Social information broadcast modifies the impact of habitat fragmentation on forest bird biodiversity

Nature conservation aims to prevent species loss, often driven by habitat fragmentation. While island biogeography theory informs many models, animals consider both habitat structure but also on the social conditions in a given area when selecting territories. Individuals assess resource availability, competition, and predation risk through social cues, yet the interaction between such information (attractive vs. repulsive) and the physical properties of the habitat remains poorly understood. We provide data on both, habitat features (forest parameters and fragmentation metrics) and bird populations along with a large-scale experiment manipulating social information sources (attractive: common forest bird species, repulsive: common forest predator, mixed: attractive and repulsive alternated), testing how different local conditions scenarios affect bird populations. These data can inform broader analyses of bird responses to environmental and social factors, supporting large-scale assessments of habitat selection and population trends. Comparing effect sizes across similar studies can reveal spatiotemporal trends in bird population responses to the interaction of social and environmental cues on larger scales.

自然保护旨在防止物种丧失，而栖息地破碎化（habitat fragmentation）往往是导致这一现象的主要原因。虽然岛屿生物地理学理论（island biogeography theory）为许多模型提供了理论依据，但动物在选择领地时，不仅会考虑栖息地结构，还会关注特定区域的社会条件。个体通过社会线索（social cues）评估资源可获得性、竞争程度及捕食风险，但这类信息（吸引性vs排斥性）与栖息地物理特性之间的相互作用仍知之甚少。我们提供了栖息地特征（森林参数与破碎化指标）和鸟类种群的相关数据，同时开展了一项操纵社会信息源（social information sources）的大规模实验（吸引性：常见森林鸟类；排斥性：常见森林捕食者；混合性：吸引性与排斥性交替），以检验不同局部条件情景对鸟类种群的影响。这些数据可为鸟类对环境与社会因素响应的更广泛分析提供参考，助力栖息地选择及种群趋势的大规模评估。对比同类研究的效应量（effect sizes），可揭示更大尺度下鸟类种群对社会与环境线索相互作用响应的时空趋势。