Ephemeral and intermittent xeroriparian systems are keystone habitats for bird communities during the non-breeding season in a Mexican semiarid landscape
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22201/ib.20078706e.2024.95.5383Keywords:
Arid lands, Semiarid lands, Llanos de Ojuelos, Anthropized landscapes, Migratory birdsAbstract
Intermittent and ephemeral xeroriparian systems cover less than 1% of continental North America and are critical for wildlife in arid and semi-arid areas but are understudied and absent from conservation plans. We report the diversity of birds in 3 xeroriparian systems of the Mexican Altiplano during the non-breeding season and the habitat variables that influence them. Of the 48 documented species in this study, we have recorded 15 only in these systems, throughout our long-time research in the region. Bird communities were positively influenced minimum and maximum height of shrubs and trees and negatively by canopy cover. The communities were grouped in one gradient from lower richness in rocky and entrenched streams, with closed canopy and little herbaceous vegetation, to greater richness in wide, open streams, with abundant herbaceous plants, and in a second gradient, from insectivorous to granivorous birds. Our study covered habitats not considered in other similar studies in Mexico and revealed that at the landscape level, ephemeral and intermittent xeroriparian systems could play a crucial role in conservation given that the systems studied covered approximately 0.1% of the area but hosted 20% of the region’s land bird species and, among migrants, especially Spring migrants.
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