Coffee agroforests remain beneficial for neotropical bird community conservation across seasons

Can guava monocultures (Psidium guajava L.) function as refuge for bird conservation?

Agricultural intensification negatively affects bird communities, and the response of birds to these changes varies from those that survive and increase their populations (disturb-tolerant species) to those that cannot adapt to new conditions and are regionally extinct (disturb-sensitive species). Thus, the present study sought to investigate the bird community in 39 guava orchards in the semiarid region of the state of Sergipe, northeast Brazil. Field observations were made between July and October 2017, through a one-hour visit to each orchard. Samplings were conducted using the MacKinnon’s List method. In addition to bird sampling, walks were carried out in the orchards to observe nesting. Seventy-six species of birds belonging to 30 families were recorded using the guava orchards. The most frequent species were Vanellus chilensis, Columbina talpacoti, Columbina picui, Crotophaga ani, Pitangus sulphuratus and Sporophila albogularis. Of the 186 nests recorded in the orchards, the majority (n = 144 nests; 77.4%) belonged to Columbina picui, Columbina talpacoti and Columbina minuta. The results demonstrate that the bird community in the guava orchards is formed only by disturb-tolerant species, showing that the studied guava orchards are not favorable to the conservation of disturb-sensitive birds of the Caatinga domain.

Assessing the effect of agricultural land abandonment on bird communities in southern-eastern Europe

Agricultural land abandonment is recognized as a major environmental threat in Europe, being particularly pronounced in south-eastern Europe, where knowledge on its effects is limited. Taking the Balkan Peninsula as a case study, we investigated agricultural abandonment impact on passerine communities at regional level. We set up a standard methodology for site selection (70 sites) and data collection, along a well-defined forest-encroachment gradient that reflects land abandonment in four countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece. Regardless the different socio-economic and political histories in the Balkans that led to diverse land abandonment patterns in space and time, rural abandonment had a consistent negative effect on bird communities, while regional-level analysis revealed patterns that were hidden at local level. The general trends were an increase of forest-dwelling bird species at the expense of farmland birds, the decline of overall bird species richness, as well as the decline of Species of European Conservation Concern (SPECs) richness and abundance. Many farmland bird species declined with land abandonment, whereas few forest species benefited from the process. In conclusion, our results support CAP towards hampering rural land abandonment and preserving semi-open rural mosaics in remote upland areas, using a suite of management measures carefully tailored to local needs. The maintenance of traditional rural landscapes should be prioritized in the Balkans, through the timely identification of HNV farmland that is most prone to abandonment. We also suggest that coordinated transnational research is needed, for a better assessment of conservation options in remote rural landscapes at European scale, including the enhancement of wild grazers' populations as an alternative in areas where traditional land management is rather unlikely to be re-established.

Intercropping with shrub species that display a 'steady-state' flowering phenology as a strategy for biodiversity conservation in tropical agroecosystems

Animal species in the Neotropics have evolved under a lower spatiotemporal patchiness of food resources compared to the other tropical regions. Although plant species with a steady-state flowering/fruiting phenology are rare, they provide predictable food resources and therefore may play a pivotal role in animal community structure and diversity. I experimentally planted a supplemental patch of a shrub species with a steady-state flowering/fruiting phenology, Hamelia patens Jacq., into coffee agroforests to evaluate the contribution of this unique phenology to the structure and diversity of the flower-visiting community. After accounting for the higher abundance of captured animals in the coffee agroforests with the supplemental floral resources, species richness was 21% higher overall in the flower-visiting community in these agroforests compared to control agroforests. Coffee agroforests with the steady-state supplemental floral patch also had 31% more butterfly species, 29% more hummingbird species, 65% more wasps and 85% more bees than control coffee agroforests. The experimental treatment, together with elevation, explained 57% of the variation in community structure of the flower-visiting community. The identification of plant species that can support a high number of animal species, including important ecosystem service providers, is becoming increasingly important for restoration and conservation applications. Throughout the Neotropics plant species with a steady-state flowering/fruiting phenology can be found in all aseasonal forests and thus could be widely tested and suitable species used throughout the tropics to manage for biodiversity and potentially ecosystem services involving beneficial arthropods.