1
Supplementary material
2
3
Appendix S1: Distribution of sampling effort among countries across time.
4
5
Appendix S2: Listing of EUNIS habitat codes used in the EUNIS bird database.
6
7
Appendix S3: Species Specialization Index of birds calculated from EUNIS habitat
8
classification.
9
10
Appendix S4: Methodological aspects of the Species Specialization Index (SSI)
11
calculation from expert knowledge.
12
13
Appendix S5: Significant decrease of CSI at the European scale whatever the weight
14
used.
15
16
Appendix S6: Trend in species richness and Simpson diversity index at the European
17
scale.
18
19
20
Appendix S7: Trends in CSI within the six countries surveyed.
21
1
22
Appendix S1: Distribution of sampling effort among countries across time.
23
Accounting for the datasets of the six countries, more than 13.9 million birds have
24
been detected across the 10 100 surveyed sites between 1990 and 2008. This
25
number corresponds to the total abundance of detected birds in the database, which
26
is distributed across times among the 6 countries such as shown in the following
27
table (CATAL.: Catalonia, CZECH: Czech Republic, Neth: The Netherlands, UK:
28
United Kingdom).
29
YEAR
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Total
CATAL. CZECH FRANCE NETH. SWEDEN
UK
Total
17992
13070
129195
56540
216797
14794
14080
111383
53330
193587
22237
15144
132486
63748
233615
20819
14525
136354
67507
239205
15355
14698
143680
72805
291814 538352
19595
18167
141599
66357
328067 573785
9564
23370
151310
72280
355160 611684
9786
24275
152454
77861
399829 664205
8084
19694
168833
79937
424951 701499
9938
18548
164026
81197
459723 733432
11675
15761
165154
76883
449114 718587
14513
69238
112084
86289
129882 412006
38220
13099 198875 156623
81018
421444 909279
48289
10469 260047 155113
79828
448471 1002217
58693
11680 305731 145329
77438
482033 1080904
64833
26441 327268 138673
72687
565329 1195231
67519
36613 320493 131745
71889
644066 1272325
81101
44066 322397 131230
78783
697690 1355267
76496
36752 364336
95845
74506
633037 1280972
435151 353472 2359717 2663116 1390883 6730610 13932949
30
31
2
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
Appendix S2: Listing of EUNIS habitat codes used in the EUNIS bird database
A1
A2
A3
A4
A5
A6
A7
A8
B1
B2
B3
C1
C2
C3
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
E1
E2
E3
E4
E5
E6
E7
FX
F1
F2
F3
F4
F5
F6
F7
F8
F9
FA
FB
GX
G1
G2
G3
G4
G5
Littoral rock and other hard substrata
Littoral sediments
Sublittoral rock and other hard substrata
Sublittoral sediments
Deep-sea bed
Isolated 'oceanic' features: seamounts, ridges and the submerged flanks of
oceanic islands
Pelagic water column
Ice-associated marine habitats
Coastal dune and sand habitats
Coastal shingle habitats
Rock cliffs, ledges and shores, including the supralittoral
Surface standing waters
Surface running waters
Littoral zone of inland surface waterbodies
Raised and blanket bogs
Valley mires, poor fens and transition mires
Aapa, palsa and polygon mires
Base-rich fens
Sedge and reedbeds, normally without free-standing water
Inland saline and brackish marshes and reedbeds
Dry grasslands
Mesic grasslands
Seasonally wet and wet grasslands
Alpine and subalpine grasslands
Woodland fringes and clearings and tall forb habitats
Inland saline grass and herb-dominated habitats
Sparsely wooded grasslands
Shrub
Tundra
Arctic, alpine and subalpine scrub habitats
Temperate and mediterraneo-montane scrub habitats
Temperate shrub heathland
Maquis, matorral and thermo-Mediterranean brushes
Garrigue
Spiny Mediterranean heaths (phrygana, hedgehog-heaths and related coastal
cliff vegetation)
Thermo-Atlantic xerophytic habitats
Riverine and fen scrubs
Hedgerows
Shrub plantations
Forest
Broadleaved deciduous woodland
