Effect of land use in seasonal abundance of Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) in Southwestern Brazil.

Abstract

Changes at the landscape scale associated with expansion in agricultural land use and changes in agricultural practices are common causes of alteration in patterns of abundance and composition of avian communities. Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata - Des Murs, 1847) is among the most common species in the Neotropics, considered both as game and pest in some countries. Here we characterized the regional and seasonal patterns of Eared Doves abundance in Southwestern Brazil and examined the relationship between landscape features and these abundance patterns. We counted Eared Doves using the point count system along routes in summer and winter and recorded land use at two scales. We used linear regressions to model the effect of landscape matrix and land use at local scale with Doves abundance in two seasons. At the landscape scale, in winter, the abundance was greater in routes crossing landscapes dominated by plantations. In summer, it was lower in routes with large tracts of forests and mixed farming. While in winter, at the local scale, the Doves abundance was greater in routes with higher frequency of maize plantations, in summer higher abundances were observed in routes with higher frequency of sugar cane and soybean plantations. Agricultural settings, which include both sustained production of food in the form of grains as well as and large stretches of habitat suitable for reproduction, favor large population of Eared Doves.