scholarly journals Use of Habitat and Activity Patterns of Pionus menstruus and Amazona farinosa (Aves: Psitacidae) in a Tropical Dry Forest in Toluviejo, Sucre, Colombia

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Sampedro AC

To determine the use of the habitat and the patterns of daily activity of two species of psittacids, present in a tropical dry forest in a town in the Montes de María, we make direct observations through point counts, advantageous points and intensive search, in 24 samplings between March and July 2017, between 05:30 and 18:30 hrs. We recorded 421 individuals of Pionus menstruus in 148 sightings and 517 of farmed Amazona in 235 sightings. The largest number of individuals of Pionus menstruus appears in April and May, while the largest number of individuals of Amazona farinosa was observed in July (X = 48.26, p <0.001, 4 df ). The proportion of sightings of these species in zones I and II was similar, but in zone III the number of individuals sighted by A. farinos a was much higher than that of P.menstruus (X2 = 44.718, p <0.001, 2 df ). Both species showed greater activity between 0600 and 0700 and between 1600 and 1800, corresponding to lower values of temperature, wind speed and light intensity than those registered at noon. Most of the sightings occurred during flight for both species. To feed, perch, groom and converse, the parrots used 13 species of trees; among them, Amazona farinosa used 11 to perform three or four activities and Pionus menstruus only used six species to perform three of the activities we observed. The frequency of sighted parrots is related to the availability of ecosystem resources, without any evidence of competition between species.

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 358-368
Author(s):  
Augusto Ramírez-Godoy ◽  
Gina Puentes-Pérez ◽  
Hermann Restrepo-Díaz

The Asian citrus psyllid Diaphorina citri is the insect vector of the disease known as huanglongbing (HLB), which is the most devastating disease of citrus crops in the world. The Asian citrus psyllid was officially reported in Colombia in 2007, and a national phytosanitary emergency was declared because of the presence of HLB in 2015. Two different experiments were carried out in two locations (Apulo and Jerusalén, Department of Cundinamarca) in Colombia to evaluate the effectiveness of neonicotinoid (clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxan) and pyrethroid applications (bifenthrin, deltamethrin and lambda cyhalothrin) on the control of D. citri populations (adults, nymphs and eggs) in ‘Tahiti’ lime trees established under tropical dry forest conditions. In the first experiment, trees were foliarly treated as follows: (1) untreated trees; (2) trees treated with 100 g ha-1 of imidacloprid; (3) trees treated with 60 g ha-1 of bifenthrin; (4) trees treated with 12.5 g ha-1 of deltamethrin and (5) trees treated with a co-formulation of 70 g ha-1 of a neonicotinoid (thiametoxan) and 53 g ha-1 of a pyrethroid (lambda cyhalothrin). In the second experiment, trees were treated with 100 g ha-1 of clothianidin. Foliar insecticide applications were carried out at 0 and 4 weeks after the initiation of treatments (WAT). In the first trial, the control presented a mean number of individuals per flush of ≈1.14, whereas the trees treated with neoinicotinoids and pyrethroids showed 50% fewer individuals (0.53-0.61). For the population of immatures, the number of nymphs was 2.25 nymphs per flush in the control, as compared to 0.82-1.22 individuals observed in the treatments with insecticides. The mean number of eggs was also between 80-100% higher in the control trees (2.37 individuals), as compared to the treated trees (1.14-1.78). In the second trial, the use of clothianidin showed a higher control of eggs. The results suggest that the rotation of neonicotinoids with pyrethroids can be a tool to reduce populations and delay resistance processes in D. citri in citrus trees established under tropical dry forest conditions in Colombia.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milene G Jannetti ◽  
C Loren Buck ◽  
Veronica S Valentinuzzi ◽  
Gisele A Oda

Abstract While most studies of the impacts of climate change have investigated shifts in the spatial distribution of organisms, temporal shifts in the time of activity is another important adjustment made by animals in a changing world. Due to the importance of light and temperature cycles in shaping activity patterns, studies of activity patterns of organisms that inhabit extreme environments with respect to the 24-hour cyclicity of Earth have the potential to provide important insights into the interrelationships among abiotic variables, behaviour and physiology. Our previous laboratory studies with Argentinean tuco-tucos from the Monte desert (Ctenomys aff. knighti) show that these subterranean rodents display circadian activity/rest rhythms that can be synchronized by artificial light/dark cycles. Direct observations indicate that tuco-tucos emerge mainly for foraging and for removal of soil from their burrows. Here we used bio-logging devices for individual, long-term recording of daily activity/rest (accelerometry) and time on surface (light-loggers) of six tuco-tucos maintained in outdoor semi-natural enclosures. Environmental variables were measured simultaneously. Activity bouts were detected both during day and night but 77% of the highest values happened during the daytime and 47% of them coincided with time on surface. Statistical analyses indicate time of day and temperature as the main environmental factors modulating time on surface. In this context, the total duration that these subterranean animals spent on surface was high during the winter, averaging 3 h per day and time on surface occurred when underground temperature was lowest. Finally, transport of these animals to the indoor laboratory and subsequent assessment of their activity rhythms under constant darkness revealed a switch in the timing of activity. Plasticity of activity timing is not uncommon among desert rodents and may be adaptive in changing environments, such as the desert where this species lives.


Dugesiana ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-290
Author(s):  
Sara López Pérez ◽  
◽  
Geovanni M. Rodríguez-Mirón ◽  
Magdalena Ordóñez Reséndiz ◽  
Santiago Zaragoza Caballero ◽  
...  

This is the first study of the composition of leaf beetles attracted to light in Mexico. We analyze the richness, temporal abundance and similarity between four localities of tropical dry forest in Sierra de San Javier, Sonora. A total of 3217 individuals belonging to 45 morphospecies, 31 genera and 10 tribes within five subfamilies of Chrysomelidae were collected in light traps in the tropical dry forest of Sierra de San Javier, Sonora. Galerucinae was the subfamily with the greatest number of genera and species. The genera with the highest number of species were Pachybrachis Chevrolat and Alagoasa Bechyné. Eight genera were represented by two species and 21 genera by only one species. Metrioidea rugipennis (Blake) was the species with the highest number of individuals (80% of the abundance recorded). According to the taxonomic and species similarity analysis, the sites San Javier and La Barranca had the highest similarity, while the lowest values were recorded at Rancho Las Peñitas and Cañón de Lo de Campa. The low similarity between sites cannot be explained by the geographic distance since it was not a determining factor to explain the low similarity in Sierra de San Javier.


2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Butler ◽  
B. Malone ◽  
N. Clemann

Translocation of snakes is a common practice for managing human–snake conflict in many parts of Australia. The impact of this management on individual snakes is not known. Differences between translocated and non-translocated snakes in terms of their activity patterns and habitat use are likely to indicate an impact on individual snakes from this procedure. We investigated these issues in a suburban parkland close to Melbourne for one of the most familiar of these snakes, the tiger snake (Notechis scutatus). This parkland is frequently used by licenced snake controllers to release snakes that have been removed from nearby private properties at the owner’s request. We used two techniques to assess activity patterns and habitat preferences of resident and translocated snakes: direct observations of tiger snakes that were resident in the park, and radiotelemetry to compare a subset of resident snakes with translocated conspecifics. The size of our transmitters dictated that we only use telemetry for large snakes (≥750 mm snout–vent length), even though the resident population consisted mainly of intermediate-sized females (560–760 mm snout–vent length). Non-telemetred resident snakes were readily observed during spring, but rarely observed in summer and early autumn. Translocated snakes travelled greater distances than resident telemetred snakes, although there was no difference in the frequency of movements. For both groups the degree of cloud cover and maximum daily temperature had a significant influence on daily activity, with snakes being more likely to be active on relatively cool, sunny days. Relative humidity, wind speed and rainfall did not exert a significant influence on activity. Snakes exhibited bimodal peaks in daily activity, avoiding the hottest part of the day. Both resident and translocated snakes showed a preference for grassy woodlands associated with hills, but avoided escarpment woodlands and open plains. Floodplain riparian woodland was avoided by resident snakes, but used in proportion to its availability by translocated snakes. Because translocated snakes released at the study site moved larger distances and showed different habitat preferences to resident snakes we conclude that this practice influences individual snakes. Until the implications of translocation for both snakes and humans are fully understood, we recommend caution in the use of this management practice.


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7866 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Guadalupe Martínez-Hernández ◽  
Angélica María Corona-López ◽  
Alejandro Flores-Palacios ◽  
Matthias Rös ◽  
Víctor Hugo Toledo-Hernández

Global climate change is expected to affect temperature and precipitation patterns worldwide, which in turn is likely to affect insect phenology, distribution and diversity. To improve our understanding of such processes, it is important to understand how insects may respond to changes in seasonality, and how these affect their activity, patterns of distribution and species richness. The tropical dry forest (TDF) is a highly seasonal ecosystem, for which two seasons are commonly described (rainy and dry) and there is a lack of information on the combined effect of both precipitation and temperature on the insect communities. In order to evaluate the seasonal patterns in the community of Cerambycidae in a TDF, historical climatic variables were obtained, and an annual sampling of the family was carried out, using three collection techniques. We found that the Cerambycidae family showed a more complex response to climate, than simply the rainy and dry season of the year. The relationship between diversity and composition of cerambycids with changes in temperature and precipitation showed four seasonal communities which were synchronized with phenological processes of the TDF. Climate change could reduce biodiversity, causing seasonal patterns to lose complexity, either because the climatic characteristics of a season disappear and/or because the duration of a season expands, these changes will modify the ecological processes of the TDF, since they would generate changes in the flora and fauna associated with the different seasons.


2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-568
Author(s):  
Jansen Fernandes Medeiros ◽  
Victor Py-Daniel ◽  
Thiago Junqueira Izzo

We studied the influence of climatic parameters in the daily haematophagic activity of Cerqueirellum argentiscutum from September/1999 to August/2000. The bite activity observed was different according to the annual rain precipitation (dry and rainy seasons). Humidity and temperature were the factors that most influenced it in both periods. During the dry season, it was greater in the beginning of the morning, showing a positive association with the humidity. However, during the rainy season, it was negatively related to that same factor. When wind speed was higher than 10 Km.h-1, it was reduced abruptly. Light intensity, atmospheric pressure and cloudiness seemed to act as secondary factors in the daily abundance of C. argentiscutum.


2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Francisco Cano ◽  
Oscar E. Murillo-García

Introduction: Resource partitioning by promoting coexistence is essential to determine species richness and composition in natural communities. However, the partitioning of time has been questioned as a mechanism that promotes the coexistence of ecologically similar species. Objective: To determine the importance of the partitioning of time as a mechanism that promotes coexistence, we compared the activity patterns of tropical frugivorous bats. Methods: We captured bats with mist nets from sunset to sunrise in three study sites (tropical dry forest, wet forest, and rainforest) to calculate activity patterns of the species using Kernel density estimation. We used the superposition coefficient (Δ1) to compare activity patterns between (1) bat assemblages of study sites, (2) frugivorous species in the same site, and (3) populations of the same species among different sites. To determine whether the overlap in the activity patterns was related to the ecological similarity of species, we evaluated the association between Δ1 and similarity in abundances and body mass and phylogenetic closeness. Results: We found geographical variations in the overall activity patterns of the assemblages of the three localities. Likewise, we found variations in activity patterns between species at each study site and between populations in different study sites. Overlap in activity patterns tended to decrease as species were phylogenetically more closely related and similar in abundance and body size. Conclusions: Our results provide empirical support for the role of temporal segregation in activity patterns as a mechanism that promotes the coexistence of ecologically similar species in nature.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 194008292097383
Author(s):  
Vanessa Martínez-García ◽  
Oscar González ◽  
Raúl Ortiz-Pulido

Pollination by animals contributes to the production of nearly 87.5% of the seeds and fruits in the world. Hummingbirds are one of the main groups of pollinating birds in the Americas, and they form pollination networks with the plants they visit. Few hummingbird-plant networks have been studied in tropical dry forest, which is one of the vegetation types most affected by deforestation worldwide. In this study, we describe the characteristics of the core species of a mutualistic hummingbird-plant network in a lowland dry forest located on the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. The study lasted a full year, from August 2017 to June 2018. Using point counts and focal observations, we identified three species of hummingbirds that visited eight plant species. The network was highly connected and had three modules—one for each hummingbird species. The core hummingbird species was Chlorostilbon canivetii, and the key plants were Cordia dodecandra, Senna racemosa and Psittacanthus mayanus. This hummingbird-plant network is apparently driven by water availability, which determines plant phenology, which in turn, determines hummingbird activity. In the context of global extinction, the conservation of core species will be critical to maintain the interactions that support all of the species in the network.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 701-716
Author(s):  
Daisy A. Gómez-Ruiz ◽  
Camilo Sánchez-Giraldo ◽  
Juan L. Parra ◽  
Sergio Solari

Fauna in Tropical Dry Forest (TDF) is highly dependent on water availability due to a marked seasonality in precipitation. There are few studies addressing carnivore’s ecology and the role of seasonality of TDF in Neotropics. We used scent-station and camera trapping to assess seasonal changes in occurrence and habitat use probability with seasonality. We also described activity patterns and collected fresh scats to describe diet for small sized carnivore species in a TDF fragment in the Colombian Caribbean region. We present information regarding: Cerdocyon thous, Leopardus pardalis, and Procyon spp. The analysis showed a significantly higher occurrence probability during the dry season for the three species, and no differences in the detection probability between seasons. The diet of C. thous included 24 different food items; for L. pardalis it was composed of seven items, and finally, 25 food items were identified in the diet of Procyon spp. We found that the three species presented activity patterns corresponding with previous studies. Finally, our results reflect that these species are probably making more/larger habitat use during the dry season than in the wet season, because the area has permanent water ponds by which limited resources (such as water and food) are available almost constantly in this natural reserve.


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