Liana–bird relationships: a review

Michel, Nicole L.; Robinson, W. Douglas

doi:10.1002/9781118392409.ch25

Cited by 20 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 118 publications

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“…TDFs at SRNP have recovered from severe anthropogenic disturbance in the past, and high disturbance is key for the colonization and establishment of lianas [5]. In our study, we observed a broad spectrum in the number of lianas found in the intermediate forest sites.…”

Section: The Avian Acoustic Community Relationship With Liana Abundanmentioning

confidence: 47%

“…The tangled stems that shape this shelter likely protect the birds from the sight and easy capture of predators during both the day and night. The same principle would work well for the use of lianas as a structure for nesting and roosting [5], and there are reports of wrens in Costa Rica using lianas as dormitory sites [40]. Lianas could provide direct food such as fruits and flower nectar; however, this is not a reasonable explanation since this study was carried out during the wet season for SRNP where the trees have no flowers or fruits.…”

Section: The Avian Acoustic Community Relationship With Liana Abundanmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…Unlike other plants that slow their growth during the dry season to preserve water, lianas have the competitive advantage of growing during times of drought due to an efficient vascular structure and resource allocation; as a result, liana abundance is often higher in TDFs than other tropical forests [4]. In disturbed forests, an increase in liana abundance and biomass can help to restore the light environment, microclimatic conditions and vegetation structure, creating similar habitat characteristics to the forest interior and, therefore, reducing the effects of forest fragmentation on birds [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In these seasonal forests, about 150 species of beetles were associated with lianas and trees [42], the abundance and diversity of hemipterans increased with the number of vines [43], and ant species richness declined by 22% when lianas were removed from forests in an experiment [41]. Arthropods use lianas mostly as shelter, as a source of food, and as physical connectivity to move through and between vegetation [5,41]. We believe that arthropods can be a significant indirect food source for birds at SRNP since they are highly diverse and abundant (e.g., 13,000 species estimated) [44].…”

Section: The Avian Acoustic Community Relationship With Liana Abundanmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, birds have a key role in TDFs as flower-pollinators and seed dispersal agents [46], and they are particularly important in SRNP since they are the main living seed dispersal agent [28]. This close relationship between lianas and birds appears to be key in TDFs where lianas are becoming more abundant due to the level of forest disturbance [5] and where some bird species are endangered and restricted to this ecosystem [1].…”

Section: The Avian Acoustic Community Relationship With Liana Abundanmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lianas Abundance is Positively Related with the Avian Acoustic Community in Tropical Dry Forests

Hilje

Stack

Sánchez‐Azofeifa

2017

Forests

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Dry forests are important sources of biodiversity where lianas are highly abundant given their ability to grow during times of drought and as a result of secondary growth processes. Lianas provide food and shelter for fauna such as birds, but there are no studies assessing the influence of liana abundance on birds in dry forests. Here we evaluate the influence of liana abundance on the avian acoustic community in the dry forests of Costa Rica at Santa Rosa National Park. We selected forest sites with different levels of liana abundance and set up automated sound recorders for data collection, analysis and estimation of the avian acoustic community. When the number of lianas increases, the avian acoustic community becomes more complex. Lianas could provide important direct and indirect resources for birds such as structure for shelter, protection, nesting and roosting, and food. The positive relationship that lianas have with birds is particularly important in dry forests where lianas are becoming highly abundant due to the level of forest disturbance and climate change, especially for some bird species that are restricted to this ecosystem. By validating the number of bird species detected in the recordings with the acoustic complexity index, we found that a higher acoustic complexity means higher species richness.

