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Global impacts of climate change on avian functional diversity
Author(s) -
Stewart Peter S.,
Voskamp Alke,
Santini Luca,
Biber Matthias F.,
Devenish Adam J. M.,
Hof Christian,
Willis Stephen G.,
Tobias Joseph A.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/ele.13830
Subject(s) - guild , ecology , climate change , species richness , trophic level , range (aeronautics) , biodiversity , latitude , ecosystem , trait , psychological resilience , global change , tropics , biology , geography , habitat , psychology , materials science , geodesy , computer science , composite material , psychotherapist , programming language
Climate change is predicted to drive geographical range shifts, leading to fluctuations in species richness (SR) worldwide. However, the effect of these changes on functional diversity (FD) remains unclear, in part because comprehensive species‐level trait data are generally lacking at global scales. Here, we use morphometric and ecological traits for 8268 bird species to estimate the impact of climate change on avian FD. We show that future bird assemblages are likely to undergo substantial shifts in trait structure, with a magnitude of change greater than predicted from SR alone, and a direction of change varying according to geographical location and trophic guild. For example, our models predict that FD of insect predators will increase at higher latitudes with concurrent losses at mid‐latitudes, whereas FD of seed dispersing birds will fluctuate across the tropics. Our findings highlight the potential for climate change to drive continental‐scale shifts in avian FD with implications for ecosystem function and resilience.