Migratory bird stopover patterns linked to urbanization and social landscapes

Despite global urbanization, the role of cities in macroecological
processes remains understudied. Using radar estimates of migratory bird
stopover across the U.S., we assessed urban landscapes' contributions
to stopover and links to social demographics for 2,130 parks across 88
cities. Stopover hotspots disproportionately occurred on urban landscapes
relative to land area, with nearly 50% of spring migration hotspots
falling within Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The relationship between
urbanization and stopover varied regionally, correlating negatively in
eastern flyways and positively in western flyways. Finally, stopover was
positively correlated with household income but varied considerably, with
many cities showing no effect or an effect in the opposite direction. We
highlight the significance of cities in a hemispheric-scale ecological
process and demonstrate radar as tool for studying urban social-ecological
interactions.

尽管全球城市化进程持续推进，但城市在宏观生态（macroecological）过程中的作用仍未得到充分研究。本研究借助针对美国全境候鸟中途停歇（stopover）情况的雷达估算数据，对88座城市的2130处公园展开分析，评估城市景观对候鸟中途停歇的贡献，以及中途停歇与社会人口学特征之间的关联。研究发现，相较于土地总面积占比，候鸟中途停歇热点区域在城市景观中的占比偏高，分布不均衡；近50%的春季迁徙热点区域坐落于大都市统计区（Metropolitan Statistical Areas）范围内。城市化与候鸟中途停歇之间的关联存在显著区域差异：在东部迁徙通道中二者呈负相关，而在西部迁徙通道中则呈正相关。此外，候鸟中途停歇情况与家庭收入整体呈正相关，但该关联存在较大波动，诸多城市未表现出显著影响，或是呈现出相反的关联方向。本研究凸显了城市在半球尺度生态过程中的重要意义，并验证了雷达技术可作为研究城市社会-生态交互作用的有效工具。