A resource-based modelling framework to assess habitat suitability for steppe birds in semiarid Mediterranean agricultural systems.

ABSTRACT: European agriculture is undergoing widespread changes that are likely to have profound impacts on farmland biodiversity. The development of tools that allow an assessment of the potential biodiversity effects of different land-use alternatives before changes occur is fundamental to guiding management decisions. In this study, we develop a resource-based model framework to estimate habitat suitability for target species, according to simple information on species' key resource requirements (diet, foraging habitat and nesting site), and examine whether it can be used to link land-use and local species' distribution. We take as a study case four steppe bird species in a lowland area of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula. We also compare the performance of our resource-based approach to that

SUBMITTER: Cardador L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3965467 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature