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The effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland

With a length exceeding 210,000 km in Europe, railways are common linear features dissecting landscapes. However, the impact of railway networks on biodiversity is equivocal. In this study, we investigated the effect of railway embankments on bird diversity components in an agricultural landscape in...

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Autores principales: Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna, Skórka, Piotr, Bonk, Maciej, Lenda, Magdalena, Rożej-Pabijan, Elżbieta, Wantuch, Marta, Moroń, Dawid
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6828635/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31456147
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06245-0
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author Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna
Skórka, Piotr
Bonk, Maciej
Lenda, Magdalena
Rożej-Pabijan, Elżbieta
Wantuch, Marta
Moroń, Dawid
author_facet Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna
Skórka, Piotr
Bonk, Maciej
Lenda, Magdalena
Rożej-Pabijan, Elżbieta
Wantuch, Marta
Moroń, Dawid
author_sort Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna
collection PubMed
description With a length exceeding 210,000 km in Europe, railways are common linear features dissecting landscapes. However, the impact of railway networks on biodiversity is equivocal. In this study, we investigated the effect of railway embankments on bird diversity components in an agricultural landscape in southern Poland. Forty transects including 20 along railways and 20 as controls in open fields were established. Birds were counted twice in 2009, and environmental characteristics were estimated for each transect. Ordination techniques and generalized additive models were used to compare species composition, richness, abundance, conservation status, population trends and phylogenetic and functional diversity indices between railway and field transects. Species richness and phylogenetic diversity but not abundance nor functional diversity were higher along railway transects than along field transects. Diversity indices near railways, mostly species richness and phylogenetic diversity, were positively associated with bush cover, wet meadow cover, wetland cover and the slope of the railway but negatively associated with dry meadow cover and field cover. Our study shows that railway embankments may be beneficial for bird diversity but probably do not alter the functional properties of bird communities as much as open fields. Proper management of these linear habitats may increase their value for birds and contribute to long-term bird community persistence. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11356-019-06245-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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spelling pubmed-68286352019-11-18 The effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna Skórka, Piotr Bonk, Maciej Lenda, Magdalena Rożej-Pabijan, Elżbieta Wantuch, Marta Moroń, Dawid Environ Sci Pollut Res Int Research Article With a length exceeding 210,000 km in Europe, railways are common linear features dissecting landscapes. However, the impact of railway networks on biodiversity is equivocal. In this study, we investigated the effect of railway embankments on bird diversity components in an agricultural landscape in southern Poland. Forty transects including 20 along railways and 20 as controls in open fields were established. Birds were counted twice in 2009, and environmental characteristics were estimated for each transect. Ordination techniques and generalized additive models were used to compare species composition, richness, abundance, conservation status, population trends and phylogenetic and functional diversity indices between railway and field transects. Species richness and phylogenetic diversity but not abundance nor functional diversity were higher along railway transects than along field transects. Diversity indices near railways, mostly species richness and phylogenetic diversity, were positively associated with bush cover, wet meadow cover, wetland cover and the slope of the railway but negatively associated with dry meadow cover and field cover. Our study shows that railway embankments may be beneficial for bird diversity but probably do not alter the functional properties of bird communities as much as open fields. Proper management of these linear habitats may increase their value for birds and contribute to long-term bird community persistence. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11356-019-06245-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. Springer Berlin Heidelberg 2019-08-27 2019 /pmc/articles/PMC6828635/ /pubmed/31456147 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06245-0 Text en © The Author(s) 2019 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
spellingShingle Research Article
Kajzer-Bonk, Joanna
Skórka, Piotr
Bonk, Maciej
Lenda, Magdalena
Rożej-Pabijan, Elżbieta
Wantuch, Marta
Moroń, Dawid
The effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland
title The effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland
title_full The effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland
title_fullStr The effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland
title_full_unstemmed The effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland
title_short The effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland
title_sort effect of railways on bird diversity in farmland
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6828635/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31456147
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06245-0
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