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Motivation: Birds are an extremely diverse group in terms of adaptations to environmental conditions, which is reflected in their life histories and ecological traits. Recently, functional aspects of avian diversity have been used frequently in comparative analyses as well as in community ecology studies; thus, open access to complete datasets of traits will be valuable. We focused on European bird species and compiled information about crucial ecological traits. This dataset is thus useful for research investigating large-scale patterns in European avifauna and can be used in various analyses in evolutionary ecology, macroecology or conservation biology. Main types of variables contained: We chose several types of avian traits, such as morphological (e.g., weight, wing, bill or tarsus length), reproductive (e.g., clutch size, egg mass, incubation period or type of young) and behavioural traits (type of nest, mating system or type of parental care), dietary (e.g., folivore, granivore, insectivore or carnivore) and habitat preferences (e.g., deciduous/coniferous forest, reed or grassland). Spatial location and grain: Europe; all breeding bird species (n = 499). Major taxa and level of measurement: In total, we created a dataset for 499 bird species breeding in Europe and 34 key life-history traits represented in 85 variables. As a primary source of information we used the comprehensive handbook The birds of the Western Palearctic. The traits provide information about species-specific mean values. We did not record values for different geographical subspecies (i.e., the trait value always represents the average for the whole breeding area of a particular species). Software format: The data file is in ASCII text, tab delimited, not compressed.

Ecological specialization provides information about adaptations of species to their environment. However, identification of traits representing the relevant dimensions of ecological space remains challenging. Here we endeavoured to explain how complex habitat specializations relate to various ecological traits of European birds. We employed phylogenetic generalized least squares and information theoretic approach statistically controlling for differences in geographic range size among species. Habitat specialists had narrower diet niche, wider climatic niche, higher wing length/tail length ratio and migrated on shorter distances than habitat generalists. Our results support an expected positive link between habitat and diet niche breadth estimates, however a negative relationship between habitat and climate niche breadths is surprising. It implies that habitat specialists occur mostly in spatially restricted environments with high climatic variability such as mountain areas. This, however, complicates our understanding of predicted impacts of climatic changes on avian geographical distributions. Our results further corroborate that habitat specialization reflects occupation of morphological space, when specialists depend more on manoeuvrability of the flight and are thus more closely associated to open habitats than habitat generalists. Finally, our results indicate that long distance movements might hamper narrow habitat preferences. In conclusion, we have shown that species' distributions across habitats are informative about their positions along other axes of ecological space and can explain states of particular functional traits, however, our results also reveal that the links between different niche estimates cannot be always straightforwardly predicted.

