Relationships between bird diversity and vegetation structure in four secondary forest successional stages, Antioquia, Colombia

Abstract

The relationships between taxonomic and functional diversity of bird assemblage and vegetation structure in four stages of secondary forest succession were studied. Five field samplings were carried out between June 2016 and February 2017, in which birds were recorded using fixed-radius point counts, and the vegetation structure of each successional stage was characterized. Bird species were identified and their habitat preference, specificity and trophic guilds were established. The abundance, preference, habitat specificity and trophic guild, and the richness and diversity of species of birds and relationships between species composition and trophic guilds with habitat variables in the four sequences was established. 9516 individuals from 187 bird species belonging to 42 fam-ilies and 15 orders were registered. Two clusters separating the SS1 and SS2 of SS3 and SS4 successional stages, were determined, with a similarity between both of 10% at taxonom-ic level and 32% at functional level. The natural regeneration subsequent to the abandonment of agricultural practices allow an increase in secondary forest areas, which to the extent they get greater structural complexity, are associated with increa-sed number of forest interior species, and an increase of nec-tarivorous and frugivorous guilds.