scholarly journals Effect of fragmentation on the Costa Rican dry forest avifauna

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Barrantes ◽  
Diego Ocampo ◽  
José D. Ramírez-Fernández ◽  
Eric J. Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Forest Fragment ◽  
Avian Community ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Species Occupancy ◽  
Avian Assemblages

Deforestation and changes in land use have reduced the tropical dry forest to isolated forest patches in northwestern Costa Rica. We examined the effect of patch area and length of the dry season on nestedness of the entire avian community, forest fragment assemblages, and species occupancy across fragments for the entire native avifauna, and for a subset of forest dependent species. Species richness was independent of both fragment area and distance between fragments. Similarity in bird community composition between patches was related to habitat structure; fragments with similar forest structure have more similar avian assemblages. Size of forest patches influenced nestedness of the bird community and species occupancy, but not nestedness of assemblages across patches in northwestern Costa Rican avifauna. Forest dependent species (species that require large tracts of mature forest) and assemblages of these species were nested within patches ordered by a gradient of seasonality, and only occupancy of species was nested by area of patches. Thus, forest patches with a shorter dry season include more forest dependent species.

scholarly journals Effect of fragmentation on the Costa Rican dry forest avifauna

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Barrantes ◽  
Diego Ocampo ◽  
José D. Ramírez-Fernández ◽  
Eric J Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Northwestern Region ◽  
Species Area ◽  
Species Occupancy

Deforestation and land use change have reduced the tropical dry forest in the northwestern region of Costa Rica into isolated fragments. We examined the effect of fragment area and length of the dry season (seasonality) on nestedness for the community (entire species matrix), assemblages (forest fragments), and species occupancy across fragments for the native avifauna, and for a subset of forest dependent species. Area or distance between fragments did not correlate with species richness across fragments. Similarity in bird community composition between fragments was related with habitat structure; fragments with similar forest structure have higher similarity in their avifaunas. Fragment area determined the pattern of nestedness of the bird community and species occupancy, but not the nestedness of assemblages across fragments in northwestern Costa Rican avifauna. Forest dependent species (species that require large tracts of mature forest) and assemblages of these species were nested along forest fragments ranked by seasonality gradient, but only occupancy of species nested by fragment area.

scholarly journals Effect of fragmentation on the Costa Rican dry forest avifauna

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert Barrantes ◽  
Diego Ocampo ◽  
José D. Ramírez-Fernández ◽  
Eric J Fuchs
Keyword(s):  
Forest Structure ◽  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Bird Community ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Northwestern Region ◽  
Species Area ◽  
Species Occupancy

Deforestation and land use change have reduced the tropical dry forest in the northwestern region of Costa Rica into isolated fragments. We examined the effect of fragment area and length of the dry season (seasonality) on nestedness for the community (entire species matrix), assemblages (forest fragments), and species occupancy across fragments for the native avifauna, and for a subset of forest dependent species. Area or distance between fragments did not correlate with species richness across fragments. Similarity in bird community composition between fragments was related with habitat structure; fragments with similar forest structure have higher similarity in their avifaunas. Fragment area determined the pattern of nestedness of the bird community and species occupancy, but not the nestedness of assemblages across fragments in northwestern Costa Rican avifauna. Forest dependent species (species that require large tracts of mature forest) and assemblages of these species were nested along forest fragments ranked by seasonality gradient, but only occupancy of species nested by fragment area.

scholarly journals Squamata reptiles of a fragment of tropical dry forest in northwestern Venezuela (Lake Maracaibo region)

Check List ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junior T. Larreal ◽  
Gilson A. Rivas ◽  
Carlos Portillo-Quintero ◽  
Tito R. Barros
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Forest Fragment ◽  
Dry Forests ◽  
Maracaibo Basin ◽  
Lake Maracaibo

We present a commented taxonomic list of the reptiles found during herpetological surveys carried out in an isolated fragment of tropical dry forest located in the municipality of San Francisco, Zulia state, northwestern Venezuela between January-December 2011. We report a total of 24 species belonging to the order Squamata, distributed in 12 families and 21 genera. Colubridae is the most diverse family with six species, followed by Dipsadidae (four species), Boidae, Gymnophthalmidae, Phyllodactylidae and Teiidae with two species each, and finally Dactyloidae, Iguanidae, Elapidae, Gekkonidae, Sphaerodactylidae and Viperidae with a single species each. The species composition at this site matches what would be expected in a tropical dry forest in the region. Our study suggests that this isolated tropical dry forest fragment is the last refuge of the herpetofauna that once occupied much of the dry forests of the northern Maracaibo basin and should therefore be considered for conservation purposes.

