Who Is Who in the City? Bird Species Richness and Composition in Urban Latin America

MacGregor-Fors, Ian; García-Arroyo, Michelle

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-63475-3_3

Cited by 11 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 177 publications

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“…Birds that dwell within cities, including their greenspaces, are subject to numerous stimuli, pressures, and threats that vary spatiotemporally (Warren et al 2006;Evans et al 2011;Marzluff 2016;Santiago-Alarcon and Delgado-V 2017). In fact, the complex array of urban conditions and scenarios has been shown to mold the birds that are able to dwell within them (Melles et al 2003;Evans et al 2009;MacGregor-Fors and Schondube 2011;MacGregor-Fors and García-Arroyo 2017). As expected, our results showed a positive association between vegetation cover and bird species richness.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Noisy environments: untangling the role of anthropogenic noise on bird species richness in a Neotropical city

et al. 2020

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Background Among urban stimuli, anthropogenic noise has been identified to be one of the behavioral drivers of species that rely on acoustic signals for communication. Studies have shown both species-specific and assemblage responses to urban noise, ranging from the modulation of their acoustic frequencies and spatiotemporal adjustments to declines in species richness. In this study, we assessed the citywide relationship between two anthropogenic noise variables (noise levels recorded during bird surveys and daily average noise levels) and vegetation cover with bird species richness. Methods This study was conducted in the city of Xalapa (Mexico) through a 114 citywide point-count survey. We recorded bird communities at each sampling site. We measured noise levels using a sound level meter while performing point-counts. Then, we generated a map of average daily noise of the city using an array of 61 autonomous recording units distributed across the city of Xalapa and calculated daily noise levels for the 114 points. We ran a linear model (LM) to assess potential relationships between both point-count and daily (24 h) noise values and vegetation cover with bird richness. Results Results from the LM show: (1) a negative relationship between maximum point-count noise and avian species richness, (2) no relationship between 24 h noise and bird species richness, and (3) a positive relationship between vegetation cover and bird species richness. Conclusions Results provide evidence that decreases in urban bird species richness do not necessarily imply the permanent absence of species, suggesting that birds can temporarily fly away from or avoid sites when noisy, become cryptic while noisy events are occurring, or be undetected due to our inability to record them in the field during noisy events.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Noisy environments: untangling the role of anthropogenic noise on bird species richness in a Neotropical city

et al. 2020

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“…Although the dynamic of JaneLives compromised the application of a sampling design able to detect richness differences without compromising the robustness of statistical analysis, our results suggest that, in general, urban bird feeders in Brazil are used by fewer species than feeders located in non-urban landscapes. This result meets expectations for urban areas, where bird richness is less than in non-urban areas (Abilhoa and Amorin 2017 ; Leveau et al 2017 ; MacGregor-Fors and Garcia Arroyo 2017 ). However, we believe that many other factors not monitored in our study may influence the occurrence of species at Brazilian feeders (e.g., other landscape features, the quality of provisioned food, urbanization level, distance from natural ecosystems, and latitude), which would better explain the variations of species’ occurrences at feeders around the country.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Which birds are Brazilians seeing on urban and non-urban feeders? An analysis based on a collective online birding

Alexandrino

Camboim²,

Chaves³

et al. 2022

Ornithol. Res.

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Many studies have shown the positive and negative impacts of feeding wild birds using feeders; however, none of them considered case studies in Brazil. In 2020, social isolation measures imposed by COVID-19 boosted Brazilians’ interest in bird feeders, encouraging a group of birders to create an event (called JaneLives) to broadcast simultaneous live images of feeders across the country. Using the structure of JaneLives and relying on volunteers, we investigated which species visit Brazilian bird feeders, and discussed the effectiveness of our opportune citizen science initiative implemented during this event. Forty-eight feeders (19 urban and 29 non-urban) included in six biomes were sampled during nine JaneLives sessions (May–November 2020). The audience watched 133 species, 104 of which were visiting feeders. Non-urban feeders ( n = 94) had higher richness than urban feeders ( n = 68), but there were shared and unique species in both strata. Thraupidae, Turdidae, small, and medium birds (< 90 g) were the most common at the feeders. Owners of 23 feeders did data sampling at least once, while the other 25 feeders were sampled by 25 online birders (94.8% of their bird records were reliable). The narration that accompanied each JaneLives session enabled the audience to learn about Brazilian birds and increased environmental awareness. Audience numbers declined over the events, but the number of online birders was not affected. Ecolodges and parks that broadcasted their feeders received new clients afterwards. The events generated social interaction and pragmatic discussions about the usage of feeders, indicating that our citizen science initiative has potential for future research. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43388-022-00094-1.

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“…Our results provide evidence for the need for conservation strategies and management for non-resilient species whose habitat has been reduced to small fragments immersed in urban matrices. The neotropics are the most avian diverse region, but the rapid growth of overcrowded cities poses a risk for urban avoider birds 1 , 46 , 47 . This is the case of white-eared ground-sparrow that may struggle to withstand the effects of the uncontrolled sprawl of Costa Rican urbanization 36 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic structure in neotropical birds with different tolerance to urbanization

Rodríguez-Bardía

Fuchs

Barrantes

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Gene flow in birds can be affected by urbanization depending on natural history traits and adaptability to habitat change. Contrasting results can be expected when comparing species with opposite resilience to urbanization. In this study, we assessed genetic diversity and structure for two bird species, the urban avoider white-eared ground-sparrow, Melozone leucotis, and the urban dweller house wren Troglodytes aedon. We used seven microsatellite loci and sampled five locations with differing levels of urbanization in Costa Rica. We found considerably higher genetic structure in white-eared ground-sparrows than in house wrens. Circuit theory analyses proved a higher isolation from urban resistance for the white-eared ground-sparrow than for house wrens. These results support that urbanization is a significant barrier for gene flow in urban avoiders, in contrast to urban dweller species that showed little to no impact. Differences could be attributed to a higher plasticity in habitat and nesting site preferences in the house wren, and significant dispersal limitation for the white-eared ground-sparrow. These results emphasize the need for conservation strategies towards white-eared ground-sparrows and other urban avoider species whose habitat and connectivity have been reduced by the recent urban expansion.

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Who Is Who in the City? Bird Species Richness and Composition in Urban Latin America

Cited by 11 publications

References 177 publications

Noisy environments: untangling the role of anthropogenic noise on bird species richness in a Neotropical city

Noisy environments: untangling the role of anthropogenic noise on bird species richness in a Neotropical city

Which birds are Brazilians seeing on urban and non-urban feeders? An analysis based on a collective online birding

Genetic structure in neotropical birds with different tolerance to urbanization

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