Canopy bird assemblages are less influenced by habitat age and isolation than understory bird assemblages in Neotropical secondary forest.

ABSTRACT: Secondary forest habitats are increasingly recognized for their potential to conserve biodiversity in the tropics. However, the development of faunal assemblages in secondary forest systems varies according to habitat quality and species-specific traits. In this study, we predicted that the recovery of bird assemblages is dependent on secondary forest age and level of isolation, the forest stratum examined, and the species' traits of feeding guild and body mass. This study was undertaken in secondary forests in central Panama; spanning a chronosequence of 60-, 90-, and 120-year-old forests, and in neighboring old-growth forest. To give equal attention to all forest strata, we employed a novel method that paired simultaneous surveys in canopy and understory. This survey method provides a mo

SUBMITTER: Bradfer-Lawrence T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6010736 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature