Nestedness and Patch Size of Bamboo-Specialist Bird Communities in Southeastern Peru

Abstract

In 2003 and 2004 I investigated the relationship between patch area and number of avian bamboo specialists among 13 patches of Guadua bamboo habitat in southeastern Peru. In these patches, specialists were sensitive to area at local spatial scales. The structure of communities of bamboo specialists was nested, meaning species present in depauperate patches were almost always present in richer patches. Richness of specialist species was positively correlated with the size of the patch. My results indicate that prior estimates of populations of bamboo specialists based on remotely sensed images of vegetation may be underestimates because several specialists were present in small patches difficult to detect in remotely sensed images.