What’s New? An Updated Review of Avian Ecology in Urban Latin America

Escobar-Ibáñez, Juan F.; MacGregor-Fors, Ian

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-63475-3_2

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 100 publications

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“…The number of standing dead trees was the most important driver of bird composition in these urban private native forest fragments, not only for taxonomic diversity but also for the functional traits, mainly specialized traits. However, few studies have discussed the importance of the number of standing dead trees for birds in urban ecosystems (Morrison and Chapman 2005;Chace and Walsh 2006;Lerman et al 2014;Escobar-Ibáñez and MacGregor-Fors 2017;Tomasevic and Marzluff 2017;Smith and Minor 2019). The number of standing dead trees, along with canopy cover, comprise key ecological resources for increasing richness of all nesting groups, regardless of their cavity dependence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation structure drives taxonomic diversity and functional traits of birds in urban private native forest fragments

Campos-Silva

Piratelli

2020

Urban Ecosyst

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Many studies in urban landscapes have revealed that vegetation structure influences the taxonomic diversity and traits of birds and drives greater bird richness in greenspaces. However, most of these studies have been carried out mainly in public spaces. Private lands represent large components of cityscapes worldwide, and so understanding the role they play in the maintenance of biodiversity, and how vegetation traits drive the ecological attributes of birds, remain poorly known. Here we identified local factors of vegetation related to the bird fauna of urban private native forest fragments in Sorocaba, state of São Paulo, Brazil, with a focus on their ecological attributes. We predicted that increased vegetation structure would select birds that depend on forest environments and the resources they support. We sampled 13 vegetation traits in 28 private urban native forests to evaluate the relationship between vegetation structure and taxonomic diversity and functional traits of birds. Confirming our prediction, vegetation structure shaped the ecological attributes of birds, with five vegetation traits driving bird taxonomic diversity and functional traits, of which the number of standing dead trees was related to more bird ecological attributes. Vegetation structure in urban private native forest fragments may increase habitats and resources, thus supporting habitat-and feeding-specialist species. Our results provide insights for public policies aimed at management and maintaining vegetation structures that benefit bird fauna (e.g. number of standing dead trees, tree richness, canopy cover), in support of the ecological functions they perform in urban landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vegetation structure drives taxonomic diversity and functional traits of birds in urban private native forest fragments

Campos-Silva

Piratelli

2020

Urban Ecosyst

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“…Due to the significance of urban green spaces for the survival and reproduction of bird communities within cities, it is imperative that the often-unnoticed effects of urban morphology surrounding these sites and the noise within them be studied to better understand how they affect bird community structure and distribution. Latin America, as one of the fastest urbanizing regions in the world and the most diverse in avian species, is lacking in such studies 27 , with most studies on wildlife and anthropogenic noise being conducted in North America and Europe 28 , and most research on avian communities in Latin American urban areas generally conducted in the most populated countries 27 . Furthermore, historically, most research on urban birds has looked at the influences of vegetation, with urban noise and impervious surface cover gaining traction in recent years 27 , but little is known about the combined influences of those variables with urban morphology on bird communities in Latin American cities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Latin America, as one of the fastest urbanizing regions in the world and the most diverse in avian species, is lacking in such studies 27 , with most studies on wildlife and anthropogenic noise being conducted in North America and Europe 28 , and most research on avian communities in Latin American urban areas generally conducted in the most populated countries 27 . Furthermore, historically, most research on urban birds has looked at the influences of vegetation, with urban noise and impervious surface cover gaining traction in recent years 27 , but little is known about the combined influences of those variables with urban morphology on bird communities in Latin American cities. Santiago of Chile is one of the large metropolises of Latin America and stands out for its high-density value in terms of inhabitants per hectare, along with cities like Bogotá, Caracas, São Paulo, and Mexico City 29 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Urban noise and surrounding city morphology influence green space occupancy by native birds in a Mediterranean-type South American metropolis

Arévalo

Amaya-Espinel

Henríquez

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Urban green spaces provide natural habitat for birds in urban landscapes, yet the effects of noise and surrounding urban morphology on bird community structure and distribution are not well understood in Latin America, the second most urbanized region in the world. Santiago of Chile is the single city belonging to the Mediterranean ecosystem in South America and is subject to extensive urbanization as seen throughout Latin America. We examined the role of 65 urban green spaces—6 large urban parks (PAR) and 59 small green spaces (SGS)—in harboring native birds during winter 2019, analyzing the quality of green areas in terms of vegetation (i.e. NDVI, native vegetation, and tree cover), exotic bird species, noise levels, and surrounding urban morphology (i.e. building height and cover). Significantly higher noise levels were detected in SGS, along with significantly greater exotic bird (n = 4) richness and abundance than PAR, which possessed significantly greater native bird (n = 25) richness and abundance. Native birds were more abundant than exotic birds in green spaces with average noise levels < 52 dB and average NDVI > 0.5. Occupancy models indicate that green space occupancy by 50% of modeled native bird species was influenced by maximum noise levels, playing a larger role than vegetation (30%) and urban morphology (0%). We stress the importance of developing networks of large green spaces in rapidly urbanizing regions, with abundant tree cover, surrounded by smaller urban morphology, and regulating noise levels to ensure the conservation of native bird communities in cities, particularly those that are threatened.

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“…In spite of the effort to understand the effects of urbanization on birds, the information for the Tropical regions such as the Andes is still scarce (see Escobar-Ibáñez and MacGregor-Fors, 2017). This is disconcerting because the tropical Andes are the richest hotspots of bird biodiversity globally (Mittermeier et al, 2011;Bax and Francesconi, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Urbanization: Response of a Bird Community in the Neotropical Andes

et al. 2022

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Urbanization constitutes one of the most aggressive drivers of habitat and biodiversity loss worldwide. However, studies focused on determining the response of local biodiversity to urbanization are still scarce, especially in tropical ecosystems. Urban ecosystems are characterized by low biological productivity which in turn leads to a reduction in biodiversity. However, the responses to urbanization should be species dependent. For instance, changes in the availability of resources can favor certain species with specific characteristics. We assessed the effects of the urbanization process on a bird community in a city located in the Tropical Andes of southern Ecuador, a region widely recognized for its diversity and endemism of birds. We selected three independent localities in each of the four levels of the urbanization gradient in the study area (forest, forest-pasture, pasture, and urban). In each locality, we sampled the bird community by visual and auditory surveys along 1 km transects between 2016 and 2017. We recorded a total of 1,257 individuals belonging to 74 bird species. We evaluated if the responses of richness and abundance of birds are dependent on trophic guild and foraging strata. We found a significant decrease in bird species richness and abundance from forest to urban sites. However, the response of birds was dependent on the trophic guild and foraging strata. Granivorous birds showed a positive response associated with the urbanization gradient while insectivorous birds showed a negative response. Insectivorous birds were more abundant in forest sites and decreased in abundance across the urbanization gradient. We found that the proportion of birds using different foraging strata drastically changed along urban gradient. Forest sites exhibited a bird community using a variety of habitats, but the bird community became simpler toward the most urbanized sites. Our findings showed different effects of urbanization on bird communities. The ugly: urbanization leads to a dramatic reduction in the diversity of birds, which is consistent in cities with different characteristics and ecological contexts. On the other hand, the responses of bird guilds to urbanization are species dependent. Some guilds are positively impacted by urbanization and show increases in species richness and abundance while other guilds are negatively impacted.

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What’s New? An Updated Review of Avian Ecology in Urban Latin America

Cited by 10 publications

References 100 publications

Vegetation structure drives taxonomic diversity and functional traits of birds in urban private native forest fragments

Vegetation structure drives taxonomic diversity and functional traits of birds in urban private native forest fragments

Urban noise and surrounding city morphology influence green space occupancy by native birds in a Mediterranean-type South American metropolis

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Urbanization: Response of a Bird Community in the Neotropical Andes

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