Abstract

NAVARRO ALBERTO, Jorge A.; LEIRANA-ALCOCER, Jorge L.; HERNANDEZ-BETANCOURT, Silvia F.  and  GUERRERO-GONZALEZ, Leonardo L.. Pigeons (Columbidae), woodpeckers (Picidae) and hummingbirds (Trochilidae) as indicators of succession in the tropical dry forest of Dzilam, Yucatan, Mexico. Huitzil [online]. 2016, vol.17, n.1, pp.1-7. ISSN 1870-7459.

Even though the world's primary forests continues to shrink, the conservation value of secondary forest for biodiversity conservation is poorly understood. In the Yucatán Peninsula, large agricultural areas are being abandoned due to the migration of farmers to the cities; this allows for the natural regeneration of the vegetation. This provides a unique opportunity for studying its effect on the populations of birds with different ecological requirements. In this work we document the changes in abundance of three bird families, two of which could be used as indicators of forest integrity (Picidae and Trochilidae) and one more that could be used as indicator of anthropogenic disturbance of the Yucatan tropical dry forest (Columbidae). We sampled birds for one year in agricultural fragments abandoned at different times: 1) 2 years or less prior to the study, 2) from 2 to 5 years, 3) from 5 to 10 years, and 4) more than 10 years. We conducted mist netting at each sampling point for a total of 1,440 hours/net, with the same effort invested in each site. Hummingbird and woodpecker abundances were highest at sites more than 10 years old, while pigeons were more abundant at sites less than 2 years old. Our results suggest that woodpecker and hummingbird abundances could be used as indicators of recovered ecosystems, while pigeon abundance as an indicator of recent disturbance.

Keywords : Agricultural abandonment; secondary forest; bird abundance.