Changes in the nocturnal activity of birds during the COVID–19 pandemic lockdown in a neotropical city

Estela, Felipe A.; Sánchez-Sarria, Camilo E.; Arbeláez‐Cortés, Enrique; Ocampo, David; García-Arroyo, Michelle; Perlaza–gamboa, A.; Wagner–wagner, C. M.; MacGregor‐Fors, Ian

doi:10.32800/abc.2021.44.0213

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This indicates that the severe reduction in human activity during the COVID-19 lockdown in almost half of our survey sites was drastic, showing an increase of at least one-fourth in species richness during the strict lockdown period. It is noteworthy that the strict lockdown lasted only six weeks, and in this short window of time many bird species responded swiftly -as seen in other studies (Gordo et al, 2021, Sanderfoot et al, 2022-and with a similar pattern for nocturnal species (Estela et al, 2021), making local assemblages more diverse, particularly those from low-intensity urbanization sites.…”

Section: Variablessupporting

confidence: 67%

Increases in avian diversity associated with COVID-19 lockdowns in urban Colombia

MacGregor-Fors

Arbeláez‐Cortés

Estela

et al. 2022

Anim. Biodiv. Conserv.

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Research on urban biodiversity has primarily addressed the effects of urbanization and human activity synergistically as it has been virtually impossible to dissociate their impact on city wildlife. However, the anthropause resulting from COVID–19 lockdowns provided an unprecedented scenario to study the relative role of human activity on avian communities. Here we provide evidence of the relationships between human activity and bird species richness in urban areas of Colombia during its strict and subsequent relaxed lockdowns. Once the strict lockdown was lifted and human activity increased, avian species richness decreased by 32 % in 46 % of our sampling sites. Although the strict lockdown lasted only six weeks, local assemblages (mainly from low–intensity urbanization peri–urban sites) swiftly became more diverse. Our findings highlight the importance of taking human activity into account when planning cities, with important focus on greenspaces, if our aim is to conserve and enhance urban biodiversity. Such plans will require not only the cooperation of local governments but also greater awareness among the local population regarding the importance of creating livable, healthy, biodiverse, and resilient cities.

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Section: Variablessupporting

confidence: 67%

Increases in avian diversity associated with COVID-19 lockdowns in urban Colombia

MacGregor-Fors

Arbeláez‐Cortés

Estela

et al. 2022

Anim. Biodiv. Conserv.

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“…We moreover demonstrate that bird activity patterns can differ on a local scale only hundreds of meters apart. This complexity might explain the contradicting effects of lockdown reported by others (Gordo et al, 2021;Estela et al, 2021;Schrimpf et al, 2021;Manenti et al, 2020). It points towards the importance of monitoring activity in fine-scale across geographical and environmental landscapes and of including environmental parameters in statistical models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Our results picture a complex and dynamic urban ecological system where animal activity depends on species and site, as well as on environmental parameters and heterospecific (e.g., human) activity. This complexity might explain the contradicting effects of lockdown reported by others (Gordo et al, 2021;Estela et al, 2021;Schrimpf et al, 2021;Manenti et al, 2020). It points towards the importance of monitoring activity across geographical and environmental landscapes and of including representative parameters in statistical models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Species and habitat specific changes in bird activity in an urban environment during Covid 19 lockdown

Sun,

Hassin,

Boonman

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Covid-19 lockdowns provided ecologists with a rare opportunity to examine how animals behave when humans are absent. Indeed many, sometimes contradicting, studies reported various effects of lockdowns on animal activity, especially in urban areas and other human-dominated habitats. We explored how Covid-19 lockdowns in Israel have influenced bird activity in an urban environment by using continuous acoustic recordings to monitor three common bird species that differ in their level of adaptation to the urban ecosystem: (1) the hooded crow, an urban exploiter, which depends heavily on anthropogenic resources; (2) the rose-ringed parakeet, an invasive alien species that has adapted to exploit human resources; and (3) the graceful prinia, an urban adapter, which is relatively shy of humans can be found urban habitats with shrubs and prairies. Acoustic recordings provided continuous monitoring of bird activity without an effect of the observer on the animal. We performed dense sampling of a 1.3 square km area in northern Tel-Aviv by placing 17 recorders for more than a month in different micro-habitats within this region including roads, residential areas and urban parks. We monitored both lockdown and no-lockdown periods. We portray a complex dynamic system where the activity of specific bird species decreases or increases in a habitat-dependent manner during lockdown. Specifically, urban exploiter species decreased their activity in most urban habitats during lockdown, while human adapter species increased their activity during lockdown especially in parks where humans were absent. Our results also demonstrate the value of different habitats within urban environments for animal activity, specifically highlighting the importance of urban parks. These species- and habitat-specific changes in activity might explain the contradicting results reported by others who have not performed a habitat specific analysis.

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“…They found that noise, population density, building height and proportion of commercial buildings have negative impacts on bird presence. Additionally, Estela et al (2021) examined how the nocturnal activity of birds in the tropical city of Cali, Colombia changed during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and found that there was an increase in bird activity during the strict circulation period, highlighting the impacts of changes in human activity on urban biodiversity.…”

Section: Protecting Biodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Tropical cities research boundaries: a bibliometric analysis to bridge the gaps through multi-dimensional and cross-disciplinary features

Uchôa

Bertotto

Santos

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Cities

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Tropical regions are known for their complex ecosystems and biodiversity, which play a vital role in regulating the global climate. However, researching tropical cities can be challenging due to the need for multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional approaches. In this study, we conducted a bibliometric analysis to gain a structured understanding of the developments and characteristics of tropical cities research in the last decade. We identified the fundamental influences in tropical cities research, based on four major sub-topics: climate change, sustainable urbanization, protecting biodiversity, and urban resource management. We examined the connections between these themes and performed a systematic literature review on each. Our analysis provides a comprehensive trend analysis of tropical cities, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Our findings aim to provide a solid foundation for bridging the gaps for future crosscutting research.

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Changes in the nocturnal activity of birds during the COVID–19 pandemic lockdown in a neotropical city

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

Increases in avian diversity associated with COVID-19 lockdowns in urban Colombia

Increases in avian diversity associated with COVID-19 lockdowns in urban Colombia

Species and habitat specific changes in bird activity in an urban environment during Covid 19 lockdown

Tropical cities research boundaries: a bibliometric analysis to bridge the gaps through multi-dimensional and cross-disciplinary features

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