Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T17:24:14.475Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Selection of second-growth woodlands by frugivorous migrating birds in Panama: an effect of fruit size and plant density?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Thomas E. Martin
Thomas E. Martin
Affiliation:
Department of Ecology, Ethology and Evolution, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

I provide evidence that migrating birds concentrate in tropical second-growth woodlands due, in part, to a greater abundance of small fruits. Migrant birds markedly increased in abundance during spring migration in late March in a young (approximately 25 years old) second-growth woodland in Panama. Migrant abundance and diversity was greater at mist-net level on the second-growth site than in nearby old forest. Diversity of canopy migrants also was greater in the young woodland than in an old second-growth forest. Thus, many migrant species appear to select young second-growth during spring migration in central Panama. Degree of frugivory by many migrant species was greater during migration than earlier in the dry season. Most migrants selecting the second-growth site were highly frugivorous and migrants accounted for most of the visits to common fruit species, but use of fruit trees appeared to be influenced by fruit size relative to gape width. Most migrants have mouths that are better suited to eating the small fruits predominating in young forest than the larger fruits characteristic of old forest. Abundances of bird-dispersed fruit plants and, particularly, those fruit species known to be eaten by migrants were greater in young than in old forest. The high food demands of migrating birds added to the high degree of frugivory of most migrants selecting second-growth forest suggests that the abundance of small fruits in second-growth may be a strong cause for habitat selection during migration.

