Abstract
The subspecies Setophaga petechia gundlachi is characterized by its specificity to mangrove habitat during the breeding season. The objective of this work was to compare the prey availability for S. petechia gundlachi during the breeding season in two mangrove sites with different vegetation structure in Havana, Cuba. To describe different levels of vegetation structure between both mangrove sites, we took several variables at 50 plots. Besides, we recorded the foraging behavior of S. petechia gundlachi to establish the design of prey availability sampling. We measured prey availability by using the branch clipping method, about 90 samples were collected at each mangrove site. Bajo de Santa Ana mangrove, with a lower height and diameter at breast height, showed evidence of deforestation. Laguncularia racemosa was the most used mangrove species for foraging and offered the highest biomass of available prey in the Laguna de Cobre-Itabo mangrove site. The greatest biomass of available prey was found at the Laguna de Cobre-Itabo, with a value of 5.1 (CI: 4.0 - 6.2) mg / 100 g of branch clipping. The Bajo de Santa Ana site had a lower value than expected 1.6 (CI: 0.8 - 1.7) mg / 100 g of branch clipping. The results provide evidence of the possible influence of mangrove vegetation structure changes on food availability for S. petechia gundlachi in this urban landscape.
Highlights
The species Setophaga petechia (Linnaeus, 1766) (Yellow Warbler) is considered a wetland habitat specialist on its breeding grounds (Humple and Burnett 2010)
A. germinans use was above 15 % at both sites, while R. mangle only had a high value in Laguna de CobreItabo, with 26 %
Both mangroves sites presented a similar percentage of height range use by S. p. gundlachi (Fig. 3)
Summary
The species Setophaga petechia (Linnaeus, 1766) (Yellow Warbler) is considered a wetland habitat specialist on its breeding grounds (Humple and Burnett 2010). In California, it is considered as a species of special concern, because its populations have shown a local and regional decline (Humple and Burnett 2010). The breeding habitat loss is their main threat; many studies have been conducted on migratory subspecies to better understand habitat use (Tremblay and St. Clair 2011, Quinlan and Green 2012, Drake 2013). Habitat loss is likely to be the main threat, but there are no studies that report this impact on their populations. Studies are needed to evaluate how S. petechia resident populations are affected by the modification and loss of these habitats
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