Temporal bird community dynamics are strongly affected by landscape fragmentation in a Central American tropical forest region

A.C. Blandon; S.B. Perelman; M. Ramírez; A. Lopez; O. Javier; Chandler S. Robbins

doi:10.1007/s10531-016-1049-2

Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70169153

Temporal bird community dynamics are strongly affected by landscape fragmentation in a Central American tropical forest region

A.C. Blandon·S.B. Perelman·M. Ramírez·A. Lopez·O. Javier·Chandler S. Robbins

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation are considered the main causes of species extinctions, particularly in tropical ecosystems. The objective of this work was to evaluate the temporal dynamics of tropical bird communities in landscapes with different levels of fragmentation in eastern Guatemala. We evaluated five bird community dynamic parameters for forest specialists and generalists: (1) species extinction, (2) species turnover, (3) number of colonizing species, (4) relative species richness, and (5) a homogeneity index. For each of 24 landscapes, community dynamic parameters were estimated from bird point count data, for the 1998–1999 and 2008–2009 periods, accounting for species’ detection probability. Forest specialists had higher extinction rates and a smaller number of colonizing species in landscapes with higher fragmentation, thus having lower species richness in both time periods. Alternatively, forest generalists elicited a completely different pattern, showing a curvilinear association to forest fragmentation for most parameters. Thus, greater community dynamism for forest generalists was shown in landscapes with intermediate levels of fragmentation. Our study supports general theory regarding the expected negative effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on the temporal dynamics of biotic communities, particularly for forest specialists, providing strong evidence from understudied tropical bird communities.

Explore related subjects

Biodiversity and Conservation Article

Source-reported bounding extent: 15.436472173319213° to 15.887376009908698° latitude; -89.18289184570312° to -88.50036621093749° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

A.C. Blandon, S.B. Perelman, M. Ramírez, A. Lopez, O. Javier, Chandler S. Robbins. 2016-01-25. Temporal bird community dynamics are strongly affected by landscape fragmentation in a Central American tropical forest region. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-016-1049-2

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

Bee-ing similar: Low diversity, no population structure, and signals of adaptation in two North Dakota bumble bees

Habitat fragmentation and destruction are driving widespread declines in ecosystem function, species abundance, and genetic diversity across the globe. Among the affected taxa are bumble bees (genus Bombus ), which are essential pollinators. Bumble bee declines have been linked to anthropogenic pressures such as land-use change and climate change. To better understand how the environment is shaping bumble bee populations, we employed a landscape genetics approach to examine the genetic diversity, population structure, and potential local adaptation of two widespread species— Bombus ternarius and Bombus griseocollis —across North Dakota. From 2017–2020, 161 B. ternarius and 200 B. griseocollis bumble bees were sampled in ND across 13 and 17 sites, respectively. We found low levels of heterozygosity and inbreeding across all populations for both species, with no evidence of population structure or isolation by distance. Our results revealed signatures of potential local adaptation to climatic variables and land cover characteristics, suggesting that our species are adapted to environmental gradients across the state. Having similar results between both species across all analyses suggests that other wide-ranging bumble bees in the region may share these patterns. High connectivity can buffer short-term population losses, but low genetic diversity may constrain adaptive potential and reduce resilience to future environmental change and emerging threats. Our findings have broad applicability to other pollinators and taxa facing similar environmental pressures. Both species have populations that continually exchange genes creating widespread connectivity but are still locally shaped by adaptation.

North Dakota↗

USGS2025

Disease-driven collapse of the native Kauaʻi avifauna and the rise of introduced bird species

Hawaii hosts one of Earth’s most unique and threatened avifaunas. Upslope migration of mosquito-vectored avian malaria on Kauaʻi (maximum elevation 1,598 m) has likely caused its rapid loss of avifaunal diversity; only 8 of 13 historic forest bird species remain. We update the status and trends of Kauaʻi forest bird populations since the original (1981) surveys using the latest (2023) survey data and distance sampling. We fit detection functions to species-specific count data and stratified estimates across the Interior (since 1981) and Exterior (since 2000) survey areas, and between low (900–1,100 m), medium (1,100–1,300 m) and high (> 1,300 m) elevation bands (since 2000). Log-linear trends of ʻakekeʻe ( Loxops caeruleirostris ), ʻanianiau ( Magumma parva ), ʻiʻiwi ( Drepanis coccinea ), and Kauaʻi ʻamakihi ( Chlorodrepanis stejnegeri ) steeply declined across the timeseries, with extinction of ʻakekeʻe and ʻiʻiwi expected before 2050. Undetected in 2023, ʻakikiki ( Oreomystis bairdi ) were excluded from analysis. ʻApapane ( Himatione sanguinea ), Kauaʻi ʻelepaio ( Chasiempis sclateri ), Chinese hwamei ( Garrulax canorus ), and white-rumped shama ( Copsychus malabaricus ) were stable overall. Northern cardinal ( Cardinalis cardinalis ) steadily declined, whereas Japanese bush warbler ( Horornis diphone ) and warbling white-eye ( Zosterops japonicus ) exponentially increased. Taxonomic and functional diversity did not vary greatly across our timeseries, while the proportion of introduced species in the Exterior increased from 34 to 59%. However, introduced species do not replace the losses of ecological functions from native species, whose populations are likely declining from avian malaria. Future monitoring can be used to evaluate forest bird population responses to mosquito suppression using the Incompatible Insect Technique.

Hawaii↗

USGS2025

AviList: A unified global bird checklist

Universally recognized scientific names for organisms are necessary for accurate and efficient communication. Incongruence in taxonomic treatments results in situations where one name is used for different entities or one entity is known by different names, with negative consequences for conservation, science, trade, legislation, law enforcement, and education, leading to discord among stakeholders and confusion among users. Within the ornithological community taxonomic incongruence among four widely adopted global bird checklists has led to calls for the development of a single unified global avian taxonomy or checklist. Here we introduce AviList, a comprehensive, collaborative and evolving effort towards developing a unified global avian taxonomy, spearheaded by representatives of most current global checklists and many major regional authorities, and supported by the International Ornithologists’ Union (IOU), BirdLife International and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. AviList version 2025, the first version, was officially launched on 11 June 2025 and is available online as a comprehensive, searchable public-access database. It recognizes 11,131 bird species in 2376 genera, 252 families and 46 orders. This global effort has resolved over 1000 species-level taxonomic incongruences among existing checklists. With AviList’s launch, the IOC World Bird List and the Clements Checklist of Birds of the World have ceased any independent taxonomic updates, while BirdLife International is in the process of total alignment, leading to a harmonization in the classification underpinning a number of major bird projects, including eBird, Macaulay Library, Merlin Bird ID and the IUCN Red List. Adoption of AviList will improve inter-operability across global biodiversity, molecular, ecological and spatial databases (e.g. GBIF). Strong governance of AviList will ensure it is a “living” document that is regularly updated by a global community of bird taxonomists as new scientific advances are made, with positive impacts for conservation, academia and human society. It is hoped that AviList will support and encourage taxonomic science by identifying areas where further research is most needed, and that it will provide a blueprint for taxonomic authorities in other organismic groups endeavoring to achieve taxonomic harmonization.

Biodiversity and Conservation↗