scholarly journals Contributions of organic matter and nutrients via leaf litter in an urban tropical dry forest fragment

2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 571 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeiner Castellanos-Barliza ◽  
Juan Diego León-Peláez ◽  
Rosalba Armenta-Martínez ◽  
Willinton Barranco-Pérez ◽  
William Caicedo-Ruíz
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Leaf Litter ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Soil Surface ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Litter Production ◽  
Forest Fragment ◽  
Litter Bags ◽  
One Year ◽  
Degraded Ecosystems

The litterfall and decomposition represent the main transfer of organic matter and nutrients from the vegetation to the soil surface and determine positive trajectories in the process of rehabilitating and restoring degraded ecosystems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the contributions of organic materials and nutrients through the characterization of fine litter in an urban dry forest fragment. Litter production was monitored for one year by collecting 29 traps (0.5 m2). To evaluate leaf nutrient resorption, green leaves were collected from 5-10 individuals that represented the dominant tree species. Litter-bags (20 x 20 cm, 2 mm pore) were used for six months to evaluate the decomposition of leaf litter. Annual fine litter production was found to be 8 574 kg ha-1, with the Cordia alba species contributing the most leaf litter (1 134 kg ha-1) and nutrients (N: 6.16; P: 0.21; Ca: 4.72; Mg: 0.47; K: 1.27 kg ha-1). Decomposition rates (k constant) followed the decreasing order: C. alba (k: 4.6) > Machaerium milleflorum (k: 3.5). M. milleflorum and Albizia niopoides presented a pattern of rapid N and P release in the first 30 days, with more than 80 % and 60 % released from M. milleflorum and C. alba, respectively, by the end of the experiment. The litterfall monitoring carried out in this urban dry forest fragment revealed some important aspects of the functioning of an ecosystem as seriously threatened as the tropical dry forest. Rev. Biol. Trop. 66(2): 571-585. Epub 2018 June 01. 

Distribution of the community of frugivorous birds along a successional gradient in a tropical dry forest in south-western Mexico

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Carlos Almazán-Núñez ◽  
María del Coro Arizmendi ◽  
Luis E. Eguiarte ◽  
Pablo Corcuera
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Dry Forests ◽  
Bird Abundance ◽  
Frugivorous Birds ◽  
Seed Predators ◽  
Western Mexico ◽  
Successional Forests

Abstract:Few reports have described the relationship between the distribution of frugivorous birds and vegetation successional changes in dry forests. We assessed the abundance and behaviour of frugivorous birds in early, intermediate and mature dry forests in the Balsas river basin, Guerrero, Mexico. We selected nine dry-forest fragments, three fragments per stage, in these three stages of succession. We analysed the vegetation, estimated bird abundances in 10-min count periods, and recorded the way birds process fruits in circular plots (11–15 plots per fragment, 123 plots in total). Birds were classified as seed predators (15% of all individuals in this study), pulp consumers (15%) or legitimate dispersers (70%). Bird abundance was higher in mature forests in the dry season, while abundance and richness of legitimate dispersers and seed predators were positively related to vegetation complexity. Mature forests have a high vegetation complexity and a high cover ofBurseraspecies that produce fruit during the dry season. During the rains, abundance was higher in early-successional sites when the zoochorous plants produced fruit. Legitimate disperser migrants (i.e.Tyrannus vociferans, Myiarchus cinerascensandM. tyrannulus) were widespread, helping the establishment of zoochorous trees such asBurseraspp. in early-successional forests.

scholarly journals Characterization of Dry-Season Phenology in Tropical Forests by Reconstructing Cloud-Free Landsat Time Series

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 4736
Author(s):  
Xiaolin Zhu ◽  
Eileen H. Helmer ◽  
David Gwenzi ◽  
Melissa Collin ◽  
Sean Fleming ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Fine Resolution ◽  
Field Plots

Fine-resolution satellite imagery is needed for characterizing dry-season phenology in tropical forests since many tropical forests are very spatially heterogeneous due to their diverse species and environmental background. However, fine-resolution satellite imagery, such as Landsat, has a 16-day revisit cycle that makes it hard to obtain a high-quality vegetation index time series due to persistent clouds in tropical regions. To solve this challenge, this study explored the feasibility of employing a series of advanced technologies for reconstructing a high-quality Landsat time series from 2005 to 2009 for detecting dry-season phenology in tropical forests; Puerto Rico was selected as a testbed. We combined bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) correction, cloud and shadow screening, and contaminated pixel interpolation to process the raw Landsat time series and developed a thresholding method to extract 15 phenology metrics. The cloud-masked and gap-filled reconstructed images were tested with simulated clouds. In addition, the derived phenology metrics for grassland and forest in the tropical dry forest zone of Puerto Rico were evaluated with ground observations from PhenoCam data and field plots. Results show that clouds and cloud shadows are more accurately detected than the Landsat cloud quality assessment (QA) band, and that data gaps resulting from those clouds and shadows can be accurately reconstructed (R2 = 0.89). In the tropical dry forest zone, the detected phenology dates (such as greenup, browndown, and dry-season length) generally agree with the PhenoCam observations (R2 = 0.69), and Landsat-based phenology is better than MODIS-based phenology for modeling aboveground biomass and leaf area index collected in field plots (plot size is roughly equivalent to a 3 × 3 Landsat pixels). This study suggests that the Landsat time series can be used to characterize the dry-season phenology of tropical forests after careful processing, which will help to improve our understanding of vegetation–climate interactions at fine scales in tropical forests.

scholarly journals COMPOSICIÓN VEGETAL, PREFERENCIAS ALIMENTICIAS Y ABUNDANCIA DE BIBLIDINAE (LEPIDOPTERA: NYMPHALIDAE) EN UN FRAGMENTO DE BOSQUE SECO TROPICAL EN EL DEPARTAMENTO DEL ATLÁNTICO, COLOMBIA

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Angélica VARGAS- ZAPATA ◽  
Carlos José BOOM- URUETA ◽  
Leidys Isabel SEÑA-RAMOS ◽  
Alba Lucia ECHEVERRY-IGLESIAS ◽  
Neis José MARTÍNEZ HERNÁNDEZ
Keyword(s):  
Woody Plants ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Forest Fragment ◽  
Plant Composition ◽  
Components Analysis ◽  
Spatio Temporal ◽  
Determining Factor

<p>Se analizó la variación espacio-temporal de la abundancia de las mariposas de la subfamilia Biblidinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) en un fragmento de Bs-T en la Reserva Campesina La Montaña (RCM), Atlántico, Colombia; desde enero hasta agosto de 2011. Se marcaron cuatro puntos dentro del área de estudio, donde se ubicaron trampas Van Someren–Rydon cebadas con calamar en descomposición, fruta fermentada y con una mezcla de los anteriores cebos. Adicionalmente, se realizó una caracterización de la vegetación por punto, para lo cual se tomaron datos de diámetro a la altura del pecho (DAP), altura y tamaño de la copa para todas aquellas plantas leñosas con DAP mayor o igual a 2,5 cm. Se capturaron 76 individuos agrupados en seis especies y cuatro géneros; destacándose <em>Hamadryas februa</em> (Hübner) como la más dominante con 32 individuos. El mes de marzo presentó la mayor riqueza y abundancia (6 especies y 25 individuos) durantes las primeras lluvias en la zona. El punto 3 presentó los valores más altos de diversidad y abundancia de Biblidinae (5 especies y 37 individuos) y la mayor densidad de árboles (D= 0,28 individuos/m<sup>2</sup>). Se demuestra que la estructura de este grupo de mariposas presenta un patrón temporal y espacial en esta reserva. El análisis de componentes principales demostró que el área basal total (ABT) y la Densidad (D) de plantas leñosas, pueden considerarse como un factor determinante en la distribución y abundancia de las especies de la subfamilia Biblidinae en la RCM.</p><p align="center"><strong>Plant Composition, Feeding Preferences and Abundance of Biblidinae (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in a Tropical Dry Forest Fragment in the Department of Atlántico, Colombia</strong></p><p>The abundance and spatio-temporal variation of butterflies of the Biblidinae subfamily (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) in a fragment of Tropical dry forest at the Reserva Campesina La Montaña (RCM), Atlántico, Colombia; from January until August 2011, was analyzed. Within the study area four points were marked; Van Someren-Rydon traps were placed.in each point using rotten squid, fermented fruit and a mixture of both as bait. In addition, a characterization of the vegetation by point was performed, taking data of the diameter to the breast height (DBH), height and size of treetop of all woody plants with a DBH greater than or equal to 2.5 cm. In total 76 butterfly individuals grouped in six species and four genera were captured; being <em>Hamadryas februa</em> (Hübner) the most dominant with 32 individuals. The greatest richness and abundance was recorded in March (6 species and 25 individuals), during the first rains in the study area. The point 3 presented the highest values of diversity and abundance (five species and 37 individuals) of Biblidinae and the higher density of trees (D= 0,28 individuals/m2). The structure of this butterflies group presents a spatio-temporal pattern in this reserve. The principal components analysis showed that the total basal area (ABT) and the density (D) of woody plants, can be considered a determining factor in the distribution and abundance of species of the subfamily Biblidinae at the RCM.</p>

scholarly journals Remotely sensed assessment of increasing chronic and episodic drought effects on a Costa Rican tropical dry forest

Ecosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cho‐ying Huang ◽  
Sandra M. Durán ◽  
Kai‐ting Hu ◽  
Hsin‐Ju Li ◽  
Nathan G. Swenson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Remotely Sensed ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Drought Effects

scholarly journals MAMIFEROS EN DOS LOCALIDADES DE SELVA SECA EN EL ESTADO DE GUERRERO

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Alejandro Marín ◽  
Gerardo Ceballos ◽  
Jesús Pacheco
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Endangered Species ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Tropical Dry Forest ◽  
Dry Forest ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Mexican Pacific ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals

RESUMENLas selvas secas son uno de los ecosistemas más diversos y amenazados en Latinoamérica. Se realizó un muestreo de la mastofauna terrestre en dos localidades de las selvas secas del estado de Guerrero en el Pacífico mexicano. En total se registraron 44 especies de mamíferos terrestres que pertenecen a 20 familias y 8 órdenes, lo que representa el 9% de la mastofauna terrestre del país y el 29% para el estado de Guerrero. De las especies encontradas, 9 son endémicas a México. Sobre el estado de conservación, 3 de ellas se encuentran amenazadas y 3 en peligro de extinción de acuerdo a la lista mexicana de especies en riesgo. A nivel mundial, 2 especies son consideradas vulnerables. Destacan los registros del zorrillo pigmeo (Spilogale pygmaea), la rata leñera (Hodomys alleni) y el jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi). Para los murciélagos Musonycteris harrisoni y Myotis carteri se amplía su rango de distribución con los registros aquí presentados. La diversidad de mamíferos registrada enfatiza la importancia de conservar parches de selva en ambientes altamente urbanizados, así como la necesidad de estrategias que incrementen la conectividad entre los diferentes parches y que consideren las amenazas urbanas a la fauna en estos sitios.Palabras clave: Acapulco de Juárez, Guerrero, mamíferos, Omitlán, selva seca.ABSTRACTThe tropical dry forest represents one of the most diverse and threatened ecosystems in Latin America. We carried out a survey of the terrestrial mammals’ community in two locations at the Mexican Pacific region of dry forest in Guerrero state. We registered 44 species of mammals belonging to 20 families and 8 orders, representing 9 % of Mexico’s terrestrial mammals and 29 % of Guerrero’s. About 9 species of the mammals reported in this study are endemic to Mexico. About the conservation status, 3 species are classified as “threatened” and 3 as “endangered” in the Mexican list of endangered species. In the global context, 2 species are listed as vulnerable. Also, the presence of the pygmy skunk (Spilogale pygmaea), the allen’s woodrat (Hodomys alleni) and the presence of the jaguaroundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), is noteworthy. With the records in this study, we extend the known distribution of the bats Musonycteris harrisoni and Myotis carteri. The great diversity and peculiarity of the found mammals emphasize the importance of conserve forest patches in highly urbanized, also the need of strategies that increment the connectivity between the patches and consider the urban threats, as roadkill’s, in these sites.Key words: Acapulco de Juárez, dry forest, Guerrero, mammals, Omitlan.

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