Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2021
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E34
Höfundar / Authors: Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir (1,2), Jennifer A. Gill (3), Snæbjörn Pálsson (2), José A. Alves (1,3,4), Verónica Méndez (1, 5), Harry Ewing (3), Tómas G. Gunnarsson (1)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. South Iceland Research Centre, University of Iceland; 2. Department of Biology, University of Iceland; 3. School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia 4. Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro 5. University Centre of the Westfjords
Kynnir / Presenter: Aldís Erna Pálsdóttir
Habitat loss and degradation are major drivers of biodiversity declines on a global scale. Habitat loss often occurs through fragmentation of natural areas by anthropogenic features and infrastructure. Although highly fragmented habitats have been studied intensively, less is known about the initial effects of habitat fragmentation, when single structures are introduced into large areas of natural habitat. The introduction of anthropogenic features can affect ground-nesting birds by reducing the amount and/or quality of available habitat, which could result in local declines in breeding abundance. In Iceland, one of the most important areas for breeding waders in Europe, anthropogenic developments outside urban areas are in their infancy. The Icelandic lowlands still contain large areas of semi-natural wetlands, grasslands and heathlands, which hold large breeding populations of a range of ground-nesting waders (e.g. Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria, Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus, Redshank Tringa totanus, Dunlin Calidris alpina and Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa). These habitats are being increasingly fragmented by roads, summer houses, power lines and forest plantations. Here we quantify how wader density and distribution vary in relation to anthropogenic features, and use these findings to estimate the potential scale of impact of these features in lowland Iceland and provide guidelines for future measures to reduce impacts and maintain the species and their habitats.