Summary
Using birds as an exemplary animal group, the human influence on diversity, community structure and nutrition guild composition is examined in tropical montane cloud forest in Guatemala. Human impact is measured as differences in diversity and body mass in both natural forest and secondary forest (as a consequence of slash-and-burn agriculture). A comparison of these measures is made between the two different habitat types. In terms of species richness, α-diversity (punctual diversity) is higher in used habitats than in natural forest. However, the mean body mass per species is lower in secondary growth than in natural forest. The latter implies that the nutritional conditions of birds in natural forest are qualitatively better than in secondary vegetation. The remaining natural forests in the study area in the region of Alta Verapaz are highly fragmented and have been reduced to less than 50 % of its original cover. Some species are considered to be extinct (e.g. Oreophasis derbianus Mountain Guan) or are threatened to vanish from the study area like, e.g., Penelopina nigra Highland Guan, Pharomachrus mocinno Resplendent Quetzal. Both of these species are dependent on natural forest, the latter because of breeding holes. Both species will become extinct when the last natural forest is gone, which with the current mean national deforestation rate in Guatemala, is within 120 years. The study area is located in the mountain cloud forest zone of the Sierra Yalijux, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala (15°28′N,90°20′W) between 1,900 and 2,550 m. The investigations were conducted within a 102 ha study plot, including both habitat types with equal spatial dimensions. Birds were censused with several standardised methods. The main factor for fragmentation and deforestation — i.e., habitat loss — is slash-and-burn agriculture by peasants. The Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno was used as an example to explain the limiting factors of the regional populations and estimate their viability.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
American Ornithologists' Union (1998) The check-list of north American birds. American Ornithologists' Union, Washington DC
American Ornithologists' Union (2000) 42nd supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union check-list of north American birds. Auk 117:847–858
American Ornithologists' Union (2002) 43rd supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union check-list of north American birds. Auk 119:897–906
Benton TG, Vickery JA, Wilson JD (2003) Farmland biodiversity: is habitat heterogeneity the key? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 18:182–188
Chao A, Lee SM (1992) Estimating the number of classes via sample coverage. Journal of the American Statistical Association 87:210–217
Colwell RK, Coddington JA (1994) Estimating terrestrial biodiversity through extrapolation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 345:101–118
Colwell RK (2000) EstimateS 6.0: Statistical estimation of species richness and shared species from samples. Version 6.0, http://viceroy.eeb.uconn.edu/estimates
Dranzoa C (1998) The avifauna 23 years after logging in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Biodiversity and Conservation 7:777–797
Dunning JB (1993) CRC handbook of avian body masses. CRC Smithsonian Institution, Front Royal
Edwards EP (1998) A field guide to the birds of Mexico and adjacent areas. Belize, Guatemala, and El Salvador. University of Texas Press, Austin
FAO (2001) State of the worlds forests. FAO, Roma
Gilpin ME, Soulé ME (1986) Minimum viable populations: processes of species extinction. In: Soulé M (1986) Conservation biology. Sinauer, Sunderland, pp 19–34
Haffer J (1974) Avian speciation in tropical South America. With a survey of the Toucans (Ramphastidae) and Jacamars (Galbulidae). Nuttall Ornithological Club, Cambridge
Holbech LH (1996) Faunistic diversity and game production contra human activities in the Ghana high forest zone with references to the western region. Dissertation, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen
Hovestadt T, Roeser J, Mühlenberg M (1991) Flächenbedarf von Tierpopulationen als Kriterien für Maßnahmen des Biotopschutzes und als Datenbasis zur Beurteilung von Eingriffen in Natur und Landschaft. Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich
Howell SNG, Webb S (1995) A guide to the birds of Mexico and northern Central America. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Hughes JB, Daily GC, Ehrlich PR (2002) Conservation of tropical forest birds in countryside habitats. Ecology Letters 5:121–129
Johns AD (1992) Vertebrate responses to selective logging: implications for the design of logging systems. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 335:437–442
Karr JR (1971) Structure of avian communities in selected Panama and Illinois habitats. Ecological Monographs 41:207–233
Krebs CJ (1999) Ecological methodology. Addison-Welsey Educational Publisher, Menlo Park
LaBastille A (1973) Establishment of a Quetzal cloud-forest reserve in Guatemala. Biological Conservation 5:60–62
LaBastille A (1974) Use of artificial nest-boxes by Quetzals in Guatemala. Biological Conservation 6:64–65
Lambert FR (1992) The consequences of selective logging for Bornean lowland birds. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences 335:443–457
