The speed of change in climate and land cover is associated with the speed of biodiversity changes in avian assemblages of the United States

Abstract

Changes in climate and land use land cover are a widely recognized threat to the stability of natural species assemblages’ composition and biodiversity. Species-specific responses to these changes can result in a rearrangement of the species composition of assemblages, altering the stability, resilience, and functioning of the ecosystems of which these assemblages are a part. We assessed the relationship between the rate of change in avian species richness and assemblage dissimilarity and the rate of change in climatic and land use land cover variables across 30 years in five ecoregions of the United States. Areas where effects of changing land use land cover and/or climate were most strongly felt were high elevations and latitudes. Rates of species replacement and loss were associated with changing environmental factors in opposite directions. Rates of change in biodiversity were more strongly predicted by rates of change in land use land cover than by rates of change in climate. For the species assemblages studied here, rapidly changing climate and/ or land use land cover was more strongly affecting total assemblage dissimilarity patterns than species richness even though species richness has received much more research attention. Trends in multiple biodiversity indices capture multiple levels of action (richness vs. assemblage dissimilarity). A study that integrates these allows us to observe the complex and changing interrelationships between biodiversity and the environment (climate and land cover), and thus, plan effectively for preservation of processes that generate patterns of biodiversity.