The distribution–abundance relationship (DAR) is a well‐established macroecological pattern, where more locally abundant species are also more widespread across landscapes. However, it is not clear whether this relationship is temporally invariant, or how destabilization may manifest. Here, we examine the DAR at the landscape level in a unique but overlooked model system, that is, a waterbird assemblage inhabiting fishponds within the Třeboňsko Basin Biosphere Reserve, Czechia. Using 12 years of biannual census data across 134 intensively managed fishponds, collected in May and July, we describe variation in the slope of the DAR, expressed as the association between bird density and fishpond occupancy. We then tested for the role of environmental parameters and bird traits in determining the relationship's shape, utilizing general multivariate regression and a model‐averaging technique. Overall, we corroborated an expected positive DAR for waterbirds, and we present, for the first time, a consistent seasonal weakening of the interspecific DAR. We posit that this decline in the relationship's slope is a result of the deterioration and homogenization of habitat quality later in the summer, which resulted in a large deficit of suitable fishponds as populations increased. The DAR did not vary among years in either month. We also found that population trend was the most influential predictor of each species' response to changing environmental conditions; species with increasing regional abundance have stronger intraspecific DARs. Our results show that seasonal deterioration of habitat quality significantly impacts waterbird communities by altering the population spatial structure and that this is reflected in the shape of the DAR. This finding has important practical consequences, particularly in landscapes under human exploitation, where management decisions can determine ecosystem structure. Such analytical approaches can be used to pinpoint processes that are difficult to detect otherwise and thus assist conservation efforts. Abstrakt Vztah mezi distribucí a abundancí (DAR) je dobře známá makroekologická patrnost. Druhy, které jsou lokálně hojnější, jsou také více rozšířené. Nicméně není jasné, zda je tento vztah časově neměnný nebo jak se mohou změny projevovat. Zde zkoumáme DAR na úrovni krajiny v unikátním, avšak přehlíženém modelovém systému, tj. společenstvu vodních ptáků obývajících rybníky v rámci Biosférické rezervace Třeboňsko v České republice. Využili jsme dvanáctiletá data ze 134 intenzivně obhospodařovaných rybníků, data byla sbírána dvakrát ročně v květnu a červenci, popisujeme na nich proměnlivost ve sklonu DAR, vyjádřenou jako vztah mezi hustotou ptáků a obsazeností rybníků. Testovali jsme vliv environmentálních parametrů a vlastností ptáků na tvar tohoto vztahu, s využitím obecné mnohorozměrné regrese a průměrování modelů. Celkově jsme potvrdili očekávaný pozitivní DAR u vodních ptáků a poprvé ukazujeme konzistentní sezónní oslabování mezidruhového DAR. Domníváme se, že tento pokles sklonu vztahu je výsledkem zhoršování a homogenizace kvality prostředí později v létě, což vedlo k výraznému nedostatku vhodných rybníků pro rostoucí populace ptáků. DAR se mezi jednotlivými lety v žádném z měsíců neměnil. Také jsme zjistili, že populační trend byl nejvlivnějším prediktorem reakce jednotlivých druhů na měnící se environmentální podmínky; druhy se vzrůstající regionální početností vykazují silnější intraspecifické DAR. Naše výsledky ukazují, že sezónní zhoršování kvality prostředí významně ovlivňuje společenstva vodních ptáků tím, že mění prostorovou strukturu populací, což se odráží ve tvaru DAR. Toto zjištění má důležité praktické důsledky, zejména v lidmi využívané krajině, kde rozhodnutí o správě krajiny mohou určovat strukturu ekosystému. Podobné analytické přístupy mohou být použity k identifikaci procesů, které jsou jinak těžko zjistitelné, a tím přispět k snahám ochrany přírody.

Trait matching—a correlation between the morphology of plants and their pollinators—has been frequently observed in pollination interactions. Different intensities of natural selection in individual regions should cause such correlations to be observable across different local assemblages. In this study, we focused on matching between spur lengths of the genus Impatiens and bill lengths of sunbirds in tropical Africa. For 25 mountain and island locations, we compiled information about the composition and traits of local Impatiens and sunbird assemblages. We found that assemblage mean and maximum values of bill lengths were positively correlated with mean and maximum spur lengths across locations. Moreover, our results suggest that the positive correlations hold only for forest sunbird assemblages sharing the same habitat with Impatiens species. We further show that long‐billed sunbirds seem to locally match the morphology of multiple Impatiens plant species, not vice versa. Our observation implies that trait matching significantly contributes to structuring of Impatiens–sunbird pollination systems. We suggest that special habitat preferences together with spatial isolation of mountain environment might play a role in this case. We focused on matching between spur lengths of the genus Impatiens and bill lengths of sunbirds in tropical Africa. For 25 mountain and island locations, we compiled information about the composition and traits of local Impatiens and sunbird assemblages. We found that assemblage mean and maximum values of bill lengths were positively correlated with mean and maximum spur lengths across locations.

PECBMS is supported financially by the RSPB and the European Commission. TT was supported by Institutional Research Plan (RVO: 68081766), SH and LB were supported by EUBON project (308454; FP7‐ENV‐2012 European Commission) and the TRUSTEE project (RURAGRI ERA‐NET 235175), and AL received financial support from the Academy of Finland (project 275606).

