Habitat preference and abundance of Coscoroba coscoroba and Cygnus melancoryphus in Petrel wetland (O'Higgins region, Chile): Implications in the conservation

Abstract

Wetlands are environments with a high diversity and global importance due to the ecosystem services they provide. In Chile, most wetlands are threatened, including their avifauna, especially the two southern hemisphere swans (Coscoroba coscoroba and Cygnus melancoryphus). Here, we made three years of monitoring of abundance of both species in the Petrel wetland. Our results show that the Petrel wetland is an important site for the conservation of South American swan populations, with an abundance average of 38.5 ± 18.8 individuals of C. coscoroba (peak of 60 ind.) and 11.6 ± 12.4 individuals of C. melancoryphus (peak of 40 ind.). These swan species avoid sites close to urban areas and show a preference for habitats distant from anthropogenic activities. The detection probability of swans was influenced by minimum and maximum temperature and wind speed. The vegetation aquatic and riverine are key variables to the abundance of these swans. Our large monitoring highlights the importance of Petrel wetland for the conservation of southern swans and provide value information about their abundance patterns and the population dynamics of C. coscoroba and C. melancoryphus. These data support the need to develop conservation and management plans for this wetland.

Caracterización y variabilidad temporal de la avifauna en el humedal Petrel, región del Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins, Chile: Necesidades de conservación

“…biodiversidad, especialmente en las zonas costeras (Barbosa & Villagra 2015). Un ejemplo de esto es el humedal Petrel, humedal urbano de tipo costero, el cual, se caracteriza porque su avifauna ha sido formalmente poco estudiada, lo que se refleja en la exigua literatura disponible (Mella-Romero et al 2018, Miranda-Cavallieri et al 2023.…”