Science at Museo delle Scienze - Museo Tridentino di Scienze ...

The main results and projects 2010-2011
a macroecological approach to the study of the impacts of
environmental change on alpine bird assemblages
Section of Vertebrate Zoology
environmental change affects both
natural ecosystems and civil societies.
Anthropogenic activities and the degradation
of natural habitats change the
population structures of various species
but also threaten essential ecosystem
services. it is therefore vital to understand
the processes that have a negative
impact on wildlife populations, if these
are to be preserved in the future. Threats
caused environmental change are often
complex and multi-faceted, thus requiring
the integration of different methods
and tools into an appropriate research
framework.
The research on Macroecology and
environmental change conducted during
2010-2011 by the Vertebrate zoology
on section builds on three key concepts:
species, space and time. This “threedimensional
view” aims to integrate the
spatial and temporal dimensions of ecological
processes into statistical methods
in order to i) quantify and ii) predict the
impact of environmental change across
many species. The ultimate goal of the
Macroecology research programme is
to find practical solutions to current conservation
challenges, applicable at local
level and beyond.
This research topic is carried out in cooperation
with dipartimento di Biologia
Animale e dell’uomo, university of Turin,
and centre for ecology and hydrology
(uK) and three workshops have been
held at the museum between 2010 and
2011.
up to date, the research conducted
by section has focussed on predicting
the changes in the spatial patterns of bird
species richness in relation to future climatic
and land-use changes. Results have
revealed how areas at mid-altudinal ranges
might experience high levels of losses
in species richness (1). Further analyses,
aimed answering questions related to
population persistence under climate
change are currently being conducted.
These analyses have uniquely combined
species trait and environmental data into
a single analytical framework. Preliminary
results have shown how topographically
complex areas would favour persistence
of alpine bird populations in future climates,
and, that species with a broad
ecological niche might stand a better
chance against climate change. Finally,
the section is tackling the complexity
of multiple threats faced by birds in the
Alpine region through an analysis that
combines expert opinion and field data.
This latter piece of work has received the
contribution of seventeen international
experts in subject of alpine bird ecology.
Girardello M., Tenan s., Pedrini P., 2010 -
Predicting the potential impacts of future landcover
changes on breeding bird communites in
the italian Alps. European Bird Census Council
18th conference of the European Bird Census
Council, 22-26 March 2010, caceres, spain.
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