Broadleaved evergreen woodland
Coniferous woodland
Mixed deciduous and coniferous woodland
Lines of trees, small anthropogenic woodlands, recently felled woodland,
early-stage woodland and coppice
3
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
H1
Terrestrial underground caves, cave systems, passages and waterbodies
H2
Screes
H3
Inland cliffs, rock pavements and outcrops
H4
Snow or ice-dominated habitats
H5
Miscellaneous inland habitats with very sparse or no vegetation
H6
Recent volcanic features
I1
Arable land and market gardens
I2
Cultivated areas of gardens and parks
J1
Buildings of cities, towns and villages
J2
Low density buildings
J3
Extractive industrial sites
J4
Transport networks and other constructed hard-surfaced areas
J5
Highly artificial man-made waters and associated structures
J6
Waste deposits
X01 Estuaries
X02 Saline coastal lagoons
X03 Brackish coastal lagoons
X04 Raised bog complexes
X05 Snow patch habitats
X06 Crops shaded by trees
X07 Intensively-farmed crops interspersed with strips of spontaneous vegetation
X08 Rural mosaics, consisting of woods, hedges, pastures and crops
X09 Pasture woods (with a tree layer overlying pasture)
X10 Mixed landscapes with a woodland element (bocages)
X11 Large parks
X13 Land sparsely wooded with broadleaved deciduous trees
X14 Land sparsely wooded with broadleaved evergreen trees
X15 Land sparsely wooded with coniferous trees
X16 Land sparsely wooded with mixed broadleaved and coniferous trees
X18 Wooded steppe
X19 Wooded tundra
X20 Treeline ecotones
X21 Archaeological sites
X22 Small city centre non-domestic gardens
X23 Large non-domestic gardens
X24 Domestic gardens of city and town centres
X25 Domestic gardens of villages and urban peripheries
X26 Baltic glo-lakes
X27 Machair complexes
X28 Blanket bog complexes
X29 Salt lake islands
X30 Bentho-pelagic habitats
G3.D-Ebog conifer woodland
B1.5-7Coastal dune heath,scrub and wood
A2.6 Coastal saltmarshes and saline reedbeds
G2.9 Evergreen orchards and groves
G1.D Fruit and nut tree orchards of deciduous trees
I1.4 Inundatable croplands, including ricefields
D1-4 mires, fens and bogs
G4.1 Mixed swamp woodland
4
132
133
134
G1.1-5
C3.5-7
C3.1-4
Riparian, alluvial or waterlogged woodland
Unvegetated or sparsely vegetated shore of inlanf surface waterbodies
Well vegetated littoral zone of inland surface waterbodies
5
135
Appendix S3: Species specialization Index of birds calculated from EUNIS habitat
136
classification.
Species
Accipiter gentilis
Accipiter nisus
Acrocephalus arundinaceus
Acrocephalus palustris
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus
Acrocephalus scirpaceus
Actitis hypoleucos
Aegithalos caudatus
Alauda arvensis
Alcedo atthis
Alectoris rufa
Anas clypeata
Anas crecca
Anas platyrhynchos
Anas querquedula
Anas strepera
Anser anser
Anthus campestris
Anthus pratensis
Anthus spinoletta
Anthus trivialis
Apus apus
Apus melba
Apus pallidus
Aquila chrysaetos
Ardea cinerea
Ardea purpurea
Arenaria interpres
Asio flammeus
Asio otus
Athene noctua
Aythya ferina
Aythya fuligula
Bonasia bonasia
Bubulcus ibis
Bucephala clangula
Burhinus oedicnemus
Buteo lagopus
Calandrella brachydactyla
Calidris alpina
Carduelis cannabina
Carduelis carduelis
Carduelis chloris
Carduelis flammea
Carduelis spinus
Carpodacus erythrinus
Certhia brachydactyla
Certhia familiaris
SSI
3.006
2.556
4.913
3.638
3.658
6.892
3.684
2.663
3.314
5.687
6.892
3.349
4.909
3.591
3.997
4.392
2.574
2.824
2.665
6.855
2.544
3.893
5.622
5.537
2.840
2.435
3.864
3.532
2.998
2.133
2.897
3.761
4.857
5.471
3.234
5.626
3.196
2.999
4.170
3.544
2.587
3.221
3.221
2.813
9.849
2.443
2.917
2.854
Cettia cetti
Charadrius dubius
Charadrius hiaticula
Chlidonias hybridus
Ciconia ciconia
Ciconia nigra
Cinclus cinclus
Circaetus gallicus
