Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T06:49:05.439Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The use of pasture trees by birds in a tropical montane landscape in Monteverde, Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2013

Kimberly S. Sheldon  and
Nalini M. Nadkarni
Kimberly S. Sheldon*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, 257 South 1400 East – Rm. 201, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0840, USA
Nalini M. Nadkarni
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, 257 South 1400 East – Rm. 201, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0840, USA
*
1Corresponding author. Email: kimberlyssheldon@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Conversion of forests to agricultural land may require many bird species to use resources in fragmented landscapes in order to persist. Pasture trees can make agricultural landscapes more hospitable for birds, but we do not know what factors promote bird visitation to pasture trees. Bird use of 26 focal trees of a common pasture species, Sapium glandulosum (Euphorbiaceae), was examined in three pastures in a montane landscape in Costa Rica to understand factors influencing bird visitation. Bird visits were analysed in relation to pasture tree size, distance from forest edge, degree of isolation and epiphyte load. Foraging resources (epiphyte or tree substrate) were also measured. From May–July 2012, 52 bird species from 20 families were recorded from 926 unique visits. Bird visitation was best explained by tree size, degree of isolation and epiphyte load such that larger, more isolated trees with higher epiphyte loads attracted more birds. Birds preferred food resources from focal trees (51% of visits) rather than their epiphytes (5% of visits). The results corroborate previous findings that mature pasture trees, even when isolated, may contribute more to species persistence than smaller trees.

Keywords

abandoned pastureagro-ecosystemscountrysidefragmentationlegacy treesNeotropical birdsremnant trees
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , September 2013 , pp. 459 - 462
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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

BURNHAM, K. P. & ANDERSON, D. R. 2004. Multimodel inference – understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociological Methods and Research 33:261–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CAMFIELD, A. F., PEARSON, S. F. & MARTIN, K. 2010. Life history variation between high and low elevation subspecies of horned larks. Journal of Avian Biology 41:273–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CLARK, K. L., LAWTON, R. O. & BUTLER, P. R. 2000. The physical environment. Pp. 15–38 in Nadkarni, N. M. & Wheelwright, N. T. (eds.). Monteverde: ecology and conservation. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
CRAWLEY, M. J. 2007. The R book. John Wiley and Sons, Chichester. 635 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DE MARS, C. A., ROSENBERG, D. K. & FONTAINE, J. B. 2010. Multi-scale factors affecting bird use of isolated remnant oak trees in agro-ecosystems. Biological Conservation 143:1485–1492.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DA SILVA, J. M. C., UHL, C. & MURRAY, G. 1996. Plant succession, landscape management, and the ecology of frugivorous birds in abandoned Amazonian pastures. Conservation Biology 10:491–503.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ESHIAMWATA, G. W., BERENS, D. G., BLEHER, B., DEAN, W. R. J. & BÖHNING-GAESE, K. 2006. Bird assemblages in isolated Ficus trees in Kenyan farmland. Journal of Tropical Ecology 22:723–726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FINK, R. D., LINDELL, C. A., MORRISON, E. B., ZAHAWI, R. A. & HOLL, K. D. 2009. Patch size and canopy cover of planted tree patches influence birds’ duration and rate of visit. Restoration Ecology 17:479–486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FISCHER, J., BROSI, B., DAILY, G. C., EHRLICH, P. R., GOLDMAN, R., GOLDSTEIN, J., LINDENMAYER, D. B., MANNING, A. D., MOONEY, H. A., PEJCHAR, L., RANGANATHAN, J. & TALLIS, H. 2008. Should agricultural policies encourage land sparing or wildlife-friendly farming? Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6:380–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FRETZ, J. S. 2002. Scales of food availability for an endangered insectivore, the Hawaii Akepa. Auk 199:166–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GIBBONS, P., LINDENMAYER, D. B., FISCHER, J., MANNING, A. D., WEINBERG, A., SEDDON, J., RYAN, P. & BARRETT, G. 2008. The future of scattered trees in agricultural landscapes. Conservation Biology 22:1309–1319.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
GRIP, H., FRITSCH, J. M. & BRUIJNZEEL, L. A. 2004. Soil and water impacts during forest conversion and stabilization to new land use. Pp. 561–589 in Bonell, M. & Bruijnzeel, L. A. (eds.). Forests, water, and people in the humid tropics: past, present and future hydrological research for integrated land and water management. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
HABER, W. 2000. Plants and vegetation. Pp. 39–69 in Nadkarni, N. M. & Wheelwright, N. T. (eds.). Monteverde, ecology and conservation of a tropical montane cloud forest. Oxford University Press, New York.Google Scholar
LAMB, D., ERSKINE, P. D. & PARROTTA, J. A. 2005. Restoration of degraded tropical forest landscapes. Science 310:1628–1632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
LASKY, J. R. & KEITT, T. H. 2012. The effect of spatial structure of pasture tree cover on avian frugivores in Eastern Amazonia. Biotropica 44:489–497.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LUCK, G. W. & DAILY, G. C. 2003. Tropical countryside bird assemblages: richness, composition, and foraging differ by landscape context. Ecological Applications 13:235–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MALHI, Y., MEIR, P. & BROWN, S. 2002. Forests, carbon and global climate. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 360:1567–1591.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MORRISON, E. B., LINDELL, C. A., HOLL, K. D. & ZAHAWI, R. A. 2009. Patch size effects on avian foraging behaviour: implications for tropical forest restoration design. Journal of Applied Ecology 47:130–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MYERS, N., MITTERMEIER, R. A., MITTERMEIER, C. G., DA FONSECA, G. A. B. & KENT, J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–858.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
SCHROTH, G., DA FONSECA, G. A. B., HARVEY, C. A., GASCON, C., LASCONCELOS, H. L. & IZAC, A.-M. N. (eds.). 2004. Agroforestry and biodiversity conservation in tropical landscapes. Island Press, Washington, DC. 576 pp.Google Scholar
SEKERCIOGLU, C. H., LOARIE, S. R., OVIEDO BRENES, F., EHRLICH, P. R. & DAILY, G. C. 2007. Persistence of forest birds in the Costa Rican agricultural countryside. Conservation Biology 21:482–494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
STILES, F. G. 1985. On the role of birds in the dynamics of Neotropical forests. Pp. 49–59 in Diamond, A. W. & Lovejoy, J. (eds.). Conservation of tropical forest birds. International Council of Bird Preservation, Cambridge.Google Scholar
SUHONEN, J. 1993. Predation risk influences the use of foraging sites by tits. Ecology 74:1197–1203.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WASSENAAR, T., GERBER, P., VERBUG, P. H., ROSALES, M., IBRAHIM, M. & STEINFELD, H. 2007. Projecting land use changes in the Neotropics: the geography of pasture expansion into forest. Global Environmental Change 17:86–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WRI (WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE). 2000. World Resources 2000–2001: People and ecosystems: the fraying web of life. United Nations Development Programme, United Nations Environment Programme, World Bank, World Resources Institute, Washington DC. 400 pp.Google Scholar