Using empirical data analysis and expert opinion to identify farmland‐associated bird species from their habitat associations

• Published in: Ibis (London, England) Vol. 165; no. 3; pp. 974 - 985
• Main Authors: Lin, Da‐Li, Maron, Martine, Amano, Tatsuya, Chang, An‐Yu, Fuller, Richard A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Abundance; Agricultural land; Analysis; artificial landscape; Associated species; Biodiversity; biodiversity indicator; Birds; Breeding; Breeding Bird Survey; Data analysis; Empirical analysis; Environmental factors; expert elicitation; habitat affinity; Habitats; Intensive farming; Land use; landscape management; Qualitative analysis; Species; Species classification; Tracking; working land conservation; Taiwan
• ISSN: 0019-1019; 1474-919X
• DOI: 10.1111/ibi.13179

Agricultural expansion is a pervasive threat to biodiversity, and intensification of farming activities can reduce the diversity and abundance of farmland‐associated species. Tracking these changes to monitor and manage the biodiversity impacts of farming requires identification of farmland‐associated species – a well‐established category in Europe and North America, but little‐documented elsewhere. Here we develop an integrated approach using empirical data analysis and expert opinion to delineate farmland‐associated bird species in Taiwan. We investigated the relationship between land use variables and the abundance of 129 bird species from the Taiwan Breeding Bird Survey. We also administered a questionnaire to 24 expert birdwatchers as an alternative method for estimating the habitat associations of the 129 bird species. The classifications of 104 species into habitat association classes using the two methods were well aligned, with 75 species (72.1%) classified consistently. Only two species (1.9%) were discordantly classified. We could not confidently assign 25 species to any category through empirical data analysis, but expert opinion allowed a qualitative identification of their habitat associations. The two different approaches enabled us to identify farmland‐associated species in a consistent way, increasing confidence that where empirical data were insufficient, expert opinion might suffice. Identifying Taiwan's farmland‐associated species using expert opinion, validated by the empirical analysis, paves the way for exploring the status of the group, how agricultural intensification affects it, and the effectiveness of conservation interventions in rapidly changing agricultural landscapes. 農業擴張已威脅生物多樣性，而集約農業活動會降低農業環境中物種的多樣度和豐富度。追蹤這些變化並監測管理農業活動對生物多樣性的影響，需要先判定哪些生物棲息於農業環境。在歐洲和北美洲已經有理想的案例，但其他地區還相當缺乏。這份研究中，我們整合了調查資料分析及專家意​​見，判定臺灣的農地鳥類。我們運用臺灣繁殖鳥類大調查的資料，分析129種鳥類的豐度與土地利用變量之間的關係。同時以問卷蒐集24位鳥類觀察專家的意見，作為評估 129 種鳥類及其棲地關係的替代方法。這兩種方法皆可有效判定104種鳥類的棲地關係，其中 75種鳥類 (72.12%) 的判定一致。只有兩種鳥 (1.92%) 的判定不一致。我們無法透過調查資料判定 25 種鳥類的棲地關係，但專家意見則能補足這個缺陷。兩種不同的方法能呈現一致相當高的結果，即便調查資料不足時，專家意見的判定結果仍值得信賴。透過調查資料分析和專家意見判定臺灣的農地鳥類，後續在快速變遷的農業地景中，探討其族群狀態、農業活動的影響、以及保育措施的效益，都能更加順利。