scholarly journals Two caves in western Honduras are important for bat conservation: first checklist of bats in Santa Bárbara

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 41-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manfredo Alejandro Turcios-Casco ◽  
Diego Iván Ordoñez Mazier ◽  
José Alejandro Soler Orellana ◽  
Hefer Daniel Ávila-Palma ◽  
Eduardo Javier Ordoñez Trejo
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Native Plants ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
Bat Conservation ◽  
Mist Net ◽  
High Diversity

Caves are important reservoirs for species, including bats, but in Honduras there is little known information about these biodiverse ecosystems. We describe the importance of two caves in Ceguaca in western Honduras, based on the species richness of each cave. From December 2015 to May 2016, we used three mist-nets in seven journeys (74.27 mist-net/hours). We captured 139 bats belonging to 23 species of four families. We recorded 10 species in the crop of Quita Sueño, 10 in the cave of El Peñón, and 12 in the cave of Monte Grueso. In overall, 17% of the bats were captured in the crops of Quita Sueño, 62% in the cave of Monte Grueso, and 21% in the cave of El Peñón. About 9% of bat species of the total account for Honduras could be found in the cave of El Peñón, and 10% in the cave of Monte Grueso. If we consider the number of the species that have been recorded since 1979, between 20.9 and 49.2% of the expected species are still unrecorded, this suggests that despite low sampling effort there is a high diversity. However, the diversity of bats species using these caves embraced on the Tropical Dry Forest of Ceguaca is threatened by the fragmentation of the ecosystem due to the following reasons: intentional fires in the caves, extensive cattle raising, replacement of native plants with extensions of crops, and human-vampire conflicts (Desmodusrotundus).

scholarly journals Herpetofaunal diversity in a tropical dry forest on the Central Coast of Oaxaca, Mexico

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Jesús García Grajales ◽  
Yolanda López-López ◽  
Alejandra Buenrostro Silva
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Similarity Index ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Central Coast ◽  
Amphibian Species ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Threatened Habitats ◽  
High Diversity ◽  
Pueblo Viejo

The dry forest is an ecosystem with a relatively high diversity of species. It is also one of the most threatened habitats. This research was carried out between January and November 2010 aiming to describe species richness, composition, and conservation status of the herpetofauna in the Yerbasanta micro-basin in the Central Coast of Oaxaca. Standard visual encounter surveys were used to observe herpetofaunal community in four locations of the micro-basin. Five amphibian species and 37 reptiles species were found. The Shannon-Wienner index showed that Pueblo Viejo had the highest value of diversity, followed by Unión, and the remainder localities had lower values. The similarity index was moderate between locations. Among the registered species, 12 can be classified under some conservation status. These results also suggest that this region can maintain a significant number of herpetofauna species. Additionally, this research represents baseline information that contributes to other studies.

scholarly journals On birds of Santander-Bio Expeditions, quantifying the cost of collecting voucher specimens in Colombia

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-60
Author(s):  
Enrique Arbeláez-Cortés ◽  
Daniela Villamizar-Escalante ◽  
Fernando Rondón-González
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Analysis ◽  
Capture Rate ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Santa Barbara ◽  
Voucher Specimens ◽  
Rigorous Study ◽  
Scientific Capital ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Mist Net

Several scientific reasons support continuing bird collection in Colombia, a megadiverse country with modest science financing. Despite the recognized value of biological collections for the rigorous study of biodiversity, there is scarce information on the monetary costs of specimens. We present results for three expeditions conducted in Santander (municipalities of Cimitarra, El Carmen de Chucurí, and Santa Barbara), Colombia, during 2018 to collect bird voucher specimens, quantifying the costs of obtaining such material. After a sampling effort of 1290 mist net hours and occasional collection using an airgun, we collected 300 bird voucher specimens, representing 117 species from 30 families. Such collection represents one of the largest series obtained during the historical ornithological exploration of Santander. We report differences among expeditions regarding the capture rate in mist nets, as well as differences in the sizes of taxa collected by mist nets and airgun. We discuss results in the context of previous ornithological expeditions in Colombia, commenting issues on the biology of some species, particularly those considered as noteworthy records (e.g., Red-legged Tinamou [Crypturellus erythropus], Cinnamon Screech Owl [Megascops petersoni], Saffron-headed Parrot [Pyrilia pyrilia], Black Inca [Coeligena prunellei], and Chestnut-crowned Gnateater [Conopophaga castaneiceps]). We calculated that the costs of obtaining and curating a specimen in Colombia, including tissues for molecular analysis, was ~US$60.4 (~$196 176 COP), which is among published costs of obtaining voucher specimens in other taxa and countries. These costs must be considered an investment in scientific capital because voucher specimens will provide biological information for hundreds of years.

Regeneration beneath a dioecious tree species (Spondias purpurea) in a Mexican tropical dry forest

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moisés Méndez-Toribio ◽  
Ana María González-Di Pierro ◽  
Mauricio Quesada ◽  
Julieta Benítez-Malvido
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Seedling Recruitment ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Total Density ◽  
Dioecious Plant ◽  
Nucleation Sites ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Spondias Purpurea

Abstract:In dioecious plant species different frugivore activity between genders may influence the abundance and richness of the seedling banks underneath their canopies throughout seed removal and dispersal. In the tropical dry forest of Chamela, on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, the role of S. purpurea female trees as nucleation sites of regeneration was investigated. The standing density, species richness and dispersal syndrome of woody seedlings (i.e. trees and shrubs, 10–100 cm tall) recruited underneath and outside the canopy of 10 male and 10 female S. purpurea trees were recorded in a total of 160 1-m2 plots. Total density was greater in seedling communities associated with female trees (i.e. underneath and outside their canopies) as compared with male trees (231 vs. 153 seedlings, respectively); whereas overall species richness was greater underneath female canopies. Further, the density of zoochorous species were greater underneath the canopy of S. purpurea females (range = 0–5 plants m−2), than elsewhere (outside female canopies, range = 0–3 plants m−2; underneath and outside male canopies, range = 0–2 plants m−2), suggesting a directional dispersal bias towards them. Females of dioecious plant species may act as nucleation sites of initial seedling recruitment in tropical dry forests.

scholarly journals Diversidad de aves en fragmentos de bosque seco tropical en paisajes ganaderos del Departamento de Córdoba, Colombia

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 1625
Author(s):  
Jose Alejandro Vergara Paternina ◽  
Jesús Ballesteros Correa ◽  
Carlos González Charrasquiel ◽  
Juan C. Linares Arias
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Sampling Period ◽  
Shannon Index ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Tree Cover ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Secondary Forests

In Colombia the tropical dry forest is one of the most threatened and least known ecosystems; these have been impacted by different transformation processes and habitat fragmentation, which have affected bird conditions and survival. This research evaluated the influence of landscape elements (forest and pastures with different tree covers) on bird diversity in the tropical dry forest of Córdoba, Colombia. The study was developed within an extensive livestock landscape to characterize the avifauna in four habitat types formed by fragments of secondary forests with different tree cover: secondary forest, pastures with high tree cover, pastures with low tree cover and only pastures. The influence of tree cover on bird diversity was evaluated with monthly samplings in 200 m long transects (per habitat), with two observation intervals (6:00 - 9:00 and 15:00-18:00), from September 2011 to May 2012. A total of 6 667 individuals belonging to 180 species and 48 families of birds were registered. The most abundant species were Columbina talpacoti (5.37 %), Brotogeris jugularis (5.14 %), Tyrannus melancholicus (4.81 %) and Bubulcus ibis (4.80 %). The most abundant family was Tyrannidae (16.4 %), followed by Psitacidae (9.0 %) and Columbidae (8.2 %). The family with the highest number of species was Tyrannidae with 28 species, followed by Accipitridae and Icteridae with 10 species each. The greatest species richness was present in the secondary forest habitat, followed by the pastures with high tree cover, and pastures with low cover. The lowest abundance and species richness was found in pastures without tree cover with significant differences between the habitats (Fisher, p <0.05). According to the Shannon index, the diversity of birds was higher in the secondary forests. In contrast, the lowest diversity was found in pastures without tree cover. The greatest species richness occurred in the months of October and November. In the rest of the sampling period, the number of recorded species and individuals showed some stability. The importance of trees presence in extensive livestock areas was evidenced because they help to contain an important diversity of bird species, and they also generate connectivity among fragments of secondary forests in the cattle landscape.

scholarly journals A universal scaling method for biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.E. Barry ◽  
G.A. Pinter ◽  
J.W. Strini ◽  
K. Yang ◽  
I.G. Lauko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Additional Species ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Natural Systems ◽  
Species Area

SummaryGlobal biodiversity is declining at rates faster than at any other point in human history. Experimental manipulations of biodiversity at small spatial scales have demonstrated that communities with fewer species consistently produce less biomass than higher diversity communities. However, understanding how the global extinction crisis is likely to impact global ecosystem functioning will require applying these local and largely experimental findings to natural systems at substantially larger spatial and temporal scales. Here we propose that we can use two simple macroecological patterns – the species area curve and the biomass-area curve – to upscale the species richness-biomass relationship. We demonstrate that at local spatial scales, each additional species will contribute more to biomass production with increasing area sampled because the species-area curve saturates and the biomass-area curve increases monotonically. We use species-area and biomass-area curves from a Minnesota grassland and a Panamanian tropical dry forest to examine the species richness – biomass relationship at three and ten sampling extents, respectively. In both datasets, the observed relationship between biodiversity and biomass production at every sampling extent was predicted from simple species-area and biomass-area relationships. These findings suggest that macroecological patterns like the species-area curve underpin the scaling of biodiversity-ecosystem functioning research and can be used to predict these relationships at the global scales where they are relevant for species loss.

High diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in natural and anthropized sites of a Brazilian tropical dry forest (Caatinga)

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 82-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederico Marinho ◽  
Fritz Oehl ◽  
Iolanda Ramalho da Silva ◽  
Danny Coyne ◽  
Joana Suassuna da Nóbrega Veras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
High Diversity

Can spatial variation and inter-annual variation in precipitation explain the seed density and species richness of the germinable soil seed bank in a tropical dry forest in north-eastern Brazil?

Flora ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 208 (7) ◽  
pp. 445-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Melo dos Santos ◽  
Kleber Andrade da Silva ◽  
Ulysses Paulino de Albuquerque ◽  
Josiene Maria Falcão Fraga dos Santos ◽  
Clarissa Gomes Reis Lopes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Seed Bank ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
Soil Seed Bank ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Seed Density ◽  
Eastern Brazil ◽  
North Eastern

Secondary forest succession in a tropical dry forest: patterns of development across a 50-year chronosequence in lowland Bolivia

2002 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
DEBORAH K. KENNARD
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Stand Structure ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Stem Density ◽  
Mature Forest

Stand structure, species richness and population structures of tree species were characterized in 12 stands representing 50 y of succession following slash-and-burn agriculture in a tropical dry forest in lowland Bolivia. Estimates of tree species richness, canopy cover and basal area reached or surpassed 75% of mature forest levels in the 5-, 8-, and 23-y-old stands respectively. Total stem density of the 50-y-old stand was almost twice that of the mature forest stand. This rapid recovery may be due to a high percentage of sprouting tree species, potentially high seed fall into abandoned fields, or the disturbance history of the mature stand. The even-aged size-class structures, dominance of long-lived pioneers, and presence of charcoal and pottery shards in soils of the mature forest stand suggest it formed after a severe disturbance, possibly fire of anthropogenic origin.

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