Vegetation structure and livestock grazing intensity affect ground-foraging birds in xerophytic forests of Central-East Argentina

Dardanelli, Sebastián; Calamari, Noelia Cecilia; Canavelli, Sonia B.; Barzan, Flavia Romina; Goijman, Andrea Paula; Lezana, Lucrecia

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120439

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…Overall, our results suggest that different cattle management practices influence the understory vegetation structure and bird taxonomic and functional diversity in the humid forests of Argentine Chaco. Our work, along with earlier studies (Codesido et al, 2009;Dardanelli et al, 2022;Mastrangelo & Gavin, 2012), broadens our understanding of the avian responses to cattle management practices in the south of South American forests.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Similarly, Dardanelli et al. (2022) reported that the presence of forest birds was positively related to closed vegetation in xerophytic forests of Central‐East Argentina.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

“…These five species were negatively affected particularly because of their insectivorous diet, low dispersal capacity and as they are habitat specialists (De la Peña, 2016). In this regard, cattle exclusion from forest patches was positively associated with nesting in the shrub layer, a trait characteristic of some specialist species (Dardanelli et al., 2022). Furthermore, the forest with cattle exclusion was negatively associated with generalist species in nesting habitat selection (De la Peña, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, grazing produces indirect effects on birds through vegetation structure modifications as it alters habitat suitability for birds (Wiens, 1973). Thus, vegetation structure acts as an environmental filter, determining the presence/absence of species tolerant to specific habitat conditions, so that disturbances that occur on plant species affect the composition, abundance, and structure of bird assemblages (Dardanelli et al., 2022; Wiens, 1973).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taxonomic and functional avian diversity vary with cattle management practices in humid Chaco forests of Argentina

Haene,

Bilenca,

Codesido

2024

Biotropica

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Birds play key roles in forest dynamics, favoring the resilience of forests to cattle ranching. Generalist species may benefit from changes in the vegetation structure caused by cattle grazing while specialist species are usually negatively affected. Therefore, studying changes in taxonomic and functional bird diversity can provide valuable information in order to propose the sustainable cattle management practices. Here, we study the influence of different cattle management practices (Cattle Exclusion: FCE; Continuous grazing: FCG; Rotational grazing: FRG; Seasonal grazing: FSG) on the understory vegetation structure, and the bird taxonomic and functional diversity in humid Chaco forests of Argentina. Forests under grazing had an open (FCG) or semi‐open (FRG and FSG) understory, whereas FCE presented a closed understory with higher plant richness. Generalized linear models revealed a decrease in bird richness and abundance under most cattle management practices compared to FCE. However, FRG was most similar to FCE in terms of vegetation structure and showed no differences in bird richness. FCE presented the lowest values of functional diversity while FCG and FRG showed the highest values. A fourth‐corner analysis showed that FCE was associated with insectivorous species which forage and nest in the shrub layer, reflecting a possible loss of ecosystem services in forests with cattle grazing. We propose FRG as the most appropriate cattle management option and the least detrimental to bird assemblages. However, maintaining protected areas that exclude cattle ranching activities will be key to strike a balance between the conservation of most specialist species and beef production.Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Similarly, Dardanelli et al. (2022) reported that the presence of forest birds was positively related to closed vegetation in xerophytic forests of Central‐East Argentina.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%