Circus aeruginosus
Circus cyaneus
Circus pygargus
Cisticola juncidis
Clamator glandarius
Coccothraustes coccothraustes
Columba livia
Columba oenas
Columba palumbus
Coracias garrulus
Corvus corax
Corvus corone
Corvus frugilegus
Corvus monedula
Coturnix coturnix
Crex crex
Cuculus canorus
Cygnus cygnus
Cygnus olor
Delichon urbica
Dendrocopos major
Dendrocopos medius
Dendrocopos minor
Dryocopus martius
Egretta garzetta
Emberiza cia
Emberiza cirlus
Emberiza citrinella
Emberiza hortulana
Emberiza rustica
Emberiza schoeniclus
Erithacus rubecula
Falco columbarius
Falco naumanni
Falco peregrinus
Falco subbuteo
Falco tinnunculus
Ficedula albicollis
Ficedula hypoleuca
Fringilla coelebs
Fringilla montifringilla
3.933
3.656
2.981
5.595
3.064
3.110
9.849
2.050
2.600
3.929
2.788
3.078
3.999
2.908
6.892
2.052
2.626
2.617
3.979
2.938
3.334
2.975
4.220
4.913
1.833
3.073
2.691
4.358
2.940
4.363
4.382
5.114
2.900
2.989
2.807
3.300
2.024
5.032
4.582
2.477
3.886
4.215
2.364
2.736
2.418
3.595
4.358
2.770
4.769
6
Fulica atra
Galerida cristata
Galerida theklae
Gallinago gallinago
Gallinula chloropus
Garrulus glandarius
Gavia stellata
Gyps fulvus
Haematopus ostralegus
Himantopus himantopus
Hippolais icterina
Hippolais polyglotta
Hirundo rustica
Jynx torquilla
Lagopus lagopus
Lanius collurio
Lanius excubitor
Lanius meridionalis
Lanius senator
Larus argentatus
Larus canus
Larus fuscus
Larus marinus
Larus melanocephalus
Larus michahellis
Larus ridibundus
Limosa limosa
Locustella fluviatilis
Locustella luscinioides
Locustella naevia
Loxia curvirostra
Loxia pytyopsittacus
Lullula arborea
Luscinia luscinia
Luscinia megarhynchos
Luscinia svecica
Melanocorypha calandra
Mergus merganser
Mergus serrator
Merops apiaster
Milvus migrans
Milvus milvus
Monticola saxatilis
Monticola solitarius
Motacilla alba
Motacilla cinerea
Motacilla flava
Muscicapa striata
Nucifraga caryocatactes
Numenius arquata
Numenius phaeopus
Nycticorax nycticorax
5.151
2.717
3.661
5.627
4.909
3.550
2.896
5.415
2.577
3.351
3.226
3.172
3.286
3.903
3.573
3.414
3.870
2.984
2.584
2.501
2.714
3.258
3.106
3.486
3.018
2.345
4.804
4.166
6.892
3.907
7.031
9.487
2.540
2.959
2.575
3.377
4.499
4.287
3.368
3.315
2.574
2.660
3.617
4.358
2.487
9.849
3.704
2.303
6.881
3.395
3.713
3.892
Oenanthe oenanthe
Oriolus oriolus
Pandion haliaetus
Panurus biarmicus
Parus ater
Parus cristatus
Parus major
Parus montanus
Parus palustris
Passer domesticus
Passer montanus
Perdix perdix
Pernis apivorus
Petronia petronia
Phalacrocorax carbo
Philomachus pugnax
Phoenicopterus ruber
Phoenicurus ochruros
Phoenicurus phoenicurus
Phylloscopus bonelli
Phylloscopus collybita
Phylloscopus sibilatrix
Phylloscopus trochilus
Pica pica
Picus canus
Picus viridis
Platalea leucorodia
Pluvialis apricaria
Podiceps cristatus
Podiceps nigricollis
Prunella modularis
Ptyonoprogne rupestris
Pyrrhocorax graculus
Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax
Pyrrhula pyrrhula
Rallus aquaticus
Recurvirostra avosetta
Regulus ignicapillus
Regulus regulus
Remiz pendulinus
Riparia riparia
Saxicola rubetra
Saxicola torquata
Scolopax rusticola
Serinus citrinella
Serinus serinus
Sitta europaea
Somateria mollissima
Sterna albifrons
Sterna hirundo
Sterna paradisaea
Sterna sandvicensis
2.487
2.514
3.951
6.892
3.604
6.892
2.436
3.143
3.720
2.302
3.338
3.571
5.597
4.368
3.633
4.830
3.688
3.395
2.385
3.082
2.892
2.905
3.740
2.611
4.339
2.364
3.864
4.242
4.382
6.892
2.069
5.622
4.804
3.584
3.684
7.031
3.013
3.263
4.795
6.892
3.676
3.700
2.824
4.381
5.507
2.419
3.220
3.146
3.379
2.592
3.296
3.638
7
Streptopelia decaocto
Streptopelia turtur
Strix aluco
Sturnus unicolor
Sturnus vulgaris
Sylvia atricapilla
Sylvia borin
Sylvia cantillans
Sylvia communis
Sylvia conspicillata
Sylvia curruca
Sylvia hortensis
Sylvia melanocephala
Sylvia nisoria
