Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/18073
Title: | The width of riparian habitats for understory birds in an Amazonian forest |
Authors: | Bueno, Anderson Saldanha Bruno, Renato Saragoça Pimentel, Tânia Pena Sanaiotti, Tânia Margarete Magnusson, William Ernest |
Keywords: | Abundance Biodiversity Bird Buffer Zone Clay Community Composition Community Structure Environmental Gradient Environmental Legislation Forest Ecosystem Habitat Conservation Habitat Use Land Management Neotropical Region Riparian Forest Streamwater Tropical Forest Understory Animals Bird Demography Ecosystem Environmental Monitoring Environmental Protection Legal Aspect Methodology Physiology River Tree Animal Birds Conservation Of Natural Resources Demography Ecosystem Environmental Monitoring Rivers Trees Amazonia Aves |
Issue Date: | 2012 |
metadata.dc.publisher.journal: | Ecological Applications |
metadata.dc.relation.ispartof: | Volume 22, Número 2, Pags. 722-734 |
Abstract: | Riparian habitats are important for the maintenance of regional biodiversity. Many studies have compared bird distributions between riparian and non-riparian habitats but have not established how wide riparian habitats used by birds are, as measured by distance from the nearest stream. We investigated the distribution of understory birds along gradients of distance from streams, soil clay content, and slope in a central Amazonian forest, by mistnetting birds three times in 45 plots. We used nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to reduce the dimensionality of species quantitative (abundance) and qualitative (presence- absence) composition to one multivariate axis. Estimates of the width of riparian habitats as indicated by understory birds depended on the community attribute considered, measuring 90 m for species quantitative composition and 140 m for species qualitative composition. Species distributions were correlated with clay content but were independent of slope, while distance from streams was positively correlated with clay content but independent of slope. Clay content affects plant species composition, which in turn, may influence bird species composition. However, distribution patterns of birds in relation to distance from streams are consistent among studies carried out in many different temperate and tropical regions, indicating an effect of distance from streams itself. Protection of riparian habitats is one of the most widely used conservation strategies, and Brazilian environmental legislation mandates the protection of a 30 m wide strip of riparian vegetation on either side of small streams. We show that the protected strip should be much wider and recommend strategies to place other forms of land protection contiguous with riparian areas so that Brazilian environmental legislation better fulfills its role of protecting biodiversity associated with riparian habitats. © 2012 by the Ecological Society of America. |
metadata.dc.identifier.doi: | 10.1890/11-0789.1 |
Appears in Collections: | Artigos |
Files in This Item:
There are no files associated with this item.
Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.