Taxonomic and functional diversity of birds in a rural landscape of high Andean forest, Colombia

By

Sarmiento-Garavito, Lina P.
García-Monroy, Juan S.
Carvajal-Cogollo, Juan E

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022-2-17

Original Publication

Neotropical Biology and Conservation

Volume

17

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

39--57

Subjects

Colombian Andes , countryside , functional traits , species composition , species richness , transformed landscape , transformed landscape Colombian Andes

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Brazil Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.17.e66096

 

Abstract

We evaluated the taxonomic and functional diversity of birds in a rural landscape in the north-eastern Andes of Colombia. We carried out seven field trips and used transects of 300 m, separated from each other by 500 m in the dominant plant cover of the rural landscape. We measured alpha (α) and beta (β) diversity at both the taxonomic and functional levels. We registered 10 orders, 21 families, 56 genera and 63 species of birds. In wooded pasture, we recorded 55 species and a relative abundance of 66% and 44 and 34% for an Andean forest fragment. The species that contributed the most to the dissimilarity between the covers wereZonotrichia capensis,Turdus fuscater,Mecocerculus leucophrys,Atlapetes latinuchusandCrotophaga ani. We identified nine functional types, where G1 was made up of small species with anissodactyl and pamprodactyl legs that were insectivorous, frugivorous and nectarivorous as the best represented. The FEve and FDiv were 0.51 and 0.74, respectively in the Andean forest fragment plant cover and, for the wooded pasture, the FEve was 0.45 and the FDiv was 0.81. Both cover types contributed to the diversity of the rural landscape and the dynamics that existed between them formed a complementary factor that favoured the taxonomic and functional richness of the characterised rural landscape.