Land use change has stronger effects on functional diversity than taxonomic diversity in tropical Andean hummingbirds.

ABSTRACT: Land use change modifies the environment at multiple spatial scales, and is a main driver of species declines and deterioration of ecosystem services. However, most of the research on the effects of land use change has focused on taxonomic diversity, while functional diversity, an important predictor of ecosystem services, is often neglected. We explored how local and landscape scale characteristics influence functional and taxonomic diversity of hummingbirds in the Andes Mountains in southern Ecuador. Data was collected in six landscapes along a land use gradient, from an almost intact landscape to one dominated by cattle pastures. We used point counts to sample hummingbirds from 2011 to 2012 to assessed how local factors (i.e., vegetation structure, flowering plants richness, nectar avai

SUBMITTER: Tinoco BA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5869371 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature