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

Abstract 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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Relationship between lake area and distance from the city centre on lake-dependent resident and migratory birds in urban Bangalore, a tropical mega-city in Southern India

Journal of Urban Ecology ◽

10.1093/jue/juab028 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ravi Jambhekar ◽

Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi ◽

Harini Nagendra

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Migratory Birds ◽

Bird Species ◽

Southern India ◽

City Centre ◽

Lake Area ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Impact Of Urbanization ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

Abstract Urbanization is one of the major causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Some species are able to adapt to urbanization, whereas others perish. Studies on long-term effects of the impact of urbanization on species diversity and abundance patterns are especially lacking from tropical cities. We seek to assess the relationship between urbanization and species richness of lake-dependent birds in Bangalore, a tropical mega-city in Southern India. We specifically ask: (i) How is bird species richness related to the size of the lake? (ii) How is bird species richness in Bangalore’s lakes related to the degree of urbanization? We used data from 2014 to 2019, collected from eBird—an online database that collates information on bird observations globally. Both lake area and distance from the city centre are correlated to species richness, with larger lakes supporting more bird species. As distance from the city centre increased (i.e. urbanization decreases), bird richness increased. Overall, in the city of Bangalore, migratory birds have declined while many lake-dependent resident birds seem to be increasing over the past 5 years. We hypothesize that birds that roost and nest in trees appear to be increasing. To confirm this, further research taking a trait-based approach is required. Urbanization appears to have species-specific impacts on lake-dependent birds in this tropical city, with certain groups of birds faring better than others. This research adds to the significant paucity of studies of the impact of urbanization on biodiversity in the urban tropics.

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

Avian Ecology in Latin American Cityscapes ◽

10.1007/978-3-319-63475-3_3 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 33-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ian MacGregor-Fors ◽

Michelle García-Arroyo

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

The City

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Seasonal changes in avian communities living in an extensively used farmland of Western Poland

European Journal of Ecology ◽

10.1515/eje-2016-0012 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 9-18 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Zbigniew Kwieciński ◽

Federico Morelli ◽

Marcin Antczak ◽

Martin Hromada ◽

Paweł Szymański ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Protected Areas ◽

Seasonal Changes ◽

Bird Species ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Negative Trend ◽

Avian Communities ◽

Farmland Birds ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Bird Richness

Abstract To study the seasonal changes in avian communities, we collected data in an extensively used farmland in Western Poland during 2006-2013. Generalized additive mixed models were used in order to study the effects of seasonality and protected areas on the overall bird species richness. A similarity percentage analysis was also conducted in order to identify the species that contribute most strongly to dissimilarity among each bird according to the phenological season. Furthermore, the differences in bird communities were investigated applying the decomposition of the species richness in season, trend, and remainder components. Each season showed significant differences in bird species richness (seasonality effect). The effect of the protected areas was slightly positive on the overall species richness for all seasons. However, an overall negative trend was detected for the entire period of eight years. The bird community composition was different among seasons, showing differences in terms of dominant species. Greater differences were found between breeding and wintering seasons, in particular, the spatial pattern of sites with higher bird richness (hotspots) were different between breeding and wintering seasons. Our findings showed a negative trend in bird species richness verified in the Polish farmlands from 2006. This result mirrors the same negative trend already highlighted for Western Europe. The role of protected areas, even if slightly positive, was not enough to mitigate this decline process. Therefore, to effectively protect farmland birds, it is necessary to also consider inter-seasons variation, and for this, we suggest the use of medium-term temporal studies on bird communities’ trends.

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Metrics of Lidar-Derived 3D Vegetation Structure Reveal Contrasting Effects of Horizontal and Vertical Forest Heterogeneity on Bird Species Richness

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs11070743 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 743 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Luis Carrasco ◽

Xingli Giam ◽

Monica Papeş ◽

Kimberly Sheldon

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Structural Heterogeneity ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Vegetation Height ◽

Vertical Heterogeneity ◽

Animal Diversity ◽

Bird Richness ◽

Structural Metrics ◽

Variance Explained

The structural heterogeneity of vegetation is a key factor for explaining animal diversity patterns at a local scale. Improvements in airborne light detection and ranging (lidar) technologies have enabled researchers to study forest 3D structure with increasing accuracy. Most structure–animal diversity work has focused on structural metrics derived from lidar returns from canopy and terrain features. Here, we built new lidar structural metrics based on the Leaf Area Density (LAD) at each vegetation height layer, and used these metrics to study how different aspects of forest structural heterogeneity explain variation in bird species richness. Our goals were to test: (1) whether LAD-based metrics better explained bird species richness compared to metrics based on the top of the canopy; and (2) if different aspects of structural heterogeneity had diverse effects on bird richness. We used discrete lidar data together with 61 breeding landbird points provided by the National Ecological Observatory Network at five forest sites of the eastern US. We used the lidar metrics as predictors of bird species richness and analyzed the shape of the response curves against each predictor. Metrics based on LAD measurements had better explanatory power (43% of variance explained) than those based on the variation of canopy heights (32% of variance explained). Dividing the forest plots into smaller grids allowed us to study the within-plot horizontal variation of the vertical heterogeneity, as well as to analyze how the vegetation density is horizontally distributed at each height layer. Bird species richness increased with horizontal heterogeneity, while vertical heterogeneity had negative effects, contrary to previous research. The increasing capabilities of lidar will allow researchers to characterize forest structure with higher detail. Our findings highlight the need for structure–animal diversity studies to incorporate metrics that are able to capture different aspects of forest 3D heterogeneity.

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Features of formation bird population structure in Minsk in the time aspect

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Biological Series ◽

10.29235/1029-8940-2021-66-4-412-425 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 66 (4) ◽

pp. 412-425

Author(s):

V. V. Sakhvon ◽

M. E. Nikiforov

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Urban Ecosystems ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

European Continent ◽

Bird Population ◽

Mixed Origin ◽

Large Water ◽

The City

The structure of bird population of urbanized areas is determined by the diversity of habitats within the city, the diversity of bird species in suburban biotopes, and regional processes of dispersal of birds closely associated with human settlements. The analysis of the dynamics of the breeding bird species richness in Minsk showed that its formation progressed in different ways. All in all, since 1946, 141 bird species have been recorded nesting (including allegedly) in the territory of Minsk.The breeding bird assemblages is dominated by dendrophilous (45.0 % of all species) as well as wetland and semi-aquatic (29,3 %) bird species, with more than half of all the breeding bird species (50.3 %) associated with trees and shrubs. In different periods, the breeding bird species richness varied, by now, it has noticeably increased (from 77 to 132 species). This happened due to the expansion of the administrative boundaries of the city with the inclusion of bird species of suburban habitats, an increase in the diversity of habitats suitable for bird nesting (for example, the formation of large water bodies) as well as due to active colonization of urban ecosystems by various bird species. At the same time, after 2000, 9 bird species stopped nesting and 17 bird species started nesting. Active processes of synurbization of some bird species on the European continent observed in recent decades have become the reason for the addition of new species to the avifauna in Minsk, although the basis of the current structure of bird population was formed back in 1986–1999. At the same time, the synurbized groups of various bird species may be of autochthonous, allochthonous, or mixed origin.

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Anthropogenic noise reduces bird species richness and diversity in urban parks

Ibis ◽

10.1111/ibi.12481 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 159 (3) ◽

pp. 638-646 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Alyne Perillo ◽

Luiz G. Mazzoni ◽

Luiza F. Passos ◽

Vinicius D. L. R. Goulart ◽

Charles Duca ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Urban Parks ◽

Anthropogenic Noise ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Species Richness And Diversity

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Quantifying Effects of Spatial Heterogeneity of Farmlands on Bird Species Richness by Means of Similarity Index Pairwise

International Journal of Biodiversity ◽

10.1155/2013/914837 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2013 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Federico Morelli

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Spatial Heterogeneity ◽

Central Italy ◽

Bird Species ◽

Similarity Index ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Bird Richness ◽

Farmland Bird ◽

The Impact

Many studies have shown how intensification of farming is the main cause of loss biodiversity in these environments. During the last decades, agroecosystems in Europe have changed drastically, mainly due to mechanization of agriculture. In this work, species richness in bird communities was examined on a gradient of spatial heterogeneity of farmlands, in order to quantify its effects. Four categories of farmland spatial heterogeneity were defined, based on landscape and landuse parameters. The impact of features increasing the spatial heterogeneity was quantified comparing the similarity indexes between bird communities in several farmlands of Central Italy. The effects of environmental variables on bird richness were analyzed using GLM. The results highlighted that landscape features surrogates of high nature values (HNVs) of farmlands can increase more than 50% the bird species richness. The features more related to bird richness were hedgerows, scattered shrubs, uncultivated patches, and powerlines. The results confirm that the approach based on HNV for evaluating the farmlands is also suitable in order to study birds’ diversity. However, some species are more sensitive to heterogeneity, while other species occupy mainly homogeneous farmlands. As a consequence, different conservation methods must be considered for each farmland bird species.

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First assessment of bird diversity in the UNESCO Sheka Forest Biosphere Reserve, southwestern Ethiopia: species richness, distribution and potential for avian conservation

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.4726.11.7.13850-13867 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 13850-13867 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mattias Van Opstal ◽

Bernard Oosterlynck ◽

Million Belay ◽

Jesse Erens ◽

Matthias De Beenhouwer

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Bird Species ◽

Biosphere Reserve ◽

Bird Diversity ◽

Detailed Knowledge ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Point Count ◽

Southwestern Ethiopia ◽

The Rich ◽

High Degree

The Sheka Zone in southwestern Ethiopia is covered by some of the largest remaining forests in the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot. Owing to the rich biodiversity and a high degree of endemism, it was declared as a biosphere reserve by UNESCO in 2012 and is considered a Key Biodiversity Area. Detailed knowledge on species diversity and distribution in the reserve is, however, severely limited. From February to April 2016, an assessment of the bird diversity and distribution in the reserve was made for the first time through point count transects, camera-trap recordings and opportunistic observations. In total, 244 bird species were identified, of which 19% was only found within the reserve’s designated protected zones. Our study indicates a remarkable bird species richness across the different habitats in Sheka Forest Biosphere Reserve and can be used as a baseline for future monitoring studies and conservation planning.

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Functional evenness of bird communities varies along the elevational gradient in Europe: Conservation implications

10.32942/osf.io/sx9n8 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Federico Morelli ◽

Yanina

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Elevation Gradient ◽

Bird Species ◽

Elevational Gradient ◽

Negative Association ◽

Bird Communities ◽

Breeding Bird ◽

Bird Species Richness ◽

Large Spatial Scale ◽

Functional Evenness

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.

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