scholarly journals Birds of Parque Estadual do Tainhas, an important protected area of the highland grasslands of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. e20195934
Author(s):  
Eduardo Chiarani ◽  
Carla Suertegaray Fontana

Parque Estadual do Tainhas – PET (Tainhas State Park) is a protected area with significant extensions of natural grasslands located in highland grasslands of northeastern Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, and recognized as an Important Bird Area. Our aim was to record the bird species richness of PET with a greater sampling effort than previous studies at the site, including unpublished data such as occurrence status of most species and evidence of breeding of some of them in the park. We surveyed birds between 2012 and 2018 performing aleatory trails covering mainly the central portion of PET (1,500 ha). We also added records from published studies. We listed 208 species, of which 203 were recorded during our fieldwork (including 18 species of conservation concern). The estimated richness was 222.22 (SD = 10.91) species, according to Jackknife 1 method. This result represents a 58% increase in the species richness of the park and shows that long-term monitoring of the bird community allows to access more accurate richness and to identify the regular species (core avifauna) of the park. The presence of 55 breeders and threatened species shows the importance of this protected area for breeding and conservation of grassland birds, such as Urubitinga coronata, Cinclodes pabsti, Xolmis dominicanus, Anthus nattereri, Xanthopsar flavus, and Sporophila melanogaster.

2005 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Cintra ◽  
T. M. Sanaiotti

The effects of fire on the composition of a bird community were investigated in an Amazonian savanna near Alter-do-Chão, Pará (Brazil). Mist-net captures and visual counts were used to assess species richness and bird abundance pre- and post-fire in an approximately 20 ha area. Visual counts along transects were used to survey birds in an approximately 2000 ha area in a nearby area. Results using the same method of ordination analysis (multidimensional scaling) showed significant effects of fire in the 20 ha and 2000 ha areas and strongly suggest direct effects on bird community composition. However, the effects were different at different spatial scales and/or in different years, indicating that the effects of fire vary spatially and/or temporally. Bird community composition pre-fire was significantly different from that found post-fire. Using multiple regression analysis it was found that the numbers of burned and unburned trees were not significantly related to either bird species richness or bird abundance. Two months after the fire, neither bird species richness nor bird abundance was significantly related to the number of flowering trees (Lafoensia pacari) or fruiting trees (Byrsonima crassifolia). Since fire is an annual event in Alter-do-Chão and is becoming frequent in the entire Amazon, bird community composition in affected areas could be constantly changing in time and space.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Bonthoux ◽  
Solenne Lefèvre ◽  
Pierre-Alexis Herrault ◽  
David Sheeren

Continuous-based predictors of habitat characteristics derived from satellite imagery are increasingly used in species distribution models (SDM). This is especially the case of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) which provides estimates of vegetation productivity and heterogeneity. However, when NDVI predictors are incorporated into SDM, synchrony between biological observations and image acquisition must be questionned. Due to seasonal variations of NDVI during the year, landscape patterns of habitats are revealed differently from one date to another leading to variations in models’ performance. In this paper, we investigated the influence of acquisition time period of NDVI to explain and predict bird community patterns over France. We examined if the NDVI acquisition period that best fit the bird data depends on the dominant land cover context. We also compared models based on single time period of NDVI with one model built from the Dynamic Habitat Index (DHI) components which summarize variations in vegetation phenology throughout the year from the fraction of radiation absorbed by the canopy (fPAR). Bird species richness was calculated as response variable for 759 plots of 4 km2 from the French Breeding Bird Survey. Bird specialists and generalists to habitat were considered. NDVI and DHI predictors were both derived from MODIS products. For NDVI, five time periods in 2010 were compared, from late winter to begin of autumn. A climate predictor was also used and Generalized Additive Models were fitted to explain and predict bird species richness. Results showed that NDVI-based proxies of dominant habitat identity and spatial heterogeneity explain more bird community patterns than DHI-based proxies of annual productivity and seasonnality. We also found that models’ performance was both time and context-dependent, varying according to the bird groups. In general, best time period of NDVI did not match with the acquisition period of bird data because in case of synchrony, differences in habitats are less pronounced. These findings suggest that the most powerful approach to estimate bird community patterns is the simplest one. It only requires NDVI predictors from a single appropriate time period, in addition to climate, which makes the approach very operational.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Kaushik ◽  
Samakshi Tiwari ◽  
Kumari Manisha

AbstractRapid urbanization and associated biodiversity loss is rampant globally but especially a cause of concern for developing countries. However, numerous studies investigating the role of urban green spaces have established their key role in conserving larger suites of species in urban area. Yet our knowledge is lopsided due to lag in research in developing countries. We examined how landscape and local scale features of urban green spaces influence bird species richness, density, fine-foraging guild richness and composition during breeding and non-breeding season. This is the first study of this nature in one the Himalayan states of India. We quantified landscape level variables in the 250m buffer around 18 urban green spaces. We sampled vegetation and bird community during breeding and non-breeding season through 52 intensive sampling point spread across 18 urban green spaces. Size of the urban green space at landscape level and tree richness at the local scale emerged as important predictor variables influencing bird species richness, density and richness of imperiled insectivorous guild across seasons. Urban green spaces within education institutions and offices experiencing much less management supported higher bird richness and density whereas city parks were the most species poor. Community composition was affected more strongly by built-up cover and barren area in the matrix and also by tree species richness within urban green spaces. City planners should focus on establishing larger city parks during design stage whereas biodiversity potential of the existing urban green spaces could be enhanced by selecting native tree and shrub species to increase overall habitat complexity.


2009 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
STOYAN C. NIKOLOV

SummaryOver the past half century, grassland birds in Europe have declined dramatically and in order to maintain and restore their populations it is critical to understand how habitat structures and quality within pastures affect birds. This study investigated the effects of habitat structure and pasture abandonment on grassland birds in IBA Ponor, western Bulgaria. Birds were sampled using the point count method at 143 randomly located circular plots and a total of 1,401 observations of birds from 31 species were recorded. The results showed that habitat complexity, management and landscape position influenced bird community structure and species occurrence within the upland pastures. Extensively grazed pastures supported higher structural complexity of vegetation cover and higher bird-species richness and diversity compared with abandoned ones. Moreover, bird species with a preference for grazed rather than abandoned pastures had higher conservation status and most were associated with shrub cover. To maintain high levels of avian diversity, habitat complexity within pastures should be maintained through extensive grazing, to ensure availability of scrub vegetation wherever possible. Finally, this study provided evidence that agri-environmental schemes should not be directly extrapolated from one country or region to another without been tested first, because within the same management, differences in habitat structural characteristics may exist due to the landscape and socio-economic characteristics of the region.


2011 ◽  
Vol 101 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 115-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aline Barcellos ◽  
Letícia S Schmidt ◽  
Paulo Sergio F Ferreira

A two-year study was carried out to evaluate the composition, abundance and species richness of Miridae from Parque Estadual do Turvo, municipality of Derrubadas, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Samplings were made in the springs of 2003 and 2004 (October), and autumns of 2004 and 2005 (May), using a beating tray method, along two trails of the park. Sampling effort (hours x collectors) in the quantitative collections totaled 153 hours. Two-hundred mirid specimens of 50 species were collected. The most abundant mirid was Prepops setosipes (Reuter, 1910), representing 23% of the collected individuals, followed by Collaria capixaba Carvalho & Fontes, 1981 (10.5%) and Tropidosteptes cribratus (Stål, 1860) (7%), the latter recorded in all sampling periods. The highest abundance was observed in the springs of 2003 and 2004, with 53 and 78 individuals, respectively. Rarefaction method showed that estimated species richness was higher in autumn/2004 than in the other sampling periods, and higher along Yucumã than in Garcia trail. Besides a higher species richeness, Yucumã had more exclusive species than Garcia trail. The percent of species represented by one or two specimens in quantitative samplings (singletons and doubletons) was 60%. Additional samplings including hand collection, random beating tray and light trap collections added 20 species not recorded in the quantitative samplings.


2004 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 587 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Z. Woinarski ◽  
M. Armstrong ◽  
O. Price ◽  
J. McCartney ◽  
A. D. Griffiths ◽  
...  

Forty-seven 50 m × 50 m quadrats were sampled systematically for vertebrates at Litchfield National Park, northern Australia, in both 1995–96 and 2001–02. A total of 184 vertebrate species was recorded from this sampling, of which 92 species were recorded from five or more quadrats. There was substantial change in the reported species composition of these quadrats between these two periods: the mean Bray–Curtis index for similarity in species composition from the baseline to subsequent sampling of a quadrat was only 22.1 (for an index that varies from 0 for complete turnover in species to 100 for unchanged composition). For individual species, correlations across quadrats in the abundance scores from baseline to resampling varied from –0.12 to 0.85. Matched-pairs testing showed that there was significant change in abundance for 18 species from the baseline to repeat sampling, and significant increase in total bird species richness and total native mammal abundance, but significant decrease in reptile species richness. Fire history was recorded biannually for 40 of the 47 quadrats. Fire was very frequent, with quadrats being burnt in an average of 3.65 years of the six years between fauna samples. Three aspects of this fire history (total number of years of fires, number of fires in the late dry season, and interval from the last fire to the date of resampling) were related to change in the fauna composition of quadrats. Neither the similarity in species composition, nor change in richness or total abundance of all vertebrates or of the four taxonomic classes considered (frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals) were significantly correlated with these components of the fire history of sampled quadrats. This lack of association was possibly because the monitoring period was too short to show pronounced directional change, because the system was responding to many factors other than fire, because the variations in abundance were too large and the number of samples too small to detect true associations, or because fire histories preceding baseline sampling were not considered. The apparent instability of fauna species and communities in this system provides a considerable challenge for broad-brush (that is, vertebrate community–wide) monitoring. Power analysis demonstrated that, for most species, more than 1000 sample sites are needed to be 90% certain of detecting a 20% change in abundance, and with a 10% chance of accepting a Type I error. This level of sampling effort is commensurate with the current level of vertebrate sampling in this region. Broad-brush monitoring approaches such as described here are valuable, but need also to be complemented by more targetted monitoring for individual threatened species or species of particular management interest.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Morelli ◽  
Yanina

ContextThe negative association between elevation and species richness is a well-recognized pattern in macro-ecology. ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to investigate changes in functional evenness of breeding bird communities along an elevation gradient in Europe. MethodsUsing the bird data from the EBCC Atlas of European Breeding Birds we estimated an index of functional evenness which can be assumed as a measure of the potential resilience of communities.ResultsOur findings confirm the existence of a negative association between elevation and bird species richness in all European eco regions. However, we also explored a novel aspect of this relationship, important for conservation: Our findings provide evidence at large spatial scale of a negative association between the functional evenness (potential community resilience) and elevation, independent of the eco region. We also found that the Natura2000 protected areas covers the territory most in need of protection, those characterized by bird communities with low potential resilience, in hilly and mountainous areas.ConclusionsThese results draw attention to European areas occupied by bird communities characterized by a potential lower capacity to respond to strong ecological changes, and, therefore, potentially more exposed to risks for conservation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Marcelo Pereira de Barros ◽  
Ana Paula Lima da Silveira ◽  
Bruna Reis Ferreira

As aves destacam-se dentro dos vertebrados por serem um grupo diverso e adaptado a diferentes ambientes, a composição da comunidade de aves de um determinado local é um importante bioindicador ambiental, pois ela reflete alterações recentes ou pretéritas de determinada área. Na Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio dos Sinos, as pressões sobre os remanescentes de ecossistemas naturais são intensas em decorrência da urbanização crescente, do estabelecimento de indústrias e da ampliação das fronteiras agrícolas, esses fatores associados geram a redução e fragmentação de habitats, com impactos irrecuperáveis para a flora e a fauna. Devido à escassez de dados sobre a avifauna do município de Taquara, o presente estudo teve como objetivo levantar informações sobre o grupo, listando as espécies de aves locais. Entre agosto de 2016 e junho de 2017 foram realizadas quatro amostragens mensais em duas áreas rurais do município, totalizando 44 campanhas de observação e 132 horas de esforço amostral. As espécies foram identificadas e classificadas conforme sua frequência de ocorrência mensal, em espécies comuns e raras. Foram registradas 133 espécies distribuídas em 47 famílias, o que representa mais de 20% das espécies ocorrentes para o estado. Ao longo do período amostrado, 90 espécies foram classificadas como comuns e 47 consideradas raras para as áreas pesquisadas.Palavras-chave: Aves. Bacia hidrográfica do Rio dos Sinos. Preservação.ABSTRACTBirds stand out within vertebrates because they are a diverse group adapted to different environments. The composition of the bird community of a certain place is an important environmental bioindicator since it reflects recent or previous environmental disturbances of a certain area. In the Sinos River Basin, environmental pressures on the remnants of natural ecosystems are intense as a result of increasing urbanization, the establishment of industries and expansion of agricultural frontiers which generate habitat reduction and fragmentation with irrecoverable damages on flora and fauna. Due to the scarcity of data on the avifauna of the municipality of Taquara, the present study aimed to gather information and list the species of local birds. Between August 2016 and June 2017, four monthly samplings were carried out in two rural areas of the municipality, totaling 44 observation campaigns and 132 hours of sample effort. The species were identified and classified as common and rare according to their frequency of occurrence. There were 133 species distributed in 47 families, representing more than 20% of the species that occurred in the state. During the sampled period, 90 species were classified as common and 47 were considered rare for the areas surveyed.Keywords: Birds. Hydrographic basin of Sinos River. Preservation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 127 ◽  
pp. 107774
Author(s):  
Martina L. Hobi ◽  
Laura S. Farwell ◽  
Maxim Dubinin ◽  
Dmitrij Kolesov ◽  
Anna M. Pidgeon ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 54 (No. 4) ◽  
pp. 189-193
Author(s):  
M. Żmihorski

Clearcuts are one of the results of forest management. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of clearcuts on bird communities in a managed forest in Western Poland. I applied the method of point transect counts. 20 points were located near clearcuts (less than 100 m from the nearest clearcut) and 25 points in the forest interior. In total, 36 bird species were recorded. On average, I found 9.20 bird species at points located near clearcuts and 6.72 species at points situated in the forest interior, and the difference was significant. The cumulative number of bird species for a given number of sampling points in the vicinity of clearcuts was higher than in the forest interior. The obtained results indicate that in managed, even-aged forests the generation of clearcuts can lead to an increase in local bird species richness.


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