Juan Carlos del M...; Vlatka Dumbović M...; Alessandro Ferrarini; Carlos Godinho; Marco Gustin; Mikhail Kalyakin; Peter Knaus; Tatiana Kuzmenko; Åke Lindström; Qenan Maxhuni; Blas Molina; Károly Nagy; Dimitrije Radišić; Saša Rajkov; Draženko Z. Rajković; Liutauras Raudoniki; Jovica Sjeničić; Stoycho Stoychev; Tibor Szép; Norbert Teufelbauer; Silvia Ursul; Chris A. M. van T...; Metodija Velevski; Thomas Vikstrøm; Tomasz Wilk; Olga Voltzit; Ingar Jostein Øien; Christoph Sudfeldt; Bettina Gerlach; Paul Shimmings; Aleksi Lehikoinen
• Keywords: Biome; Environmental change; Global Change; Temporal scales; Community; Geographical distance; Elevation (ballistics)

Species’ range shifts and local extinctions caused by climate change lead to community composition changes. At large spatial scales, ecological barriers, such as biome boundaries, coastlines, elevation, can influence a community's ability shift in response change. Yet, barriers are rarely considered studies, potentially hindering predictions of biodiversity shifts. We used data from two consecutive European breeding bird atlases calculate the geographic distance direction between communities 1980s their compositional best match 2010s modeled barriers. The affected both shifts, with coastlines elevation having strongest influence. Our results underscore relevance combining projections for identifying forces adjustments under global Notably, due (macro)ecological not able track climatic niches, which may drastic changes, potential losses, compositions future.