Human-modified landscapes narrow the isotopic niche of neotropical birds

Author(s):Show less -

Navarro, Ana Beatriz ^{[1, 2]} ; Magioli, Marcelo ^{[3, 1, 4]} ; Bogoni, Juliano Andre ^[1] ; Moreira, Marcelo Zacharias ^[5] ; Silveira, Luis Fabio ^[2] ; Alexandrino, Eduardo Roberto ^{[1, 6]} ; Apolinario da Luz, Daniela Tomasio ^[1] ; Pizo, Marco Aurelio ^[7] ; Silva, Wesley Rodrigues ^[8] ; de Oliveira, Vanessa Cristina ^[1] ; Donatelli, Reginaldo Jose ^[9] ; Christianini, V, Alexander ; Piratelli, Augusto Joao ^[10] ; Micchi Barros Ferraz, Katia Maria Paschoaletto ^[1]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Dept Ciencias Florestais, Lab Ecol Manejo & Conservaeao Fauna Silvestre LEM, Escola Super Agr Luiz de Queiroz, Av Padua Dias 11, BR-13418900 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Secao Aves, Av Nazare 481, BR-04263000 Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Inst Chico Mendes Conservacao Biodiversidade, Ctr Nacl Pesquisa & Conservacao Mamiferos Carnivo, Estr Municipal Hisaichi Takebayashi 8600, BR-12952011 Atibaia, SP - Brazil

^[4] Inst Procarnivoros, Av Horacio Netto 1030, Parque Edmundo Zanoni, BR-12945010 Atibaia, SP - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Ctr Energia Nucl Agr, Lab Ecol Isotop, Av Centenario 303, BR-13416903 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil

^[6] Inst Nacl Mata Atlantica, Av Jose Ruschi 4, BR-29650000 Santa Teresa, ES - Brazil

^[7] Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Dept Biodiversidade, Av 24-A 1515, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP - Brazil

^[8] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Dept Biol Anim, Lab Interacoes Vertebrados Plantas, Rua Monteiro Lobato 255, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[9] Univ Estadual Paulista, Fac Ciencias, Dept Ciencias Biol, Av Eng Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube 14-01, BR-17033360 Bauru, SP - Brazil

^[10] Christianini, Alexander, V, Univ Fed Sao Carlos, Ctr Ciencias & Tecnol Sustentabilidade, Dept Ciencias Ambientais, Rodovia Joao Leme dos Santos SP-264 Km 110, BR-18052780 Sorocaba, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Oecologia; v. 196, n. 1 APR 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Deforestation and habitat loss resulting from land use changes are some of the utmost anthropogenic impacts that threaten tropical birds in human-modified landscapes (HMLs). The degree of these impacts on birds' diet, habitat use, and ecological niche can be measured by isotopic analysis. We investigated whether the isotopic niche width, food resources, and habitat use of bird trophic guilds differed between HMLs and natural landscapes (NLs) using stable carbon (delta C-13) and nitrogen isotopes (delta N-15). We analyzed feathers of 851 bird individuals from 28 landscapes in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We classified landscapes into two groups according to the percentage of forest cover (HMLs <= 30%; NLs >= 47%), and compared the isotopic niche width and mean values of delta C-13 and delta N-15 for each guild between landscape types. The niches of frugivores, insectivores, nectarivores, and omnivores were narrower in HMLs, whereas granivores showed the opposite pattern. In HMLs, nectarivores showed a reduction of 44% in niche width, while granivores presented an expansion of 26%. Individuals in HMLs consumed more resources from agricultural areas (C-4 plants), but almost all guilds showed a preference for forest resources (C-3 plants) in both landscape types, except granivores. Degraded and fragmented landscapes typically present a lower availability of habitat and food resources for many species, which was reflected by the reduction in niche width of birds in HMLs. Therefore, to protect the diversity of guilds in HMLs, landscape management strategies that offer birds more diverse habitats must be implemented in tropical regions. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/05343-5 - Impacts of the anthropogenic landscape structure and its dynamics on bird communities
• Grantee: Eduardo Roberto Alexandrino
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 11/04046-0 - Trophic ecology in matrix agriculture: use of isotopic tool for conservation of birds in anthropogenic landscape
• Grantee: Daniela Tomasio Apolinario da Luz
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• FAPESP's process: 11/06782-5 - Multi-scale assessment of environmental impacts in agricultural landscape
• Grantee: Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants