Are invasive House Sparrows a nuisance for native avifauna when scarce?

dc.contributor.author García-Arroyo, Michelle ca
dc.contributor.author Santiago-Alarcon, Diego ca
dc.contributor.author Quesada, Javier ca
dc.contributor.author Mac-Gregor-Fors, Ian ca
dc.contributor.other Consorci del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona ca
dc.date.accessioned 2025-11-05T13:10:30Z
dc.date.available 2025-11-05T13:10:30Z
dc.date.issued 2020-03-14
dc.description Biological invasions are the second most important cause of species extinction. Aided by processes such as transportation and urbanization, exotic species can establish and spread to new locations, causing changes in the function and structure of ecosystems. The House Sparrow is a widespread and highly abundant landbird associated to human presence. Previous studies performed in urban landscapes have suggested that this species could be acting, in synergy with urbanization, as a potential threat to native urban avian assemblages. In this study we assessed the relationship between House Sparrow density and native bird species richness in a region where the sparrows are scarce and sparsely distributed. We surveyed bird assemblages in and around four small-sized human settlements, considering three conditions in relation to House Sparrow presence: urban invaded, urban non-invaded, and non-urban non-invaded. To assess the potential detrimental role of House Sparrows on native bird species richness, we measured, additionally to sparrow densities, 20 predictor variables that describe vegetation structure and complexity, as well as urban infrastructure and human activities across four seasons of 1 year. Our results show that maximum shrub height was positively related to bird species richness, built cover was negatively associated with it, and House Sparrow invaded sites were related to a significant decrease of bird species richness, with increasing richness loss when more sparrows were present. Thus, we here provide evidence that urban areas can act in synergy with the presence of House Sparrows (even in low densities) in the urban-related species richness decline pattern.
dc.format application/pdf ca
dc.format.extent 27 p. ca
dc.identifier http://hdl.handle.net/2072/374723
dc.identifier https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-00963-x
dc.identifier.citation Urban Ecosystems, 14 Mar. 2020 ca
dc.identifier.entitat consorcis ca
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/11703/120756
dc.language eng ca
dc.provenance Recercat (Dipòsit de la Recerca de Catalunya) ca
dc.rights This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Urban Ecosystems. The final authenticated version is available online at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-019-00874-6. Terms of use: https://www.springer.com/gp/open-access/publication-policies/aam-terms-of-use
dc.rights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject Pardals ca
dc.subject Animals invasors ca
dc.subject Ecologia urbana ca
dc.subject.category Ciència i tecnologia ca
dc.subject.forma articles ca
dc.title Are invasive House Sparrows a nuisance for native avifauna when scarce?
dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion
dc.type.driver info:eu-repo/semantics/article ca
metadadalocal.dependencia 8008920

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