Functional shifts in bird communities from semi-natural oak forests to conifer plantations are not consistent across Europe

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220155
• Publication Date: 2019-07-22T17:37:51Z
• Authors: Scott M. Pedley; Luc Barbaro; João L. Guilherme; Sandra Irwin; John O’Halloran; Vânia Proença; Martin J. P. Sull...
• Keywords: Phylogenetic diversity; Gamma diversity; Bird conservation

While the area of plantation forest increased globally between 2010 and 2015, more than twice natural forests was lost over same period (6.5 million ha per year versus 3.2 gained year). Consequently, there is an increasing need to understand how land use affects biodiversity. The relative conservation value context dependent, being influenced by previous use, management regimes landscape composition. What less well understood, importance management, consistency diversity patterns across regions, degree which useful generalisations can be provided within among bioregions. Here, we analyse birds in Ireland, France Portugal, representing distinct regions Atlantic biogeographic Europe. We compared taxonomic, functional phylogenetic bird communities conifer plantations semi-natural oak forests, assessed correlations species traits type these regions. Although composition (assessed with NMDS ordination) differed consistently all three richness Shannon did not show a consistent pattern. In Ireland France, metrics taxonomic (richness diversity), diversity, dispersion were greater plantations. However, Portugal differ significantly types, while statistically No single trait-forest association correlated direction study Trait associations for French appeared intermediate those when trait significant both correlation always opposite. variation response indicates that care needed generalising community assembly mechanisms