Dataset Information

Changes in Emberiza bunting communities and populations spanning 100 years in Korea.

ABSTRACT: The rapid decline of a few Emberiza bunting species is increasing conservation concerns, especially in Asia. However, temporal changes in communities and populations of buntings, ones of the most common migratory songbirds in Korea, have not been quantitatively assessed. To understand how the status of buntings has changed over the past 100 years, we collated abundance data from museum collections and bird-banding records between 1910 and 2019. We also used presence-absence data for buntings collected by a nationwide census scheme between 1997 to 2012. Our analysis showed that bunting communities reconstructed from museum-specimen and bird-banding data were not significantly different; however, community composition differed over time. The Meadow (E. cioides), Yellow-throated (E. elegans), Black-faced (E. spodocephala), Rustic (E. rustica) and Chestnut Buntings (E. rutila), which are still common or were once common species, significantly affected the temporal changes in bunting community composition. There were no recent changes in the presence of Rustic and Chestnut Buntings since 1997, but they caused medium-term changes in the bunting community composition, suggesting that there was a sharp to moderate decline in their numbers in the past. The probability of the presence of six bunting species decreased annually, with the most prominent decline in two common breeders, the Meadow (-2.99%/year) and Yellow-throated Buntings (-1.82%/year). This finding suggests that breeding buntings in Korea are under high pressure, as are the migratory buntings. Moreover, despite its recent population decline, the Yellow-throated Bunting was still a major contributor to the community, suggesting that bunting diversity has also been deteriorating while bunting populations are shrinking. Long-term monitoring schemes across their distribution ranges, international cooperation for identifying major threats and key areas of conservation, and law enforcement against illegal hunting and habitat loss are strongly required to mitigate the on-going decline of buntings in Korea and Asia.

SUBMITTER: Choi CY

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7252627 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Changes in Emberiza bunting communities and populations spanning 100 years in Korea.

Choi Chang-Yong CY Nam Hyun-Young HY Kim Han-Kyu HK Park Se-Young SY Park Jong-Gil JG

PloS one 20200527 5

The rapid decline of a few Emberiza bunting species is increasing conservation concerns, especially in Asia. However, temporal changes in communities and populations of buntings, ones of the most common migratory songbirds in Korea, have not been quantitatively assessed. To understand how the status of buntings has changed over the past 100 years, we collated abundance data from museum collections and bird-banding records between 1910 and 2019. We also used presence-absence data for buntings col ...[more]

PMID: 32459798

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Project description:Genetic diversity is one of the pillars of conservation biology research. High genetic diversity and abundant genetic variation in an organism may be suggestive of capacity to adapt to various environmental changes. The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is known to be highly polymorphic and plays an important role in immune function. It is also considered an ideal model system to investigate genetic diversity in wildlife populations. The Rufous-backed Bunting (Emberiza jankowskii) is an endangered species that has experienced a sharp decline in both population and habitat size. Many historically significant populations are no longer present in previously populated regions, with only three breeding populations present in Inner Mongolia (i.e., the Aolunhua, Gahaitu and Lubei557 populations). Efforts focused on facilitating the conservation of the Rufous-backed Bunting (Emberiza jankowskii) are becoming increasingly important. However, the genetic diversity of E. jankowskii has not been investigated. In the present study, polymorphism in exon 2 of the MHCIIB of E. jankowskii was investigated. This polymorphism was subsequently compared with a related species, the Meadow Bunting (Emberiza cioides). A total of 1.59 alleles/individual were detected in E. jankowskii and 1.73 alleles/individual were identified in E. cioides. The maximum number of alleles per individual from the three E. jankowskii populations suggest the existence of at least three functional loci, while the maximum number of alleles per individual from the three E. cioides populations suggest the presence of at least four functional loci. Two of the alleles were shared between the E. jankowskii and E. cioides. Among the 12 unique alleles identified in E. jankowskii, 10.17 segregating sites per allele were detected, and the nucleotide diversity was 0.1865. Among the 17 unique alleles identified in E. cioides, eight segregating sites per allele were detected, and the nucleotide diversity was 0.1667. Overall, compared to other passerine birds, a relatively low level of MHC polymorphism was revealed in E. jankowskii, which was similar to that in E. cioides. Positive selection was detected by PAML/SLAC/FEL analyses in the region encoding the peptide-binding region in both species, and no recombination was detected. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the alleles from E. jankowskii and E. cioides belong to the same clade and the two species shared similar alleles, suggesting the occurrence of a trans-species polymorphism between the two Emberiza species.

Dataset Information

Changes in Emberiza bunting communities and populations spanning 100 years in Korea.

Publications

Changes in Emberiza bunting communities and populations spanning 100 years in Korea.

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