Potential distribution of a climate sensitive species, the White-winged Snowfinch Montifringilla nivalis in Europe

Brambilla, Mattia; Resano-Mayor, Jaime; Arlettaz, Raphaël; Bettega, Chiar; Binggeli, Anaïs; Bogliani, Giuseppe; Braunisch, Veronika; Celada, Claudio; Chamberlain, Dan; Chiffard Carricaburu, Jules; Delgado, Maria del Mar; Fontanilles, Philippe; Kmecl, Primoz; Korner, Fränzi; Lindner, Robert; Pedrini, Paolo; Pöhacker, Jakob; Rubinic, Borut; Schano, Christian; Scridel, Davide; ... (2020). Potential distribution of a climate sensitive species, the White-winged Snowfinch Montifringilla nivalis in Europe. Bird Conservation International, 30(4), pp. 522-532. Cambridge University Press 10.1017/S0959270920000027

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The White-winged Snowfinch Montifringilla nivalis nivalis is assumed to be highly threatened by climate change, but this high elevation species has been little studied and the current breeding distribution is accurately known only for a minor portion of its range. Here, we provide a detailed and spatially explicit identification of the potentially suitable breeding areas for the Snowfinch.We modelled suitable areas in Europe and compared them with the currently known distribution. We built a distribution model using 14,574 records obtained during the breeding period that integrated climatic, topographic and land-cover variables, working at a 2-km spatial resolution with MaxEnt. The model performed well and was very robust; average annual temperature was the most important occurrence predictor (optimum between c.-3°C and 0°; unsuitable conditions below -10° and above 5°). The current European breeding range estimated by BirdLife International was almost three times greater than that classified as potentially suitable by our model. Discrepancies between our model and the distribution estimated by BirdLife International were particularly evident in eastern Europe, where the species is poorly monitored. Southern populations are likely more isolated and at major risk because of global warming. These differences have important implications for the supposed national responsibility for conservation of the species and highlight the need for new investigations on the species in the eastern part of its European range.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE) > Conservation Biology
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Ecology and Evolution (IEE)

UniBE Contributor:

Resano Mayor, Jaime, Arlettaz, Raphaël, Binggeli, Anaïs, Braunisch, Veronika

Subjects:

500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology
500 Science > 590 Animals (Zoology)

ISSN:

0959-2709

Publisher:

Cambridge University Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Olivier Roth

Date Deposited:

07 Apr 2021 11:26

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:49

Publisher DOI:

10.1017/S0959270920000027

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/154146

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/154146

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