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

Text Brambilla_BirConInt2020.pdf - Published Version Restricted to registered users only until 3 March 2025. Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (209kB)

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.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

1 since deposited on 07 Apr 2021
0 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item