Titmice are a better indicator of bird density in Northern European than in Western European forests.

ABSTRACT: Population sizes of many birds are declining alarmingly and methods for estimating fluctuations in species' abundances at a large spatial scale are needed. The possibility to derive indicators from the tendency of specific species to co-occur with others has been overlooked. Here, we tested whether the abundance of resident titmice can act as a general ecological indicator of forest bird density in European forests. Titmice species are easily identifiable and have a wide distribution, which makes them potentially useful ecological indicators. Migratory birds often use information on the density of resident birds, such as titmice, as a cue for habitat selection. Thus, the density of residents may potentially affect community dynamics. We examined spatio-temporal variation in titmouse abunda

SUBMITTER: Kajanus MH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8840900 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature