Guild‐level response to Hurricane Carlotta among birds in a Mexican wetland

Abstract

We analysed 36 months of point count data to determine the influence of Hurricane Carlotta on species composition in trophic guilds of birds in mangrove and marsh wetlands on the Oaxacan coast of Mexico. We predicted that post‐hurricane composition in guilds would respond to hurricane effects where bird species relied on resources from systems with previous local stability. Post‐hurricane turnover in composition was marked among terrestrial insectivores in mature mangroves, but not in early successional stages in marshland. Turnover was unexceptional among mangrove plant‐consumers that relied on trophic resources from surrounding ecosystem types, and among trophic guilds associated with highly dynamic aquatic systems.