Functional traits and metacommunity theory reveal that habitat filtering and competition maintain bird diversity in a human shared landscape

Human-shared landscapes cover much of Earth, yet their conservation value is contested. This controversy may persist because previous studies have examined species diversity, rather than the processes through which such diversity maintained. For example, a site exhibiting high not actually bolster populations if only maintained net immigration. Recent research has begun to isolate that maintain metacommunities and develop functional trait methods identify these processes. However, underlying bird communities remain obscure. Here, we leverage metacommunity theory, partitioning Bayesian multispecies abundance model assess whether shared landscape – woody perennial polyculture farms bolsters diversity. Such grow multiple food-producing perennials together with vegetative groundcover. We surveyed birds in situ traits across US Midwest traditional agriculture, polyculture, prairie woods. found polycultures exhibited highest were most preferred by many (including threatened ones). Moreover, our analysis suggests this habitat filtering competition, merely Thus, can likely conserve providing distinct habitat. These results suggest offer substantial potential support Midwest. Our study demonstrates utility within framework unmask ecological help landscapes.