Keywords

frugivoryhabitat selectionmigrant birdsPanamaspring migration
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 1 , Issue 2 , May 1985 , pp. 157 - 170
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Berthold, P. 1975. Migration: control and metabolic physiology. Pp. 77–128 in Farner, D. S., King, V. R. & Parkes, K. C. (eds) Avian biology, Volume V. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, J. G. 1983. Trophic structure of bird communities in forest patches in east-central Illinois. Wilson Bulletin 95:416–430.Google Scholar
Brokaw, N. 1982. Treefalls: frequency, timing and consequences. Pp. 101–108 in Leigh, E. G., Rand, A. S. & Windsor, D. M. (eds) The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long-term changes. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Buskirk, R. E. & Buskirk, W. H. 1976. Changes in arthropod abundance in a highland Costa Rica forest. American Midland Naturalist 95:288–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chipley, R. M. 1977. The impact of wintering migrant wood warblers on resident insectivorous passerines in a subtropical Colombian oak wood. Living Bird 15:119–141.Google Scholar
Croat, T. B. 1978. Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. 943 pp.Google Scholar
Crow, T. R. 1980. A rainforest chronicle: a 30-year record of change in structure and composition at El Verde, Puerto Rico. Biotropica 12 (Suppl.):42–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denslow, J. S. 1980. Gap partitioning among tropical rainforest trees. Biotropica 12 (Suppl):47–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foster, R. B. 1980. Heterogeneity and disturbance in tropical vegetation. Pp. 75–92 in Soule, M. E.& Wilcox, B. A. (eds) Conservation biology: an evolutionary-ecological perspective. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, Massachusetts.Google Scholar
Foster, R. B. & Brokaw, N. L. 1982. Structure and history of the vegetation of Barro Colorado Island. Pp. 67–81 in Leigh, E. G.Rand, A S. & Windsor, D. M. (eds) The ecology of a tropical forest: seasonal rhythms and long term changes. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Fry, C. H., Ash, J. S. & Ferguson-Lees, I. J. 1970. Spring weights of some Palaearctic migrants at Lake Chad. Ibis 112:58–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galli, A. E., Leck, C. F. & Forman, R. T. T. 1976. Avian distribution patterns in forest islands of different sizes in central New Jersey. Auk 93:356–364.Google Scholar
Greenberg, R. 1981a. Frugivory in some migrant tropical forest wood warblers. Biotropica 13:215–223.Google Scholar
Greenberg, R. 1981b. The abundance and seasonality of forest canopy birds on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Biotropica 13:241–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilty, S. L. 1980. Relative abundance of north temperate zone breeding migrants in western Colombia and their impact at fruiting trees. Pp. 265–271 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds) Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washing ton, DC.Google Scholar
Howe, H. F. & DeSteven, D. 1979. Fruit production, migrant bird visitation, and seed dispersal of Guarea glabra in Panama. Oecologia 39:185–196.Google Scholar
Hubbell, S. P. 1979. Tree dispersion, abundance, and diversity in a tropical dry forest. Science 203: 1299–1309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutto, R. L. 1980. Winter habitat distribution of migratory land birds in western Mexico with special reference to small, foliage-gleaning insectivores. Pp. 181–203 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds) Mig rant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington. DC.Google Scholar
Janzen, D. 1973. Sweep samples of tropical foliage insects: effects of seasons, vegetation types, elevation, time of day, and insularity. Ecology 54:687–708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karr, J. R. 1971. Structure of avian communities in selected Panama and Illinois habitats. Ecological Monographs 41:207–233.Google Scholar
Karr, J. R. 1976. On the relative abundance of migrants from the north temperate zone in tropical habitats. Wilson Bulletin 88:433–458.Google Scholar
Karr, J. R. & Freemark, K. E. 1983. Habitat selection and environmental gradients: dynamics in the “stable” tropics. Ecology 65:1481–1494.Google Scholar
Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds). 1980. Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC.Google Scholar
Knight, D. H. 1975. A phytosociological analysis of species-rich tropical forest on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Ecological Monographs 45:259–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leck, C. F. 1972a. The impact of some North American migrants at fruiting trees in Panama. Auk 89: 842–850.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leck, C. F. 1972b. Seasonal changes in feeding pressures of fruit-and nectar-eating birds in Panama. Condor 74:54–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, T. E. 1980. Abundance and diversity of spring migratory birds using habitat islands on the Great Plains. Condor 82:430–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, T. E. 1981. Limitation in small habitat islands: chance or competition? Auk 98:715–734.Google Scholar
Martin, T. E. 1982. Frugivory and North American migrants in a neotropical second-growth wood land. Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois. 207 pp.Google Scholar
Martin, T. E. 1985. Resource selection by tropical frugivorous birds: integrating multiple interactions. Oecologia, in press.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mcdiarmid, R. W., Ricklefs, R. E. & Foster, M. S. 1977. Dispersal of Stemmadenia donnell-smithii (Apocynaceae) by birds. Biotropica 9:9–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mead, C. 1966. Premigratory weights of trans-Saharan migrants. Ringers Bulletin 2:15–16.Google Scholar
Metcalfe, N. B. & Furness, R. W. 1984. Changing priorities: the effect of pre-migratory fattening on the trade-off between foraging and vigilance. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 15:203–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morton, E. S. 1971. Food and migration habits of the Eastern Kingbird in Panama. Auk 88:925–926.Google Scholar
Morton, E. S. 1973. On the evolutionary advantages and disadvantages of fruit-eating in tropical birds. American Naturalist 107:8–22.Google Scholar
Morton, E. S. 1980. Adaptations to seasonal changes by migrant land birds in the Panama Canal Zone. Pp. 437–453 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds) Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Salisbury, E. J. 1942. The reproductive capacity of plants. Bell, G. and Sons, , London.Google Scholar
Salisbury, E. J. 1974. Seed size and mass in relation to environment. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (B) 186:83–88.Google Scholar
Smythe, N. 1974. Biological monitoring data - insects. Pp. 70–115 in Rubinoff, R. W. (ed.) 1973 environmental monitoring and baseline data. Smithsonian Institution Environmental Science Program, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Snow, D. W. 1971. Evolutionary aspects of fruit-eating by birds. Ibis 113:194–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stapanian, M. A. 1982. Evolution of fruiting strategies among fleshy-fruited plant species of eastern Kansas. Ecology 63:1422–1431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiles, E. W. 1980. Patterns of fruit presentation and seed dispersal in bird-disseminated woody plants in the eastern deciduous forest. American Naturalist 116:670–688.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stiles, F. G. 1980. Evolutionary implications of habitat relations between permanent and winter resident landbirds in Costa Rica. Pp. 421–435 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds) Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Terborgh, J. W. 1980. The conservation status of neotropical migrants: present and future. Pp. 21–30 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds) Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. N. & Willson, M. F. 1978. Disturbance and the dispersal of fleshy fruits. Science 200:1161–1163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thompson, J. N. & Willson, M. F. 1979. Evolution of temperate fruit/bird interactions: phenolo-gical strategies. Evolution 33:973–982.Google Scholar
Tramer, E. J. 1974. Proportions of wintering North American birds in disturbed and undisturbed dry tropical habitats. Condor 76:460–464.Google Scholar
Waide, R. B. 1980. Resource partitioning between migrant and resident birds: the use of irregular resources. Pp. 337–352 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds) Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Waide, R. B., Emlen, J. T. & Tramer, E. J. 1980. Distribution of migrant birds in the Yucatan Peninsula: a survey. Pp. 165–171 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds) Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution, and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Werner, P. A. & Platt, W. J. 1976. Ecological relationships of co-occurring goldenrods (Solidago: Compositae). American Naturalist 10:959–971.Google Scholar
Wheelwright, N. T. 1985. Fruit size, gape width, and the diets of fruit-eating birds. Ecology, in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Willis, E. O. 1966. The role of migrant birds at swarms of army ants. Living Bird 5:187–231.Google Scholar
Willis, E. O. 1979. The composition of avian communities in remnant woodlots in southern Brazil. Papeis Avulsos de Zoologia 33:1–25.Google Scholar
Willis, E. O. 1980. Ecological roles of migratory and resident birds on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Pp. 205–225 in Keast, A. & Morton, E. S. (eds). Migrant birds in the neotropics: ecology, behavior, distribution and conservation. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Wolda, H. 1977. Fluctuations in abundance of some Homoptera in a neotropical forest. Geo-Eco-Tropica 3:229–257.Google Scholar
Wolda, H. 1978. Seasonal fluctuations in rainfall, food, and abundance of tropical insects. Journal of Animal Ecology 47:369–381.Google Scholar