Political borders impact associations between habitat suitability predictions and resource availability
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Political borders impact associations between habitat suitability predictions and resource availability Matthias Tschumi . Patrick Scherler Martin U. Gru¨ebler
. Julien Fattebert
. Beat Naef-Daenzer
.
Received: 19 August 2019 / Accepted: 24 August 2020 Ó The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Context By linking species of conservation concern to their abiotic and biotic requirements, habitat suitability models (HSM) can assist targeted conservation measures. Yet, conservation measures may fail if HSM are unable to predict crucial resources. HSM
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01103-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. M. Tschumi (&) P. Scherler J. Fattebert B. Naef-Daenzer M. U. Gru¨ebler Swiss Ornithological Institute, Seerose 1, 6204 Sempach, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] P. Scherler e-mail: [email protected] J. Fattebert e-mail: [email protected] B. Naef-Daenzer e-mail: [email protected] M. U. Gru¨ebler e-mail: [email protected] P. Scherler Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland J. Fattebert School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 4000, South Africa
are typically developed using remotely sensed landcover classification data but not information on resources per se. Objectives While a certain land-cover class may correlate with crucial resources in the area of calibration, political boundaries can abruptly alter these associations. We investigate this potential discrepancy in a well-known study system highly relevant for farmland bird conservation. Methods We compared land cover, land-use intensity and resource availability between plots of highest habitat suitability for little owls (Athene noctua) among two neighbouring, but politically separated areas (i.e. south-western Germany vs. northern Switzerland). Results Land cover and land-use richness did not differ between German and Swiss plots. Yet there were marked differences in terms of land-use intensity and the availability of resources. Land-use intensity was significantly higher and resource availability lower in Swiss compared to German plots. Conclusions While accounting well for remotely sensed data such as land cover, HSM may fail to predict land-use intensity and resources across borders. The relationship between geodata used as proxies and ecologically relevant resources may differ according to history, policies and socio-cultural context, constraining the viability of HSM across political borders. This study emphasises the need for fine-scale resource assessments complementing landscape-scale
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Landscape Ecol
suitability models. Conservation measures need to consider the availability of crucial resources and their socio-economic moderators to be effective. Keywords Agri-environment schemes Birds Ground-tr
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