Grünwald J, Hanzelka J, Voříšek P, Reif J. Long-term population trends of 48 urban bird species correspond between urban and rural areas.
iScience 2024;
27:109717. [PMID:
38706865 PMCID:
PMC11066430 DOI:
10.1016/j.isci.2024.109717]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Colonization of urban areas by wild species is a widespread phenomenon investigated from various ecological and evolutionary perspectives, yet long-term population trends of organisms in urban areas remain understudied. To fill this knowledge gap, we used data from a large-scale breeding bird monitoring scheme and computed population trends in 48 urban bird species in urban and rural areas of a central European country, Czechia. In most species, trends were similar in both environments, indicating common drivers and/or connections between urban and rural populations. In species with significant trends, the positive trends prevailed, suggesting good performance of urbanized species. This may result from wildlife-friendly environmental changes in cities, such as the expansion of green areas and the maturing of woody vegetation. In respect to species traits, more positive trends were found in larger species than in smaller species in both habitats, likely due to the recovery of previously depleted populations.
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