TY - JOUR

T1 - Vegetation structure from LiDAR explains the local richness of birds across Denmark

AU - Davison, Charles W.

AU - Assmann, Jakob J.

AU - Normand, Signe

AU - Rahbek, Carsten

AU - Morueta-Holme, Naia

N1 - Funding Information: Firstly, thanks to Birdlife Denmark and all the volunteer bird watchers that contributed to the Common Bird Monitoring programme. We also thank M. Dornelas, T. Newbold, M. K. Borregaard and E. A. Pearce for comments that improved this manuscript. NM‐H acknowledges the support of the Carlsberg Foundation (grant CF16‐0942) and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie grant agreement (746334). CR was supported by research grant no. 25925 from VILLUM FONDEN. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Classic ecological research into the determinants of biodiversity patterns emphasised the important role of three-dimensional (3D) vegetation heterogeneity. Yet, measuring vegetation structure across large areas has historically been difficult. A growing focus on large-scale research questions has caused local vegetation heterogeneity to be overlooked compared with more readily accessible habitat metrics from, for example, land cover maps. Using newly available 3D vegetation data, we investigated the relative importance of habitat and vegetation heterogeneity for explaining patterns of bird species richness and composition across Denmark (42,394 km2). We used standardised, repeated point counts of birds conducted by volunteers across Denmark alongside metrics of habitat availability from land-cover maps and vegetation structure from rasterised LiDAR data (10 m resolution). We used random forest models to relate species richness to environmental features and considered trait-specific responses by grouping species by nesting behaviour, habitat preference and primary lifestyle. Finally, we evaluated the role of habitat and vegetation heterogeneity metrics in explaining local bird assemblage composition. Overall, vegetation structure was equally as important as habitat availability for explaining bird richness patterns. However, we did not find a consistent positive relationship between species richness and habitat or vegetation heterogeneity; instead, functional groups displayed individual responses to habitat features. Meanwhile, habitat availability had the strongest correlation with the patterns of bird assemblage composition. Our results show how LiDAR and land cover data complement one another to provide insights into different facets of biodiversity patterns and demonstrate the potential of combining remote sensing and structured citizen science programmes for biodiversity research. With the growing coverage of LiDAR surveys, we are witnessing a revolution of highly detailed 3D data that will allow us to integrate vegetation heterogeneity into studies at large spatial extents and advance our understanding of species' physical niches.

AB - Classic ecological research into the determinants of biodiversity patterns emphasised the important role of three-dimensional (3D) vegetation heterogeneity. Yet, measuring vegetation structure across large areas has historically been difficult. A growing focus on large-scale research questions has caused local vegetation heterogeneity to be overlooked compared with more readily accessible habitat metrics from, for example, land cover maps. Using newly available 3D vegetation data, we investigated the relative importance of habitat and vegetation heterogeneity for explaining patterns of bird species richness and composition across Denmark (42,394 km2). We used standardised, repeated point counts of birds conducted by volunteers across Denmark alongside metrics of habitat availability from land-cover maps and vegetation structure from rasterised LiDAR data (10 m resolution). We used random forest models to relate species richness to environmental features and considered trait-specific responses by grouping species by nesting behaviour, habitat preference and primary lifestyle. Finally, we evaluated the role of habitat and vegetation heterogeneity metrics in explaining local bird assemblage composition. Overall, vegetation structure was equally as important as habitat availability for explaining bird richness patterns. However, we did not find a consistent positive relationship between species richness and habitat or vegetation heterogeneity; instead, functional groups displayed individual responses to habitat features. Meanwhile, habitat availability had the strongest correlation with the patterns of bird assemblage composition. Our results show how LiDAR and land cover data complement one another to provide insights into different facets of biodiversity patterns and demonstrate the potential of combining remote sensing and structured citizen science programmes for biodiversity research. With the growing coverage of LiDAR surveys, we are witnessing a revolution of highly detailed 3D data that will allow us to integrate vegetation heterogeneity into studies at large spatial extents and advance our understanding of species' physical niches.

KW - bird diversity

KW - citizen science

KW - habitat availability

KW - heterogeneity

KW - land cover

KW - LiDAR

KW - remote sensing

KW - vegetation structure

U2 - 10.1111/1365-2656.13945

DO - 10.1111/1365-2656.13945

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37269186

AN - SCOPUS:85160771655

VL - 92

SP - 1332

EP - 1344

JO - Journal of Animal Ecology

JF - Journal of Animal Ecology

SN - 0021-8790

IS - 7

ER -