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Breeding land birds across the Greek islands: a biogeographic study with emphasis on faunal similarity, species–area relationships and nestedness

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Abstract

We investigated the biogeography of 102 breeding land bird species reported on 77 islands in the Aegean archipelago. For the first time, we prepared a complete as possible dataset concerning the land birds of the Aegean islands. The overall insular avifauna has been treated as a unit to find out certain ecological patterns. We examined the faunal similarity using recent distribution data, studied the species–area relationships (SARs) and tested land bird biotas for nested patterns. A significant SAR was identified for land bird species richness of the Aegean islands and for most of the island subdivisions. The surface area of the available Aegean islands explained 79% of the variance in species richness and the overall z value was 0.305, in general suggesting a high degree of island isolation. The z values of the log–log species–area regression varied significantly among island groups and ranged between 0.100 and 0.329. We found that the overall slope of the species–area curve was steeper than those of terrestrial invertebrates (i.e., centipedes, darkling beetles). The land bird fauna on the Aegean islands was nested, whereas Crete and its satellite islands was the least-nested island group. Insectivores and seedeaters contributed differently to land bird assemblages with the former showing a more reliable nested arrangement than the latter. In most cases, the rank of breeding bird species, as determined by the nestedness metric, was negatively correlated with island area and/or maximum altitude.

Zusammenfassung

Brütende Landvögel auf den griechischen Inseln: eine biogeografische Studie mit Schwerpunkten auf Faunenähnlichkeit, Arten-Areal-Beziehungen und gehäuftem Auftreten

Wir haben die Biogeografie von 102 Landvogelarten untersucht, die auf 77 Inseln des ägäischen Archipels nachgewiesen wurden. Zum ersten Mal haben wir ein möglichst vollständiges Inventar der Landvögel der ägäischen Inseln erstellt. Die Gesamt-Avifauna aller Inseln zusammen war als eine Einheit betrachtet worden, um bestimmte ökologische Muster zu finden. Wir untersuchten die Faunenähnlichkeit unter Verwendung aktueller Verbreitungsdaten sowie die Arten-Areal-Beziehungen (AAB) und testeten Landvogelgemeinschaften auf Konzentrationen in ihren Auftretungsmustern. Sowohl für den Landvogelartenreichtum der Ägäischen Inseln insgesamt, als auch für den der meisten Insel-Untergruppen konnten signifikante AAB identifiziert werden. 79% der Varianz im Artenreichtum wurde über die Oberfläche der verfügbaren Ägäisinseln erklärt und der Gesamt-z-Wert lag bei 0.305, was generell einen hohen Isolationsgrad der Inseln nahelegt. Die z-Werte der doppelt logarithmischen Arten-Areal-Regression variierten signifikant über die Inselgruppen und reichten von 0.100 bis 0.329. Wir fanden heraus, dass die Steigung der Arten-Areal-Kurve steiler war, als die terrestrischer Evertebraten (d.h. Tausendfüsser, Schwarzkäfer). Die Landvogelfauna der ägäischen Inseln zeigte Konzentrationen im Auftreten, während Kreta und seine Satelliteninseln die Inselgruppe mit der geringsten Konzentrierung war. Insektivore und granivore Vogelarten trugen unterschiedlich zu den Landvogelgemeinschaften bei, wobei erstere verlässlicher ein Konzentration in ihrem Auftreten zeigten als letztere. In den meisten Fällen war der Rang an Brutvogelarten, bestimmt durch das Maß der Konzentrierung, negativ mit der Inselfläche und/oder der Maximalhöhe über Null korreliert.

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Acknowledgments

We thank our colleagues, S. Adamandopoulou, H. Alivizatos, G. Andreou, S. Bourdakis, D. Bousbouras, A. Christidis, M. Dimaki, T. Dimalexis, P. Dragoumis, A. Evangelidis, J. Fric, M. Gaetlich, K. Gaganis, A. Galanaki, E. Galinou, Y. Gavalas, B. Hallmann, Y. Ioannidis, E. Kakalis, N. Kardakari, G. Karris, T. Kominos, P. Latsoudis, A. Manolopoulos, K. Misiakos, M. Moschovis, M. Panagiotopoulou, N. Probonas, Y. Rousopoulos, A. Sakoulis, V. Saravia Mullin, T. Skartsi, K. Stara, R. Tsiakiris, Y. Tsougrakis, and S. Zogaris, who significantly contributed to the study of the Important Bird Areas of Greece. We are grateful to Alexandra Manousaki and Maria Plataki for their valuable contribution to shape the primary dataset for land birds. We also thank Ian Henshaw for his critical comments on the manuscript and all linguistic remarks.

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  1. Stylianos Michail Simaiakis

    Present address: Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete, Knossos Av., P.O. Box 2208, 714 09, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete, Knossos Av., P.O. Box 2208, 714 09, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Stylianos Michail Simaiakis, Michail Dretakis, Christos Barboutis & Stavros Xirouchakis

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus, New Campus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Stylianos Michail Simaiakis

  3. Hellenic Ornithological Society, Kastritsiou 8, 546 23, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Thanos Katritis & Danae Portolou

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  1. Stylianos Michail Simaiakis
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Correspondence to Stylianos Michail Simaiakis.

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Communicated by T. Gottschalk.

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Simaiakis, S.M., Dretakis, M., Barboutis, C. et al. Breeding land birds across the Greek islands: a biogeographic study with emphasis on faunal similarity, species–area relationships and nestedness. J Ornithol 153, 849–860 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-011-0803-1

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