INVESTIGATING THE BREEDING HABITAT REQUIREMENTS OF THE BIMACULATED LARK (MELANOCORYPHA BIMACULATA) USING MULTI-SCALE ECOLOGICAL NICHE MODELING

Date

2025-8-21

Author

Yaprak, Gencer

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The Bimaculated Lark (Melanocorypha bimaculata) is recognized as an indicator species of steppe ecosystems, but its ecology and breeding habitat requirements remain poorly understood. A multi-scale ecological niche modeling framework was employed in this thesis to investigate these requirements across three distinct spatial scales. At the global scale, bioclimatic variables were modeled using six different algorithms (GLM, GAM, Random Forest, Boosted Regression Trees, MaxEnt, MaxNet), and future climatic habitat suitability was predicted under three SSP climate scenarios (SSP126, SSP370, SSP585). At the regional scale, data from two biodiversity research projects were integrated to assess the influences of land-cover composition on habitat suitability via MaxEnt and Random Forest algorithms. At the local scale, field-measured vegetation variables were incorporated to evaluate their effects on breeding habitat selection. Global models indicated that low precipitation in driest months was the most important factor influencing the species’ distribution. Regional models revealed that tree-dominated land cover had negative; grassland vi percentage or treeless agricultural areas had positive effects on species presence. Local models showed that the species preferred habitats with treeless, short, and high-coverage herbaceous vegetation. Conservation of treeless ecosystems and maintenance of short grasslands with high coverage via sustainable grazing management can be recommended as tools to conserve this species, which would be beneficial also for other steppe specialists.

Subject Keywords

Steppe, Drylands, Climate change, Land cover, Vegetation, Avian, Ecological niche modelling, Species distribution models

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115672

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis