Mixed bird flocks: patterns of activity and species composition in a region of the Central Andes of Colombia

Biodiversity continues to decline in the face of increasing anthropogenic pressures such as habitat destruction, exploitation, pollution and introduction of alien species. Existing global databases of species’ threat status or population time series are dominated by charismatic species. The collation of datasets with broad taxonomic and biogeographic extents, and that support computation of a range of biodiversity indicators, is necessary to enable better understanding of historical declines and to project – and avert – future declines. We describe and assess a new database of more than 1.6 million samples from 78 countries representing over 28,000 species, collated from existing spatial comparisons of local-scale biodiversity exposed to different intensities and types of anthropogenic pressures, from terrestrial sites around the world. The database contains measurements taken in 208 (of 814) ecoregions, 13 (of 14) biomes, 25 (of 35) biodiversity hotspots and 16 (of 17) megadiverse countries. The database contains more than 1% of the total number of all species described, and more than 1% of the described species within many taxonomic groups – including flowering plants, gymnosperms, birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, beetles, lepidopterans and hymenopterans. The dataset, which is still being added to, is therefore already considerably larger and more representative than those used by previous quantitative models of biodiversity trends and responses. The database is being assembled as part of the PREDICTS project (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems – http://www.predicts.org.uk). We make site-level summary data available alongside this article. The full database will be publicly available in 2015.

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“…; 80 O'Dea and Whittaker ; 81 Ims and Henden ; 82 Rosselli ; 83 Arbeláez‐Cortés et al. ; 84 Santana et al. ; 85 Sheldon et al.…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

ThePREDICTSdatabase: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Hudson

Newbold

Contu

et al. 2014

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Patterns of aggregation in sizes may be associated to interspecific facilitation (i.e. positive species interactions) as described by Arbelaez‐Cortés, Rodríguez‐Correa & Restrepo‐Chica () for mixed‐species flocks in the central Andes of Colombia. For example, tanagers and parulids which share some similarity in body sizes could be dominating the distribution of this attribute in flocks in our study, allowing aggregated pattern.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…; insects: Krüger, de Carvalho & Ribeiro ; reptiles: Pianka ; Rabosky et al . ; birds: Diamond ; Arbelaez‐Cortés, Rodríguez‐Correa & Restrepo‐Chica ; fishes: Bellwood et al . ; Englund et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assembly patterns of mixed‐species avian flocks in the Andes

Colorado

Rodewald

2014

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary1. The relative contribution of deterministic and stochastic processes in the assembly of biotic communities is a central issue of controversy in community ecology. However, several studies have shown patterns of species segregation that are consistent with the hypothesis that deterministic factors such as competition and niche-partitioning structure species assemblages in animal communities. 2. Community assembly provides a theoretical framework for understanding these processes, but it has been seldom applied to social aggregations within communities. 3. In this research, we assessed patterns of non-randomness in Andean mixed-species flocks using three assembly models: (i) co-occurrence patterns; (ii) guild proportionality; and (iii) constant body-size ratios using data from 221 species of resident and Neotropical migrant birds participating in 311 mixed-species flocks at 13 regions distributed in Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. 4. Significant assembly patterns for mixed-species flocks based on co-occurrence models and guild proportionality models suggest that competitive interactions play an important role in structuring this social system in the Andes. Distribution of species among foraging guilds (i.e. insectivore, frugivore, omnivore, nectivore) was generally similar among flocks, though with some regional variation. 5. In contrast, we found little evidence that structuring of mixed-species flocks in the Andes was mediated by body size. Rather, we found greater than expected variance of body-size ratios within flocks, indicating that birds did not segregate morphologically. 6. Overall, our findings suggest that deterministic factors associated to competitive interactions are important contributors to mixed-species flock assemblages across the Andes.

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“…Two main non-mutually exclusive hypotheses have been proposed to explain the benefits for animals to form mixed-species flocks. First, an increase in foraging efficiency and secondly, an increase in anti-predator strategy efficiency (Arbeláez-Cortés et al, 2011; Diamond, 1981; Stensland et al, 2003; Terborgh, 1990).…”

Section: Discussion and Further Research: Behavioural Synchronizatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interspecific stable groups, or mixed-species groups, are defined as groups composed of two or more species that travel and forage together (Arbela´ez-Corte´s, Rodrı´guez-Correa, & Restrepo-Chica, 2011;Stensland, Angerbjo¨rn, & Berggren, 2003). Interspecific groups are observed in a wide range of taxa and can concern closely related species or species from different orders.…”

Section: Evidence In Humansmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioural synchronization from an ethological perspective: Overview of its adaptive value

2016

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International audienceSynchronized behaviours are found in various species, among all taxa of live beings. Being synchronized with other individuals is defined by doing the same thing, at the same time and at the same place as others. It is observed within intraspecific groups and dyads. We aim to provide a synthetic overview of what is behavioural synchronization and focus on the adaptive value of such a phenomenon among individuals. Then, as it is observed that some stable groups or dyads consist of individuals from different species, we finally propose to investigate the existence of interspecific behavioural synchronization

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Mixed bird flocks: patterns of activity and species composition in a region of the Central Andes of Colombia

Cited by 17 publications

References 42 publications

ThePREDICTSdatabase: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

ThePREDICTSdatabase: a global database of how local terrestrial biodiversity responds to human impacts

Assembly patterns of mixed‐species avian flocks in the Andes

Behavioural synchronization from an ethological perspective: Overview of its adaptive value

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