- Investigating how habitat influences bird abundance, diversity and feeding guilds in Calakmul Biosphere Reserve, Mexico
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- The tropical forests of Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in Mexico are a hotspot of biodiversity and host over three hundred resident bird species, yet few ornithological studies have been carried out in this region. In this study, bird abundance and species richness were investigated, along with composition and species richness of avian feeding guilds, in relation to habitat across the reserve. Data were collected using point counts and habitat surveys in five sites which spanned the reserve from north to south. The reserve lies on an ecocline which results in more dry habitat being found to the north of the reserve and more humid habitat in the south. It was found that although habitat characteristics varied across sites, bird abundance and diversity did not change in response. Feeding guild composition at each site was similar and dominated by insectivores, a guild sensitive to habitat degradation. Each site contained a mosaic of successional forest stages, comprised of primary and secondary forest. Other studies within this reserve have suggested that this is a result of anthropogenic influences and stochastic climatic events. This successional forest supports high avian diversity, possibly due to avian adaptations to the stochastic events in the region. As the reserve experiences an increasing human population and trends towards deforestation from agriculture in the tropics continue, these results could have important conservation implications. As Mayan agroforestry creates successional forests, it could be utilised by communities to support themselves while preserving the biodiversity of the region, and this warrants further study.
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