Recovery of tropical rainforest avifauna in relation to vegetation succession following shifting cultivation in Mizoram, north-east India

1. Recovery of rainforest bird community structure and composition, in relation to forest succession after slash-and-burn shifting cultivation or jhum was studied in Mizoram, north-east India. Replicate fallow sites abandoned after shifting cultivation 1, 5, 10, 25 and approximate to 100 years ago, were compared with primary evergreen and semi-evergreen forest using transect and quadrat sampling. 2. Vegetation variables such as woody plant species richness, tree density and vertical stratification increased with fallow age in a rapid. nun-linear, asymptotic manner. Principal components analysis of vegetation variables summarized 92.8% of the variation into two axes: PC1 reflecting forest development and woody plant succession (variables such as tree density, woody plant species richness), and PC2 depicting bamboo density, which increased from 1 to 25 years and declined thereafter. 3. Bird species richness, abundance and diversity, increased rapidly and asymptotically during succession paralleling vegetation recovery as shown by positive correlations with fallow age and PC1 scores of sites. Bamboo density reflected by PC2 had a negative effect on bird species richness and abundance. 4. The bird community similarity (Morisita index) of sites with primary forest also increased asymptotically with fallow age indicating sequential species turnover during succession. Bird community similarity of sites with primary forest (or between sites) was positively correlated with both physiognomic and floristic similarities with primary forest (or between sites). 5. The number of bird species in guilds associated with forest development and woody plants (canopy insectivores, frugivores: bark feeders) was correlated with PCI scores of the sites. Species in other guilds (e. g. granivores, understorey insectivores) appeared to dominate during early and mid-succession. 6. The non-linear relationships imply that fallow periods less than a threshold of 25 years for birds, and about 50-75 years for woody plants, are likely to cause substantial community alteration. 7. As 5-10-year rotation periods or jhum cycles prevail in many parts of north-east India. there is a need to protect and conserve tracts of late-successional and primary forest.

The avifauna of Laguna Llancanelo (Mendoza, Argentina), a South American wetland of international importance

Laguna Llancanelo is a large (40,000 ha), very shallow (less than 3 m deep), inland saline waterbody, located in southern Mendoza, Argentina. A survey of the avifauna was undertaken during 1983 to 1985; field trips were made mostly to the northeastern and central-western sectors of the lagoon, in the months of April, May, September, October and December. Complementary studies were made by an aerial survey and assessments of terrestrial birds in the surroundings of the lagoon. A total of 64 species in 22 families of birds usually associated with aquatic environments were recorded. The best-represented families of aquatic birds in terms of numbers of species were: Anatidae (13 swans, geese, ducks), Scolopacidae (7 sandpipers and other small waders), Ardeidae (6 herons, bitterns, egrets, Podicipedidae (4 grebes), Rallidae (4 rails, coots) and Charadriidae (4 plovers, lapwings). The most abundant nesting birds on the lagoon were: Black-necked swan Cygnus melancoryphus (824), silvery grebe Podiceps occipitalis (202) and black-crowned night heron Nycticorax nycticorax (100).

Relación entre la fragmentación del hábitat primario a escala de paisaje y la avifauna dependiente de bosque tropical en la región caribeña de Guatemala