Land HC (1970) Birds of Guatemala. Livingston Publishing Company, Wynnewood
Loiselle BA, Blake JG, Moermond TC, Mason DJ (1989) Low elevation records of Resplendent Quetzals in Costa Rica. Journal of Field Ornithology 60:86–88
Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurement. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Marchant JH, Hudson R, Carter SP, Whittington P (1992) Population trends in British breeding birds. British Trust for Ornithology, Norfolk
Markussen M (2003) Waldkonversion und Bodendegradation in Bergnebelwaldge-bieten Guatemalas (Alta Verapaz) — Ein Beitrag zur Biodiversitätsforschung in sensiblen Ökosystemen. EcoRegio 11, Shaker, Aachen
McCann KS (2000) The diversity-stability debate. Nature 405:228–233
Mühlenberg M, Hovestadt T, Unger D (1989) Conservation of the cloud forest in Guatemala [in German: Schutz des Nebelwaldes in Guatemala]. Ökologische Station der Universität Würzburg, Würzburg
Peterson RT, Chalif EL (1973) A field guide to Mexican birds. Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston
Pimm SL (1986) Community stability and structure. In: Soulé M (1986) Conservation Biology. Sinauer, Sunderland, p 309
Poulsen BO (1994) Mist-netting as a census method for determining species richness and abundances in an Andean cloud forest bird community. Le Gerfaut 84:39–49
Powell GVN, Bjork RD (1994) Implications of altitudinal migration for conservation strategies to protect tropical biodiversity: a case study of the Resplendent Quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno at Monteverde, Costa Rica. Bird Conservation International 4:161–174
Powell GVN, Bjork RD (1995) Implications of intratropical migration on reserve design: a case study using Pharomachrus mocinno. Conservation Biology 9: 354–362
Remsen JV, Good DA (1996) Misuse of data from mist-net captures to assess abundance in bird populations. Auk 113:381–398
Remsen JV (1994) Use and misuse of bird lists in community ecology and conservation. Auk 111:225–227
Renner SC (2003) Structure and diversity of cloud forest bird communities in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, and implications for conservation. Niedersächsische Staats-und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen, published online at http://webdoc.gwdg.de/diss/
Rosenzweig ML (1995) Species diversity in space and time. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Schulz CH, Waltert M, Kessler PJA, Pitopang R, Shahabudin E, Veddeler D, Steffan-Dewenter I, Mühlenberg M, Gradstein SR, Tscharntke T (in press) Biodiversity indicator taxa of tropical land-use systems: comparing plants, birds and insects. Ecological Applications
Schulz U, Unger D (2000) Integration von Landnutzung und Regenwaldschutz — eine Fallstudie aus Guatemala. In: Landnutzungsplanung und Naturschutz, pp 94–105
Soulé ME (1986) The fitness and viability of populations. In: Soulé ME (1986) Conservation biology. Sinauer, Sunderland, pp 13–18
Soulé ME (1987) Viable populations for conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Sørensen T (1948) A method of establishing groups of equal amplitude in plant sociology based on similarity of species content. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab Biologiske Skrifter 5:1–34
Terborgh J (1999) Requiem for nature. Island Press, Washington DC
Terborgh J, Robinson SK, Parker TA, Munn C, Pierpont N (1990) Structure and organization of an Amazon forest bird community. Ecological Monographs 60: 213–238
Unger D (1988) Welche Funktion hat der extreme Sexuladimorphismus des Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno)? Universität Tübingen, Tübingen
UPROBON (2000) Schutzgemeinschaft Nebelwald: 1. Vereinsbericht. Union para Proteger el Bosque Nuboso. Cobán, Guatemala
Waltert M, Mühlenberg M (2001) Zur Beziehung zwischen Abundanz und Habi-tatqualität: Fangraten territorialer Gelbbartbülbüls Andropadus latirostris. In: Gottschalk E, Barkow A, Mühlenberg M, Settele J (2001) Naturschutz und Verhalten. Umweltforschungszentrum Halle Leipzig, Leipzig, pp 103–110
Whittaker RH (1965) Dominance and diversity in land plant communities. Science 147:250–260
Whittaker RH (1970) Communities and ecosystems. Macmillan, New York
Whittaker RH (1972) Evolution and measurement of species diversity. Taxon 21:213–251
Winker K, Rappole JH, Ramos MA (1995) The use of movement data as an assay of habitat quality. Oecologia 101:211–216
World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1992) Global Biodiversity. Status. Chapman and Hall, London
World Bank (2001) World development indicators 2001. World Bank, Washington DC
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Renner, S.C., Markussen, M. (2005). Human impact on bird diversity and community structure in a tropical montane cloud forest in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, with special reference to the Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno). In: Valuation and Conservation of Biodiversity. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27138-4_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-27138-4_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-24022-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-27138-3
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)