Abstract
The degradation of the Llanos foothill ecosystems is one of the biggest ecological problems in the areas surrounding the city of Villavicencio, Meta. The generation of fragments produces new conditions for the establishment of bird guilds. This study was carried out during 2017 - 2018 in areas of the campus Loma Linda at the Santo Tomas University. It was evaluated whether the forest interior, forest border and grassland areas constitute habitats that support the establishment of frugivorous birds. The key factors that affect the richness, diversity and abundance of bird species were identified, from which recommendations were made for the establishment of conservation measures. The richness of birds and their abundance was positively correlated with intermediate values of plant richness and diversity and with the presence and coverage of species of palms and lianas. The abundance and diversity of frugivorous birds were higher in border areas and lower in grasslands and forest interiors. Apparently the diversity of the habitat in border areas of fragmented lands increases the diversity of frugivorous birds through an increase in the abundance values. Artificial enrichment is recommended with different tree, shrubs and palms species planted in the edge and interior areas of the forest, and the maintenance of remaining trees and shrubs in the areas of shrub grasslands. Keywords : fragmentation, frugivorous-birds, diversity, natural regeneration.
Highlights
Habitat quality models that relate the occurrence of bird assemblies with the characteristics of the occupied habitat have been frequently referenced in the literature (KENNEDY et al, 2011)
Only a small number of habitat types were included, the results of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the multiple comparison test show significant differences in two (2) of the three (3) comparisons made with respect to the composition of frugivorous bird species
A type of vegetation is dominated by the presence and coverage of tree-shrub species and by the richness and diversity of plants
Summary
Habitat quality models that relate the occurrence of bird assemblies with the characteristics of the occupied habitat have been frequently referenced in the literature (KENNEDY et al, 2011). Such models are influenced by the spatial scale that is used which includes the hierarchical structure or interdependence of the different environmental variables that are considered, and the hierarchical responses or interdependence of the birds towards the habitat they are occupying (SMITH et al, 2011; KENNEDY et al, 2010). Environmental factors and the type of habitat or biotope occupied play an important role in the conformation and persistence of bird assemblies (KRYNSKIA; GOLAWSKI, 2019; IMAI et al, 2017; FREEMAN et al, 2015; ESCRIBANO-AVILA et al.,2014)
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