ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS: a data set of bird morphological traits from the Atlantic forests of South America

Abstract

Scientists have long been trying to understand why the Neotropical region holds the highest diversity of birds on Earth. Recently, there has been increased interest in morphological variation between and within species, and in how climate, topography, and anthropogenic pressures may explain and affect phenotypic variation. Because morphological data are not always available for many species at the local or regional scale, we are limited in our understanding of intra‐ and interspecies spatial morphological variation. Here, we present the ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS, a data set that includes measurements of up to 44 morphological traits in 67,197 bird records from 2,790 populations distributed throughout the Atlantic forests of South America. This data set comprises information, compiled over two centuries (1820–2018), for 711 bird species, which represent 80% of all known bird diversity in the Atlantic Forest. Among the most commonly reported traits are sex (n = 65,717), age (n = 63,852), body mass (n = 58,768), flight molt presence (n = 44,941), molt presence (n = 44,847), body molt presence (n = 44,606), tail length (n = 43,005), reproductive stage (n = 42,588), bill length (n = 37,409), body length (n = 28,394), right wing length (n = 21,950), tarsus length (n = 20,342), and wing length (n = 18,071). The most frequently recorded species are Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 1,837), Turdus albicollis (n = 1,658), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 1,468), Turdus leucomelas (n = 1,436), and Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 1,384). The species recorded in the greatest number of sampling localities are Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 243), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 242), Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 210), Platyrinchus mystaceus (n = 208), and Turdus rufiventris (n = 191). ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS (ABT) is the most comprehensive data set on measurements of bird morphological traits found in a biodiversity hotspot; it provides data for basic and applied research at multiple scales, from individual to community, and from the local to the macroecological perspectives. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set. Please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications or teaching and educational activities.

Climate change reshapes the eco‐evolutionary dynamics of a Neotropical seed dispersal system

“…Interactions with these avian frugivores account for 87% of all seed‐dispersal interactions of this palm (Bello et al., 2017). These bird species encompass large‐gaped frugivores that feed on a wide array of seed sizes, such as cotingas (Cotingidae), toucans and toucanets (Ramphastidae), and guans (Cracidae), with a mean gape size of 30 mm (Galetti et al., 2013; Rodrigues et al, 2019), but also small‐ to medium‐sized birds such as thrushes (Turdidae), with gape sizes up to 12 mm (Galetti et al., 2013; Rodrigues et al, 2019) (Supporting Information Figure S2).…”

“…Here, we combine empirical data on seed dispersal of a Neotropical palm with ecological niche modelling, cellular automata dispersal simulations, and a model of trait evolution to forecast how novel frugivore communities may affect the fate of animal‐dispersed plants under climate change. We focus on the seed dispersal interactions of the palm Euterpe edulis in the Brazilian Atlantic forest, one of the few tropical systems for which species’ life‐history attributes (Rodrigues et al, 2019), geographic distributions (Hasui et al., 2018), plant population genetics (Carvalho et al., 2016; Galetti et al., 2013), and frugivory interactions (Bello et al., 2017) are well known. Galetti et al.…”

Fruit traits of pioneer trees structure seed dispersal across distances on tropical deforested landscapes: Implications for restoration

“…Bird traits included % fruit in diet (Wilman et al., 2014), wing‐loading as a proxy of bird movement capacity and gape‐width as a proxy to their upper seed size dispersal potential. Wing‐loading was calculated as:where BM is the bird body mass and WL is wing length (species measurements were obtained from Rodrigues et al, 2019). As loading value increases, the movement capacity of a bird species decreases.…”

Environmental niche and functional role similarity between invasive and native palms in the Atlantic Forest

“…To assess the functional role of the palms in the Atlantic Forest, we estimated the functional niche of each palm species as multidimensional trait space based on the functional traits of the interacting bird species, following Dehling et al (2016). For the 74 bird species interacting with the two palms, we obtained trait information from Rodrigues et al (2019). We included bird traits that are related to frugivory: body mass (g), bill width (mm), and wing length (mm).…”