Threatened neotropical birds are big, ecologically specialized, and found in less humanized refuge areas

Ricardo A Soto-Saravia,Alfonso Benítez-Mora,Carla M Garrido-Cayul,Jorge Avaria-Llautureo,Manuela González-Suárez,Cristián E Hernández

doi:10.5751/ace-01948-160218

Abstract

Soto-Saravia, R. A., C. M. Garrido-Cayul, J. Avaria-Llautureo, A. Benítez-Mora, C. E. Hernández, and M. González-Suárez. 2021. Threatened neotropical birds are big, ecologically specialized, and found in less humanized refuge areas. Avian Conservation and Ecology 16(2):18. https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01948-160218

Highlights

The anthropization of the world’s ecosystems with overexploitation of resources and extensive alteration and fragmentation of natural habitats is leading to widespread biodiversity loss (McKinney 2006, Barnosky et al 2012, Green et al 2019)
Models including intrinsic and extrinsic factors revealed higher risk for species with larger body sizes, smaller maximum clutch sizes, that are ecologically specialized, and that occupied narrower ranges characterized by lower night light and lower human population densities (Fig. 1c)
While we identified a total of 2485 endemic neotropical bird species, data for all variables were not available for all species (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

The anthropization of the world’s ecosystems with overexploitation of resources and extensive alteration and fragmentation of natural habitats is leading to widespread biodiversity loss (McKinney 2006, Barnosky et al 2012, Green et al 2019). The Neotropics have the lowest Ecological Human Footprint values globally (EHF, sensu Sanderson et al 2002) and contain some of the largest remaining pristine natural areas (Pichorim et al 2016, Rull and VegasVilarrúbia 2017, Weinzettel et al 2018). Many of these areas are being rapidly transformed leading to habitat loss and fragmentation which threatens biodiversity (Tabarelli et al 2004, Ribeiro et al 2009). Expanding threats and the remaining high levels of biodiversity make it critical and urgent to identify the key drivers of extinction, so we can define more effective conservation policies and actions to prevent further defaunation

Results

Discussion

Conclusion