Taxonomic and functional avian diversity vary with cattle management practices in humid Chaco forests of Argentina
-
Published:2024-02-26
Issue:2
Volume:56
Page:
-
ISSN:0006-3606
-
Container-title:Biotropica
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Biotropica
Author:
Haene Camila S.1ORCID,
Bilenca D.12,
Codesido M.12
Affiliation:
1. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires (IEGEBA) CONICET‐Universidad de Buenos Aires Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Argentina
2. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Grupo de Estudios sobre Biodiversidad en Agroecosistemas Universidad de Buenos Aires Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Argentina
Abstract
AbstractBirds play key roles in forest dynamics, favoring the resilience of forests to cattle ranching. Generalist species may benefit from changes in the vegetation structure caused by cattle grazing while specialist species are usually negatively affected. Therefore, studying changes in taxonomic and functional bird diversity can provide valuable information in order to propose the sustainable cattle management practices. Here, we study the influence of different cattle management practices (Cattle Exclusion: FCE; Continuous grazing: FCG; Rotational grazing: FRG; Seasonal grazing: FSG) on the understory vegetation structure, and the bird taxonomic and functional diversity in humid Chaco forests of Argentina. Forests under grazing had an open (FCG) or semi‐open (FRG and FSG) understory, whereas FCE presented a closed understory with higher plant richness. Generalized linear models revealed a decrease in bird richness and abundance under most cattle management practices compared to FCE. However, FRG was most similar to FCE in terms of vegetation structure and showed no differences in bird richness. FCE presented the lowest values of functional diversity while FCG and FRG showed the highest values. A fourth‐corner analysis showed that FCE was associated with insectivorous species which forage and nest in the shrub layer, reflecting a possible loss of ecosystem services in forests with cattle grazing. We propose FRG as the most appropriate cattle management option and the least detrimental to bird assemblages. However, maintaining protected areas that exclude cattle ranching activities will be key to strike a balance between the conservation of most specialist species and beef production.Abstract in Spanish is available with online material.
Funder
Agencia Nacional de Promoción de la Investigación, el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación
Secretaria de Ciencia y Tecnica, Universidad de Buenos Aires
Consejo Interuniversitario Nacional