Aim Temporal dynamics of biodiversity along tropical elevational gradients are unknown. We studied seasonal changes of Lepidoptera biodiversity along the only complete forest elevational gradient in the Afrotropics. We focused on shifts of species richness patterns, seasonal turnover of communities and seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges, the latter often serving as an indicator of the global change effects on mountain ecosystems. Location Mount Cameroon, Cameroon. Taxon Butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Methods We quantitatively sampled nine groups of Lepidoptera by bait‐trapping (16,800 trap‐days) and light‐catching (126 nights) at seven elevations evenly distributed along the elevational gradient from sea level (30 m a.s.l.) to timberline (2,200 m a.s.l.). Sampling was repeated in three seasons. Results Altogether, 42,936 specimens of 1,099 species were recorded. A mid‐elevation peak of species richness was detected for all groups but Eupterotidae. This peak shifted seasonally for five groups, most of them ascending during the dry season. Seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges were mostly responsible for these diversity pattern shifts along elevation: we found general upward shifts in fruit‐feeding butterflies, fruit‐feeding moths and Lymantriinae from beginning to end of the dry season. Contrarily, Arctiinae shifted upwards during the wet season. The average seasonal shifts of elevational ranges often exceeded 100 m and were even several times higher for numerous species. Main conclusions We report seasonal uphill and downhill shifts of several lepidopteran groups. The reported shifts can be driven by both delay in weather seasonality and shifts in resource availability, causing phenological delay of adult hatching and/or adult migrations. Such shifts may lead to misinterpretations of diversity patterns along elevation if seasonality is ignored. More importantly, considering the surprising extent of seasonal elevational shifts of species, we encourage taking account of such natural temporal dynamics while investigating the global climate change impact on communities of Lepidoptera in tropical mountains.

Species' geographical distributions and abundances are a central focus of current ecological research. Although multiple studies have been conducted on their elucidation, some important information is still missing. One of them is the knowledge of ecological traits of species responsible for the population density variations across geographical (i.e., total physical area) and ecological spaces (i.e., suitable habitat area). This is crucial for understanding how ecological specialization shapes the geographical distribution of species, and provides key knowledge about the sensitivity of species to current environmental challenges. Here, we precisely describe habitat availability for individual species using fine‐scale field data collected across the entire Czech Republic. In the next step, we used this information to test the relationships between bird traits and country‐scale estimates of population densities assessed in both geographical and ecological spaces. We did not find any effect of habitat specialization on avian density in geographical space. But when we recalculated densities for ecological space available, we found a positive correlation with habitat specialization. Specialists occur at higher densities in suitable habitats. Moreover, birds with arboreal and hole‐nesting strategies showed higher densities in both geographical and ecological spaces. However, we found no significant effects of morphological (body mass and structural body size) and reproductive (position along the slow–fast life‐history continuum) traits on avian densities in either geographical or ecological space. Our findings suggest that ecological space availability is a strong determinant of avian abundance and highlight the importance of precise knowledge of species‐specific habitat requirements. Revival of this classical but challenging ecological topic of habitat‐specific densities is needed for both proper understanding of pure ecological issues and practical steps in the conservation of nature. We test the relationships between traits of birds and country scale estimates of population densities assessed in both geographical and ecological space. We did not find any effect of the habitat specialization on avian densities in geographical space, but the effect turned positive once we recalculated the densities for ecological space available. Moreover, birds with arboreal and hole nesting strategies showed higher densities in both geographical and ecological space. However, we found no significant effects of the morphological and reproductive traits on avian densities.

Elevational gradients offer valuable opportunities to investigate biodiversity patterns and the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape them. Although tropical mountains are recognized as biodiversity hotspots, the various dimensions of biodiversity in these systems, particularly in equatorial Africa, remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined the functional (FD) and phylogenetic diversity (PD) of bird assemblages along a primary forest elevational gradient in Cameroon, West‐Central Africa, spanning from lowland forests to the treeline (~2300 m a.s.l.). We analyzed how FD and PD vary with elevation and tested the roles of abiotic filtering and biotic interactions, such as competition, in community assembly. Additionally, we assessed whether taxonomic diversity (TD) increases through niche packing or expansion, based on morphological and resource‐use traits. Using null models and bird occurrence data, we inferred the drivers of FD and PD patterns and evaluated whether species in more diverse assemblages occupied novel functional space compared to less diverse assemblages. Our results showed that both functional richness and TD declined with elevation, whereas functional nearest neighbor distance, functional evenness, and mean nearest taxon distance increased. Traits related to resource use suggested that bird species at higher elevations were functionally less similar than expected by chance, partially supporting the influence of competition consistent with the guild assembly rule. Phylogenetic clustering observed at both low and high elevations pointed to independent species radiations, likely shaped by historical forest dynamics. In species‐rich lowland assemblages, we found evidence of niche packing, suggesting increased specialization or niche overlap. In contrast, niche expansion appeared to contribute to higher TD at elevated sites. Overall, our findings indicate that while abiotic filters along forested elevational gradients and competition in lowland forests play roles in shaping avian diversity, they are not the sole or dominant mechanisms. Nonetheless, partial support for competition aligns with theoretical expectations under the guild assembly framework. On Mt. Cameroon, functional richness and taxonomic diversity decreased with elevation, while functional nearest neighbor distance, functional evenness, and mean nearest taxon distance showed positive trends. Traits related to resource use indicated that higher‐elevation species were functionally less similar than expected by chance, supporting partially competition under the guild assembly rule. Phylogenetic clustering at low and high elevations suggested independent species radiation linked to historic forest dynamics. Low‐elevation, species‐rich assemblages displayed niche packing, while niche expansion contributed to TD increases at higher elevations.

Recent observations from the tropics indicate seasonal peaks in breeding and vocal activity of some bird species. However, information about seasonality in vocal activity at the community level is still lacking in the tropics. We examined seasonal variation in the diurnal vocal activity of lowland rain forest birds on Mount Cameroon, using weekly automatic sound recording throughout the whole year and related it to rainfall and temperature. We show that the bird community in lowland rain forest vocalized year-round, but species richness as well as the vocal activity of the community varied greatly during the year. This variation coincided with the seasonality of rainfall. The highest number of species (31.5 on average) sang at the beginning of the driest period, followed by a gradual decrease in singing with increasing rainfall (minimum 14.5 species). This indicates that intensive rainfall indirectly limits the vocal activity of the tropical rain-forest bird community. Temporal turnover of vocalizing species as well as within-day variation in vocal activity was highest during the transition period between dry and rainy seasons. We suggest that this could reflect differing timing in the breeding activity of particular feeding guilds to follow seasonal peaks of their diets.

Environmental productivity, i.e., the amount of biomass produced by primary producers, belongs among the key factors for the biodiversity patterns. Although the relationship of diversity to environmental productivity differs among studied taxa, detailed data are largely missing for most groups, including insects. Here, we present a study of moth diversity patterns at local and regional scales along a continent-wide gradient of environmental productivity in southern African savannah ecosystems. We sampled diversity of moths (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) at 120 local plots along a gradient of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the Namib Desert to woodland savannahs along the Zambezi River. By standardized light trapping, we collected 12,372 specimens belonging to 487 moth species. The relationship between species richness for most analyzed moth groups and environmental productivity was significantly positively linear at the local and regional scales. The absence of a significant relationship of most moth groups’ abundance to environmental productivity did not support the role of the number of individuals in the diversity–productivity relationship for south African moths. We hypothesize the effects of water availability, habitat complexity, and plant diversity drive the observed moth diversity patterns.