Wetland habitats of the Sabana de Bogotá Andean Highland Plateau and their birds

Abstract

1. The Sabana de Bogotá highland plateau is located in the eastern Andes wetland complex of Colombia, a biogeographically important and highly degraded area where little is known about the general habitat availability and requirements for wildlife based on comparative studies.2. This study sought to identify the environmental factors that best explained the richness and composition of bird communities in the area's wetlands.3. GIS and remote images were used to measure landscape and local habitat variables along with the presence of birds in 19 varied wetlands of the Sabana. 4. A high variation in wetland characteristics, related to their urban or rural status, was found. Aquatic bird richness was associated with wetland area; guilds such as waders that probe in mud, walkers on aquatic vegetation, and shoreline walkers tended to be richer in large wetlands with extensive emergent vegetation cover. Other guilds (waders that wait to stalk, flight feeders and surface swimmers) were more related to open water areas.5. It is concluded that the remaining large wetlands should have a high priority for conservation but the set of small natural and artificial wetlands are also important in the maintenance of high habitat heterogeneity, bird populations and regional diversity.

Environmental and anthropogenic factors structuring waterbird habitats of tropical coastal lagoons: Implications for management

“…Our finding that lagoon size plays a minor role in waterbird habitat use is somewhat unusual (Riffel et al, 2001;Rosselli and Stiles, 2012;Sebastián-González and Green, 2014), although a few earlier studies have obtained similar results. For example, Guadagnin et al (2009) found that waterbird abundance decreased with increasing area of fragmented wetlands in South Brazil.…”

“…High vegetation can have negative effects for wading birds and gulls by impairing prey detectability and site selection (Butler and Gillings, 2004;Tavares et al, 2013), but it constitutes a suitable habitat for other groups such rallids and ciconids (Jedlikowski et al, 2014;Tavares and Siciliano, 2013b). Finally, a clear positive relationship has been observed between wetland size, habitat heterogeneity and waterbird species richness and abundance (Elmberg et al, 1994;Rosselli and Stiles, 2012;Sebastián-González and Green, 2014).…”

Changes over 26 Years in the Avifauna of the Bogotá Region, Colombia: Has Climate Change Become Important?

“…This is related to the increase in some species such as G. galeata and decrease in probers like Gallinago and Tringa spp. (Rosselli and Stiles, 2012a). The increase in the shrub vegetation around the edges of some wetlands has probably induced the increment in S. subpudica and perhaps also T. aedon.…”

“…Although, in 2000 the city's authorities declared 12 wetlands as ecological parks for conservation, the pressure from urbanization continues, including increased pollution, encroachment of the borders and further reduction of wetland areas, and increasing presence of domestic dogs (Rosselli and Stiles, 2012a). …”

Aplicación del método de agrupamiento de grises para evaluar la eutrofización en seis humedales de Colombia

“…Sabana de Bogotá complex of wetlands together with the Cundiboyacense wetlands form a region that is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world [30]. Despite the fact that this region has a rich and distinctive avifauna, these wetlands are highly affected by pollutants mostly from agricultural activities and new urbanization [32]. Because of this, the EPP is developing plans to restore these wetlands.…”