Forest Fragmentation Hits Insectivorous Birds Hard

Abstract

animal sciences, entomology, invertebrate zoology, vertebrate zoology, biodiversity, ecosystems and communities, environmental monitoring, forestry, tropical systems Habitats around the world, especially in the tropics, are being fragmented at a rapid rate, causing a tremendous loss of biodiversity[1]. For example, 12% of the approximately 10,000 bird species are threatened with extinction in the next 10 to 100 years, and another 8% are near-threatened[2]. This loss of species is likely to result in the collapse of significant ecosystem processes and free ecosystem services to people[3], such as pest control by insectivorous birds. Tropical forest insectivorous birds, such as antbirds, woodcreepers, and wrens, present a good example of an important, species-rich group of small, noncharismatic organisms who do not get much public attention, but whose demise may have significant negative ecological and financial consequences. They are among the species most likely to go extinct as a result of forest fragmentation[4] and their loss may result in insect pest outbreaks in tropical forests and surrounding agricultural areas. Finding out the causes of the disappearance of understory insectivores may help explain the disappearance of the other small, short-lived, and specialized bird species that comprise the majority (65%) of threatened bird species in the world[5]. In a recent study of the factors behind the disappearance of insectivorous birds in Costa Rican forest fragments reported in the