Contrasting patterns of land use on resident and migratory bird
diversity in a tropical landscape
Abstract
The spatial configuration and management of agricultural and other
land-use practices can affect ecological assemblages, but how resident
and migratory species respond to land uses is not well known, hindering
our understanding of the effects of land use on biodiversity. Here, we
compare alpha and beta diversity and ecosystem functioning for resident
and migratory birds across three land uses: (1) primary forest, (2)
secondary forest, and (3) cattle pasture. Compositionally, resident bird
assemblages exhibited gradual shifts across habitats with diversity
steadily declining with increasing distance from a protected area and
reductions in understory vegetation. In contrast, migratory bird
community composition clustered into five distinct groups, shifting
50-60% less than resident assemblages across the same gradients with no
declines in richness. We found that migratory bird abundance was greater
in secondary forest and cattle pasture, and migratory insectivores
compensated for 68% of the abundance losses of resident forest
insectivores in secondary forests and cattle pastures. Among the
insectivores, increases of migratory birds in secondary forest and
cattle pasture compensated for the abundance declines of resident birds
that utilize foliage gleaning and sallying foraging methods. Our
findings underscore the importance of local landscape evaluation and
management around protected areas, highlighting the unique responses of
resident and migratory birds to land use and the potential mechanisms
sustaining ecosystem functions in modified habitats.