Habitat use by grassland birds in natural areas and soybean fields in southern Brazil and Uruguay

Silva, Thaiane Weinert da; Dotta, Graziela; Gressler, Daniel Tourem; Fontana, Carla Suertegaray

doi:10.1676/wils-127-02-212-221.1

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Differences in vegetation structure between natural and revegetated grasslands is a factor to explain such differences, since the composition of bird communities in southern Brazilian grasslands (and grasslands in other regions; Hovick et al 2015) is strongly influenced by the spatial heterogeneity of vegetation, that is, by structural changes in vegetation mostly caused in the region by disturbances like fire and grazing (Bencke 2009, Dias et al 2014. The high sensitivity of birds to vegetation structure was also observed by Fontana et al (2016) who found greater species richness of birds in general, and grassland-associated species in particular, in natural grasslands compared to "improved" grasslands, i.e., natural grasslands managed with the addition of fertilizers and exotic species, demonstrating the importance of natural areas for grassland birds (see also Silva et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

A comparison of bird communities in natural and revegetated grasslands in south Brazil

Becker

Paise

Pizo

2019

Rev. Bras. Ornitol.

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Natural grasslands are declining due to loss, fragmentation and degradation, resulting in the decline of grassland-associated bird species. The Pampas Biome in south Brazil is not exception to this worldwide trend, facing the expansion of croplands and afforestation with exotic tree plantations for cellulose production. To cope with the continuous degradation and loss of grasslands, restoration is an important conservation strategy, but basic information regarding the response of the fauna to restoration practices in southeastern South America grasslands is lacking. Here we compared the structure of bird communities in natural grasslands and revegetated grasslands after mining by planting native and exotic grasses. We sampled birds using 5-min point counts with unlimited radius in three replicates of each habitat (natural and revegetated grasslands; average size 22.2 ± 2.3 ha). We also compared the vegetation density between the two habitat types. The structure of bird communities at natural and revegetated grasslands differed, with natural grasslands presenting higher species richness (42 vs. 35 species) and abundance (1459 vs. 839 records) than revegetated areas, and also a distinct species composition. Ten of the 11 grassland species that were associated to one of the two habitat types occurred more frequently in natural grasslands, which had higher vegetation density than revegetated areas. Even a decade after the beginning of the restoration process, revegetated areas did not resemble natural grasslands in bird species richness, abundance, and composition. These results differed from another study conducted in the Brazilian Pampas in which native plant species were used to actively restore a grassland. Therefore, until we have additional studies addressing the use of exotic grasses for the recovery of bird communities in South America grasslands, we encourage greater representation of native plant species in restoration projects.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

A comparison of bird communities in natural and revegetated grasslands in south Brazil

Becker

Paise

Pizo

2019

Rev. Bras. Ornitol.

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“…Este resultado es comparable al reportado por Da Silva et al (2015) en sus estudios de uso de hábitat de aves en pastizales de Rio Grande do Sul y del norte de Uruguay, donde la lechuza vizcachera utiliza indistintamente los pastizales seminaturales y los cultivos de soja. En la escala de área de acción, los cambios observados en el uso del hábitat antes y después del brote de la soja concuerdan con el ciclo de la soja en la Pampa Ondulada: disminución del rastrojo debido a la preparación de la tierra para el cultivo de soja de segunda, aumento de soja de primera y disminución de los otros cultivos (tal vez debido a su cosecha).…”

Section: Uso Del Hábitat De Nidificaciónunclassified

Selección del hábitat de nidificación de la lechuza vizcachera (Athene cunicularia) en agroecosistemas de la Pampa Ondulada

