Spatial structure and scale-dependent microhabitat use of endemic “tapaculos” (Rhinocryptidae) in a temperate forest of southern South America
Keywords:
understory birds, PCNM, Pteroptochos tarnii, Scelorchilus rubecula, spatial patchiness, spatial scaleAbstract
Endemic tapaculo birds (Rhinocryptidae) are biological indicators of habitat degradation in the temperate forest of southern South America, but little is known about the physiognomical features that determine the use of space in natural habitats. We studied the spatial structure and the microhabitat use at different spatial scales of species of tapaculos in a well-conserved forest of NW Patagonia (Argentina). We recorded the abundance of tapaculos and forest characteristics along a 1500 m transect divided in 75, 20 x 20 m contiguous plots. We evaluated the spatial patchiness in abundance of birds by Moran’s I correlograms. We disentangled the spatial variability of bird abundance at three different, progressively finer (broad, intermediate, fine), spatial scales by using Principal Coordinates of Neighbour Matrices analysis (PCNM). We assessed the microhabitat use of each bird species with stepwise regression analyses using habitat physiognomical features as independent variables and bird abundance predicted by PCNM at each spatial scale as dependent variables. The clumps of Scelorchilus rubecula were smaller and more regularly distributed than those of Pteroptochos tarnii. The PCNM analysis detected significant spatial variation at the different scales for both bird species. Microhabitat use was only evident at the broadest spatial scale, but differed between bird species. Scelorchilus rubecula used areas with higher tree cover and woody plant volume but lower abundance of fallen branches, whereas P. tarnii was found mostly in areas of higher abundance of branches but lower woody plant volume and plant species richness. The differences between bird species in the use of space can also be interpreted in terms of differences in body size, family system and feeding behaviour. The management of this temperate forest needs to consider the scale- and species-specific response of endemic tapaculos to habitat features in order to predict their response to the changes in heterogeneity that operate at different spatial scales and are driven by different degradation processes.
References
ARMESTO, JJ; P LEÓN-LOBOS & MTK ARROYO. 1996. Los bosques templados del sur de Chile: una isla biogeográfica. Pp 23-28 in: Armesto, JJ; C Villagran & MTK Arroyo (Eds.) Ecología de los bosques nativos de Chile. Editorial Universitaria, Santiago, Chile.
ARMESTO, JJ; R ROZII; C SMITH-RAMÍREZ & MTK ARROYO. 1998. Ecology - Conservation targets in South American temperate forests. Science 282:1271-1272.
BAKERMANS, MH & AD RODEWALD. 2006. Scale-dependent habitat use of acadian flycatcher (Empidonax virescens) in central Ohio. Auk 123:368-382.
BORCARD, D & P LEGENDRE. 2002. All-scale spatial analysis of ecological data by means of principal coordinates of neighbour matrices. Ecol. Mod. 153:51-68.
BORCARD, D & P LEGENDRE. 2004. SpaceMaker2 – User’s guide. Département de sciences biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
BORCARD, D; P LEGENDRE; C AVOIS-JACQUET & H TUOMISTO. 2004. Dissecting the spatial structure of ecological data at multiple scales. Ecology 85:1826-1832.
BUSTAMANTE, RO & C CASTRO. 1998. The decline of an endangered temperate ecosystem: the ruil (Nothofagus alessandrii) forest in central Chile. Biodivers. Conserv. 7:1607-1626.
CABRERA, AL & A WILLINK. 1980. Biogeografía de América Latina, Washington, District of Columbia.
CASGRAIN, P; P LEGENDRE & A VADOUR. 1997. The R Package for Multidimensional and Spatial Analysis. Département de sciences biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
CASTELLÓN, TD & KE SIEVING. 2006. An experimental test of matrix permeability and corridor use by an endemic understory bird. Conserv. Biol. 20:135-145.
CORREA, A; JJ ARMESTO; RP SCHLATTER; R ROZZI R & JC TORRES-MURA. 1990. La dieta del chucao (Scelorchilus rubecula), un Passeriforme terrícola endémico del bosque templado húmedo de Sudamérica austral. Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat. 63:197-202.
CUETO, VR. 2006. Escalas en ecología: su importancia para el estudio de la selección de hábitat en aves. Hornero 21:1-13.
DE SANTO, TL; MF WILLSON; KE SIEVING & JJ ARMESTO. 2002. Nesting biology of tapaculos (Rhinocryptidae) in fragmented south-temperate rain forests of Chile. Condor 104:482-495.
DÍAZ, IA; JJ ARMESTO; S REID; KE SIEVING & MF WILLSON. 2005. Linking forest structure and composition: avian diversity in successional forests of Chiloe’ Island, Chile. Biol. Conserv. 123:91-101.
DRAY, S; P LEGENDRE & PR PERES-NETO. 2006. Spatial modelling: a comprehensive framework for principal coordinate analysis of neighbour matrices (PCNM) Ecol. Mod. 196: 483-493.
ECHEVERRÍA, C; D COOMES; J SALAS; JM REY-BENAYAS, A LARA ET AL. 2006. Rapid deforestation and fragmentation of Chilean Temperate Forests. Biol. Conserv. 130:481-494.
ESTADES, CF & SA TEMPLE. 1999. Deciduous-forest bird communities in a fragmented landscape dominated by exotic pine plantations. Ecol. App. 9:573-585.
HALL, LS & RW MANNAN. 1999. Multiscaled habitat selection by elegant trogons in southeastern Arizona. J. Wildlife Manage. 63:451-461.
HAYTHORNTHWAITE, AS & CR DICKMAN. 2006. Distribution, abundance, and individual strategies: a multi-scale analysis of dasyurid marsupials in arid central Australia. Ecography 29:285-300.
JONES, JW. 2001. Habitat selection studies in avian ecology: A critical review. Auk 118:557-562.
KOTLIAR, NB & JA WIENS. 1990. Multiple scales of patchiness and patch structure: a hierarchical framework for the study of heterogeneity. Oikos 59:253-260.
LARA, A; C DONOSO & JC ARAVENA. 1996. La conservación del bosque nativo en Chile: Problemas y desafíos. Pp. 23-28 in: Armesto, JJ; C Villagran & MTK Arroyo (Eds.) Ecología de los bosques nativos de Chile. Editorial Universitaria, Santiago.
LEE, M; L FAHRIG, K FREEMARK & DJ CURRIE. 2002. Importance of patch scale vs landscape scale on selected forest birds. Oikos 96:110-118.
LEGENDRE, P & MJ FORTIN. 1989. Spatial pattern and ecological analysis. Vegetatio 80:107-138.
LEGENDRE, P & L LEGENDRE. 1998. Numerical Ecology, 2nd ed. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
LINDENMAYER, DB & JF FRANKLIN. 2002. Conserving forest biodiversity: a comprehensive multiscaled approach. Island Press, Washington.
LINDENMAYER, DB. 2000. Factors at multiple scales affecting distribution patterns and their implications for animal conservation - Leadbeater’s Possum as a case study. Biodivers. Conserv. 9:15-35.
LINDENMAYER, DB; MA MCCARTHY & ML POPE. 1999. Arboreal marsupial incidence in eucalypt patches in south-eastern Australia: a test of Hanski’s incidence function metapopulation model for patch occupancy. Oikos 84:99-109.
LUCK, GW. 2002. The habitat requirements of the rufous treecreeper (Climacteris rufa). I. Preferential habitat use demonstrated at multiple spatial scales. Biol. Conserv. 105:383-394.
MCCOLLIN, D. 1998. Forest edges and habitat selection in birds: a functional approach. Ecography 21:247-260.
ORIANS, GH & JF WITTENBERGER. 1991. Spatial and Temporal Scales in Habitat Selection. Am. Nat. 137:S29-S49.
PARKER, TH; BM STANSBERRY, CD BECKER & PS GIPSON. 2005. Edge and area effects on the occurrence of migrant forest songbirds. Conserv. Biol. 19:1157-1167.
PAUCHARD, A & P VILLARROEL. 2002. Protected areas in Chile: History, current status, and challenges. Nat. Area J. 22:318-330.
PEH, KSH; J DE JONG; NS SODHI; SLH LIM & CAM YAP. 2005. Lowland rainforest avifauna and human disturbance: persistence of primary forest birds in selectively logged forests and mixed-rural habitats of southern Peninsular Malaysia. Biol. Conserv. 123:489-505.
PRIBIL, S & J PRICMAN. 1997. The importance of using the proper methodology and spatial scale in the study of habitat selection by birds. Can. J. Zoolog. 75:1835-1844.
REID, S; IA DÍAZ, JJ ARMESTO & MF WILLSON. 2004. Importance of native bamboo for understory birds in Chilean temperate forests. Auk 121:515-525.
RIDGELY, RS & G TUDOR. 1994. The Birds of South America: Vol. II, The Suboscine Passerines. University of Texas press, Austin, TX.
SIEVING, KE; MF WILLSON & TL DE SANTO. 1996. Habitat barriers to movement of understory birds in fragmented south-temperate rainforest. Auk 113:944-949.
SIEVING, KE & JR KARR. 1997. Avian extinction and persistence mechanisms in lowland Panama. Pp. 156-170 in: Laurance, WF & RO Bierregaard Jr. (Eds.). Tropical forest remnants: ecology, management, and conservation of fragmented communities. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
SIEVING, KE; MF WILLSON & TL DE SANTO. 2000. Defining corridor functions for endemic birds in fragmented south-temperate rainforest. Conserv. Biol. 14:1120-1132.
SIEVING, KE; TA CONTRERAS & KL MAUTE. 2004. Heterospecific facilitation of forest-boundary crossing by mobbing understory birds in North- Central Florida. Auk 121:738-751.
VERGARA, PM & JA SIMONETTI. 2003. Forest fragmentation and rhinocryptid nest predation in central Chile. Acta Oecol. 24:285-288.
VERGARA, PM & JA SIMONETTI. 2004a. Avian responses to fragmentation of the Maulino Forest in central Chile. Oryx 38:383-388.
VERGARA, PM & JA SIMONETTI. 2004b. Does nest-site cover reduce nest predation for rhinocryptids? J. Field Ornithol. 75:188-191.
VUILLEUMIER, F. 1985. Forest birds of Patagonia. Ornithol. Monogr. 36:255-304.
WIENS, JA; JT ROTENBERRY & B VAN HORNE. 1987. Habitat occupancy patterns of North American shrub steppe birds: the effects of spatial scale. Oikos 48:132-147.
WILLSON, MF; TI DESANTO; C SABAG & JJ ARMESTO. 1994. Avian Communities of Fragmented South- Temperate Rain-Forests in Chile. Conserv. Biol. 8:508-520.
WILLSON, MF. 2004. Loss of habitat connectivity hinders pair formation and juvenile dispersal of Chucao Tapaculos in Chilean rainforest. Condor 106:166-171.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Authors retain their rights as follows: 1) by granting the journal the right to its first publication, and 2) by registering the published article with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which allows authors and third parties to view and use it as long as they clearly mention its origin (citation or reference, including authorship and first publication in this journal). Authors can make other non-exclusive distribution agreements as long as they clearly indicate their origin and are encouraged to widely share and disseminate the published version of their work.