Sylvia undata
Tachybaptus ruficollis
Tadorna tadorna
Tetrao tetrix
Tetrax tetrax
Tringa glareola
Tringa nebularia
Tringa ochropus
Tringa totanus
Troglodytes troglodytes
Turdus iliacus
Turdus merula
Turdus philomelos
Turdus pilaris
Turdus torquatus
Turdus viscivorus
Tyto alba
Upupa epops
Vanellus vanellus
2.686
2.473
2.722
3.055
3.100
2.641
2.931
5.533
3.999
4.024
2.472
3.456
2.871
2.685
4.344
6.892
3.633
3.544
5.595
4.867
3.544
4.289
2.914
2.155
3.291
2.234
2.511
4.847
3.182
3.143
2.665
2.555
4.847
8
137
Appendix S4: Methodological aspects of the SSI calculation from expert knowledge.
138
139
We calculated the Species Specialization Index (SSI) for each bird species using the
140
method proposed by Julliard [12]. This method estimates the distribution of species
141
preference per habitat across a given range of habitat classes. This affinity was
142
provided by the expert knowledge “Bird EUNIS database” (available at the ETC-DB,
143
see [17]), which describes for each bird species its affinity level for nesting and
144
foraging per EUNIS habitat (n = 98, EUNIS level 2 and 3 classification) per
145
biogeographical region (n =11). Thus, we calculated for each species i) a SSI_EUNIS
146
across habitats that are only present in the geographical regions and in addition, ii) a
147
SSI_EUNIS_rgeo per biogeographical region.
148
The use of a species specialization index per species for the entire European
149
scale calculated from expert knowledge raises some questions. Indeed, expert
150
knowledge includes uncertainties such as the definition of habitat classes, the nature
151
of data (affinity degree), and the choice to consider the same species affinity for one
152
particular habitat all over its distribution range. Ideally, SSI should be calculated
153
using quantitative estimate of variations in abundance of species across habitat
154
classes instead of using expert judgment [12,18]. This finer estimate can be derived
155
from data provided by monitoring programs [4,12]. However, contrary to the SSI
156
based on EUNIS classification, this SSI requires information on habitat type for each
157
monitored sites which are often difficult to obtain.
158
To check the relevance of using the EUNIS database, we thus examined the
159
relationships between the SSI calculated from EUNIS versus those calculated from
160
the French monitoring program for which habitat data were available. We used the
161
SSI_monitoring (n species = 176) calculated from the French breeding Bird survey as
162
the coefficient of variation of species abundance across 18 habitat classes [4,12] and
163
examined
164
calculated for France as the average of SSI_EUNIS-rgeo across the 4 biogeographic
165
regions present (Atlantic, Alpine, Continental, Mediterranean). In addition, we
166
examined correlations among SSI calculated from different numbers of habitat
167
classes, using the 10 higher class of EUNIS habitats (level 1, SSI_EUNIS-grouped
168
habitats) and the 98 habitats classes available in the database (level 2 and 3,
169
SSI_EUNIS).
correlations
between
this
SSI_monitoring
and
SSI_EUNIS-rgeo4
9
170
We found significant correlations among SSI calculated from standardized
171
collected monitoring program versus EUNIS expert database (n species = 176, p <
172
0.001, R²=0.20) and among SSI calculated from a different number of habitat classes
173
(n species = 493, p < 0.001, R² = 0.73 (fig.3)).
174
175
Figure 3. Evidence of strong correlations among SSI calculated from different
176
numbers of habitat classes. (n species = 493, p < 0.001, SSI_EUNIS – grouped
177
habitats : SSI calculated from the 10 higher class of EUNIS habitats (level 1) and
178
SSI_EUNIS_ all habitats calculated from the 98 habitats classes available (level 2
179
and 3).