2017

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R��. La lechuza vizcachera es una rapaz típica de la Región Pampeana, que construye su nido en madrigueras en el suelo. Dado el impacto negativo de la expansión del cultivo de soja sobre la diversidad de aves, resulta clave estudiar su efecto sobre la selección y las características del hábitat en múltiples escalas. Se investigó el uso del hábitat de nidificación antes y después del brote de la soja de primera y la selección del hábitat de nidificación después del brote de la soja, en tres escalas espaciales: nido (hábitat donde la lechuza vizcachera construye su nido), sitio de nidificación (círculo de radio 50 m) y área de acción (círculo de radio 600 m). Se recorrieron caminos secundarios localizando nidos de lechuzas y se establecieron 23 puntos al azar para analizar la selección de hábitat. El uso del hábitat varió según la escala y la etapa del cultivo. Antes del brote de la soja, 63% de los nidos se ubicaron en el interior de campos ganaderos, mientras que después, 55% de los nidos se encontraron en los bordes. En la escala de sitio de nidificación, la cobertura de los tipos de hábitat y la distancia al alambrado fueron similares antes y después del brote de la soja. En la escala de área de acción, antes del brote de la soja, la lechuza vizcachera nidificó rodeada de áreas con rastrojo; después, en áreas con cultivo de soja. La lechuza vizcachera seleccionó los bordes de campos de cultivo para ubicar sus nidos, evitó la cercanía de caminos y arboledas en la escala de sitio, y en la escala de área de acción nidificó cerca de alambrados y evitó las arboledas. Recomendamos mantener los bordes de cultivo con vegetación no manejada para proveer hábitat de nidificación para la lechuza vizcachera.[Palabras clave: sistemas agrícolas, soja, nidificación] A��. Nesting site selection by the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) in Rolling Pampa agroecosystems.The Burrowing owl is a common raptor species in Pampean agrosystems of Argentina, that builds nests in burrows under the ground. Given the negative effect of expanding soybean crops on avian diversity, it is key to study that effect on habitat selection at multiples scales. We investigated the use of nesting habitat before and after the growing of soybean shoots and nesting site selection after the growing of soybean shoots, at three spatial scales: nest scale (habitat type where the nest was located), nesting site scale (a circle of 50 m radius centered on the nest) and home range (a circle of 600 m radius). Surveys were conducted on secondary roads, searching for nests, and 23 random points were established on the same roads to evaluate nest site selection. Habitat use changed with the spatial scale and stage of crop development. Before the soybean shooting, 63% of nests were located into livestock fields, whereas after the soybean shooting, 55% of nests were located in field edges. At the nesting site scale, the cover of habitat types and distance to fences were similar before and after soybean shooting. At the home range scale, Burrowing Owl nested in...

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“…In the case of birds, where individuals can occur across a variety of habitat patches (Whitaker and Warkentin, 2010;Lee and Carroll, 2014), the proportion of native-grassland patches remaining in the landscape can affect the presence of bird species in grasslands (Cerezo et al, 2011). The larger the amount of native grassland in the patches, the greater the richness and abundance of birds (Silva et al, 2015). Therefore, bird species distribution and occurrence can be strongly influenced by landscape characteristics (Lee and Carroll, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remnants of Native Vegetation Surrounding Do Not Affect the Diversity and Density of Birds in Brazilian Grassland-Restoration Sites

Silva

Fontana

2021

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Since in general the surrounding landscape influences the species diversity and abundance in fragments of native vegetation, an amount of native-vegetation cover nearby may also positively affect communities in restored areas, regardless of the sizes of individual habitat patches. We investigated for the first time whether the species richness, total abundance, and density of grassland birds in restoration sites are influenced by the amount of native grassland in the surrounding landscape in the Brazilian Pampa. We sampled birds by point counts in five restoration sites in the most representative area of grasslands in Brazil. We established an outer buffer zone with a 1 km-radius around the point-count areas in each site, and calculated the percentage of native grassland vegetation in the surrounding landscape. Bird species richness and abundance did not show a significant response to the amount of neighboring native grassland in restored areas. Individual analyses of the density of seven bird species associated to grassland also showed similar pattern. We believe the vegetation structure in these restoration sites may already been sufficiently re-established to provide necessary resources and a suitable habitat for the birds. Even so, we assume that previously existing landscape features were important for recovery of the vegetation structure, as continuous native grassland in the surroundings. Thus, we recommend consider the landscape context as an additional issue in studies dealing with conservation strategies for recovery of grasslands in Brazil.

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Habitat use by grassland birds in natural areas and soybean fields in southern Brazil and Uruguay

Cited by 5 publications

References 19 publications

A comparison of bird communities in natural and revegetated grasslands in south Brazil

A comparison of bird communities in natural and revegetated grasslands in south Brazil

Selección del hábitat de nidificación de la lechuza vizcachera (Athene cunicularia) en agroecosistemas de la Pampa Ondulada

Remnants of Native Vegetation Surrounding Do Not Affect the Diversity and Density of Birds in Brazilian Grassland-Restoration Sites

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