El estudio de los efectos de la modificación del hábitat sobre la diversidad biológica tropical es un tema fundamental para la biología de la conservación. El objetivo principal de este trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de la modificación del bosque tropical a escala de paisaje, y en particular de la fragmentación del bosque, sobre las comunidades de aves en la región caribeña de Guatemala, e identificar los mecanismos ecológicos principales asociados a dichos efectos. Relevé las comunidades de aves en 123 paisajes, y estudié la relación entre: 1) la presencia de 10 especies blanco; 2) la riqueza, abundancia y composición de las aves dependientes de bosque; 3) la dinámica temporal de dicha comunidad; 4) la riqueza de ocho gremios ecológicos, y la variación en la composición y configuración del hábitat en estos paisajes, mediante modelos lineales generalizados y técnicas multivariadas. Concluí que: 1) la persistencia de las aves en paisajes modificados depende de factores que operan a escalas extra-territoriales; 2) el efecto de la cobertura de bosque sobre la comunidad de aves fue mayor, pero hubo fuertes respuestas a la fragmentación y aumentos del perímetro de las especies de interior de bosque, las granívoras, nectarívoras, e insectívoras residentes de follaje y hojarasca; 3) la dinámica comunitaria de los paisajes con cobertura mayor al 40 por ciento, independientemente del grado de fragmentación, fueron muy similares a la del bosque continuo; 4) las especies más vulnerables a la modificación poseen poca capacidad de utilizar hábitats alternativos, impidiendo la suplementación de recursos en éstos y/o restringiendo su dispersión a otros fragmentos; aquellas que se alimentan y anidan en los estratos inferiores del bosque y construyen nidos abiertos son más vulnerables a los efectos bióticos y abióticos de los bordes de bosque; las especies que son miembros comunes de grupos de alimentación son afectadas por mayores requerimientos de área y una menor amplitud de hábitat.

Spatial turnover in the global avifauna

Despite its wide implications for many ecological issues, the global pattern of spatial turnover in the occurrence of species has been little studied, unlike the global pattern of species richness. Here, using a database on the breeding distributions of birds, we present the first global maps of variation in spatial turnover for an entire taxonomic class, a pattern that has to date remained largely a matter of conjecture, based on theoretical expectations and extrapolation of inconsistent patterns from different biogeographic realms. We use these maps to test four predictions from niche theory as to the form that this variation should take, namely that turnover should increase with species richness, towards lower latitudes, and with the steepness of environmental gradients and that variation in turnover is determined principally by rare (restricted) species. Contrary to prediction, we show that turnover is high both in areas of extremely low and high species richness, does not increase strongly towards the tropics, and is related both to average environmental conditions and spatial variation in those conditions. These results are closely associated with a further important and novel finding, namely that global patterns of spatial turnover are driven principally by widespread species rather than the restricted ones. This complements recent demonstrations that spatial patterns of species richness are also driven principally by widespread species, and thus provides an important contribution towards a unified model of how terrestrial biodiversity varies both within and between the Earth's major land masses.

A avifauna como meio de valorização turística da Ria Formosa - Faro

Dissertação mest., Biologia Marinha, Universidade do Algarve, 2009

Distribución altitudinal de la avifauna del cerro el Potosí, Galeana, Nuevo León, México

Tesis (Maestría en Ciencias con Especialidad en Manejo de Vida Silvestre) UANL

Análisis de la vegetación y su avifauna como potenciales indicadores en el estudio de ordenamiento ecológico en el área sur de Monterrey, Nuevo León, México

Tesis (Maestria en Ciencias con Especialidad en Manejo de Vida Silvestre) UANL.

Efecto de la vegetación sobre la avifauna de una porción de matorral espinoso tamaulipeco, en el municipio de Linares, N.L..

Tesis (Maestría en Ciencias Forestales) UANL, 2013.

Uso de recursos, translape de nicho y competencia de la avifauna asociada a Yucca treculeana en un matorral mediano subinerme en General Escobedo, N.L., México

Tesis (Doctorado en Ciencias Biológicas con Especialidad en Ecología) UANL

Cambios en la diversidad alfa y beta de la avifauna de la Laguna Madre, Tamaulipas, México, de 1964 al 2008

Tesis (Doctor en Ciencias) UANL, 2010.

Composición y distribución de la avifauna de la reserva estatal El Palmar, Yucatán, México

Tesis (Doctor en Ciencias con Acentuación en Manejo de Vida Silvestre y Desarrollo Sustentable) UANL, 2009.

Importancia y uso de los pastos nativos para la avifauna asociada al matorral espinoso tamaulipeco, San Fernando, Tamaulipas, México.

Tesis (Doctor en Ciencias con acentuación en Manejo de Vida Silvestre y Desarrollo Sustentable) UANL, 2013.

Centre municipal de protecció de l'avifauna balear de Son Reus : quadern didàctic per a l'alumne. 'Centro municipal de protección de la avifauna balear de Son Reus : cuaderno didáctico para el alumno'.

Resumen tomado de la innovación