180
10
SSI_Eunis - all habitats
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
R² = 0,73
0
0
1
2
3
4
SSI_Eunis - grouped habitats
181
182
We show that using different number of habitat classes (strong correlations among
183
SSI calculated on 10 versus 98 habitats), and different data sources provided
184
comparable SSIs.
185
In conclusion, due to the strong correlations between SSI calculated from expert
186
knowledge versus standardized monitoring schemes (our results, [19]), we are
187
confident that our results are not biased by the SSI calculation.
188
189
190
1
0
Appendix S5: Significant decrease of CSI at the European scale whatever the weight
used (no weight: b=-0.0020  0.0006, p=0.003; area of country: b=-0.0023  0.0006,
p<0.001; number of sites divided by area: b=-0.0034  0.0009, p=0.002; area divided
by the number of sites per country: b=-0.0023  0.0005, p<0.001; number of birds
counted per country: b=-0.002  0.0004, p<0.001; breeding bird population size per
country – for the 234 species surveyed: b=-0.0018  0.0006, p=0.005).
Area
0,03
0,03
0,02
0,02
0,01
0,01
0
0
-0,01
-0,01
CSI
CSI
No weight
-0,02
-0,03
-0,04
-0,04
-0,05
R2 = 0,40
-0,06
1990
1995
2000
2005
R²= 0,44
-0,06
1990
1995
2010
2000
2005
Year
Year
Area divided by number of sites
Number of sites divided by area
0,03
0,06
0,02
0,04
0,01
0,02
0
2010
0
-0,01
CSI
CSI
-0,02
-0,03
-0,05
-0,02
-0,02
-0,04
-0,03
-0,06
-0,04
-0,08
-0,05
R2 = 0,44
-0,1
1990
1995
R2 = 0,40
-0,06
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
Year
2000
2005
2010
Year
Breeding bird population size
Number of counted birds
0,03
0,03
0,02
0,02
0,01
0,01
0
0
-0,01
-0,01
CSI
CSI
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
-0,02
-0,02
-0,03
-0,03
-0,04
-0,04
-0,05
-0,05
R2 = 0,51
-0,06
1990
1995
2000
Year
2005
2010
R2 = 0,28
-0,06
1990
1995
2000
Year
2005
2010
1
1
200
Appendix S6: Trend in species richness and Simpson diversity index at the
201
European scale (six countries).
202
203
0,8
204
0,6
206
0,4
Species richness
205
0,2
0
-0,2
-0,4
-0,6
R2 = 0,01
-0,8
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2005
2010
Year
0,008
Simpson diversity index
0,006
0,004
0,002
0
-0,002
-0,004
R² = 0,78
-0,006
1990
1995
2000
Year
1
2
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
Appendix S7: Trends in CSI within the six countries surveyed: significant decrease in
Sweden (b=-0.0075  0.0008; p<0.001, n=5239), in France (b=-0.0021  0.0007;
p=0.002, n=7530) and in United Kingdom (b=-0.0030  0.0003; p<0.001, n=33937);
non-significant trend in Czech Republic (b=-0.0011  0.001; p=0.29, n=801), in the
Netherlands (b=-0.0007  0.0006, p=0.29, n=15002) and in Catalonia (b=0.0040 
0.0024; p=0.08, n=1499).
Sweden
0,11
0,06
United Kingdom
0,04
0,06
0,02
0,01
CSI
CSI
0
-0,04
-0,02
-0,04
-0,09
-0,06
-0,14
-0,08
R² = 0,47
-0,19
1990
1995
2000
2005
R² = 0,71
-0,1
1990
1995
2010
year
The Netherlands
0,02
2000
2005
2010
2005
2010
2005
2010
year
0,06
Czech Republic
0,04
0
0,02
0
CSI
CSI
-0,02
-0,04
-0,02
-0,04
-0,06
-0,06
-0,08
-0,08
R² = 0,07
-0,1
1990
1995
2000
2005
R² = 0,15
-0,1
1990
1995
2010
France
0,04
2000
year
year
0,06
Cataluna
0,04
0,02
0,02
0
0
CSI
CSI
-0,02
-0,02
-0,04
-0,04
-0,06
-0,06
-0,08
-0,08
R² = 0,08
-0,1
1990
214
1995
2000
year
2005
2010
R² = 0,20
-0,1
1990
1995
2000
year
1
3