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Section: The Avian Acoustic Community Relationship With Liana Abundanmentioning

confidence: 47%

Section: The Avian Acoustic Community Relationship With Liana Abundanmentioning

confidence: 71%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Avian Acoustic Community Relationship With Liana Abundanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Avian Acoustic Community Relationship With Liana Abundanmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Lianas Abundance is Positively Related with the Avian Acoustic Community in Tropical Dry Forests

Hilje

Stack

Sánchez‐Azofeifa

2017

Forests

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Liana effects on biomass dynamics strengthen during secondary forest succession

Lai

Hall

Turner

et al. 2017

Ecology

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Secondary forests are important carbon sinks, but their biomass dynamics vary markedly within and across landscapes. The biotic and abiotic drivers of this variation are still not well understood. We tested the effects of soil resource availability and competition by lianas on the biomass dynamics of young secondary tropical forests in Panama and assessed the extent to which liana effects were mediated by soil resource availability. Over a five-year period, growth, mortality, and recruitment of woody plants of ≥1 cm diameter were monitored in 84 plots in 3-30-year-old secondary forests across the Agua Salud site in central Panama. Biomass dynamics and the effects of lianas and soil resources were examined using (generalized) linear mixed-effect models and a model averaging approach. There was strong spatial and temporal variation in liana biomass within and across the plots. The relative biomass of lianas had a strong negative effect on overall tree growth, growth of understory trees decreased with soil fertility and dry season soil water content, and the effect of lianas on tree mortality varied with soil fertility. Tree recruitment was not associated with any of the predictor variables. Our model indicates that tree biomass growth across our landscape was reduced with 22% due to competition with lianas, and that the effect of lianas increased during succession, from 19% after five years to 32% after 30 years. The projected liana-induced growth reduction after 60 years was 47%, which was consistent with data from a nearby site. Our study shows that the observed liana proliferation across tropical forests may reduce the sequestration and storage of carbon in young secondary forests, with important implications for the carbon balance of tropical forest landscapes and consequently for global climate change. Our study highlights the need to incorporate lianas and soil variables in research on the biomass dynamics of secondary forest across tropical landscapes, and the need for well-replicated longitudinal studies to cover landscape-level variability in the relevant abiotic and biotic components.

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Lianas maintain insectivorous bird abundance and diversity in a neotropical forest

Schnitzer

Michel

Powers

et al. 2020

Ecology

Self Cite

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The spatial habitat heterogeneity hypothesis posits that habitat complexity increases the abundance and diversity of species. In tropical forests, lianas add substantial habitat heterogeneity and complexity throughout the vertical forest profile, which may maintain animal abundance and diversity. The effects of lianas on tropical animal communities, however, remain poorly understood. We propose that lianas have a positive effect on animals by enhancing habitat complexity. Lianas may have a particularly strong influence on the forest bird community, providing nesting substrate, protection from predators, and nutrition (food). Understory insectivorous birds, which forage for insects that specialize on lianas, may particularly benefit. Alternatively, it is possible that lianas have a negative effect on forest birds by increasing predator abundances and providing arboreal predators with travel routes with easy access to bird nests. We tested the spatial habitat heterogeneity hypothesis on bird abundance and diversity by removing lianas, thus reducing forest complexity, using a large-scale experimental approach in a lowland tropical forest in the Republic of Panama. We found that removing lianas decreased total bird abundance by 78.4% and diversity by 77.4% after 8 months, and by 40.0% and 51.7%, respectively, after 20 months. Insectivorous bird abundance and diversity 8 months after liana removal were 91.8% and 89.5% lower, respectively, indicating that lianas positively influence insectivorous birds. The effects of liana removal persisted longer for insectivorous birds than other birds, with 77.3% lower abundance and 76.2% lower diversity after 20 months. Liana removal also altered bird community composition, creating two distinct communities in the control and removal plots, with disproportionate effects on insectivores. Our findings demonstrate that lianas have a strong positive influence on the bird community, particularly for insectivorous birds in the forest understory. Lianas may maintain bird abundance and diversity by increasing habitat complexity, habitat heterogeneity, and resource availability.

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Liana–bird relationships: a review

Cited by 20 publications

References 118 publications

Lianas Abundance is Positively Related with the Avian Acoustic Community in Tropical Dry Forests

Lianas Abundance is Positively Related with the Avian Acoustic Community in Tropical Dry Forests

Liana effects on biomass dynamics strengthen during secondary forest succession

Lianas maintain insectivorous bird abundance and diversity in a neotropical forest

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