Fernando González-García

Multi-taxonomic diversity patterns in a neotropical green city: a rapid biological assessment

The growing number of urban ecology studies has raised concern about the importance of comprehending the ecological patterns and processes of urban areas in order to manage and plan them properly. In this study, we performed a rapid descriptive ecological assessment of the biodiversity patterns in a neotropical mid-sized urban area from a multi-taxonomic approach, contrasting seven taxonomic groups (i.e., vascular plants, fungi, ants, butterflies, beetles, amphibians, birds) in areas with different degree of urbanization intensity. Results of this study show that diversity patterns differ depending on the taxonomic group; thus, it was not possible to generalize specific trends in species richness, abundance, and species composition because each taxon seems to respond differently to the process or level of urbanization. Our results also highlight the relevance of using multi-taxonomic approaches to understand the relationship between biodiversity and urban environments, and underline potential benefits and limitations of using each of the studied groups when considering rapid biodiversity assessments. Based on our results, we suggest the following recommendations when performing rapid biological assessments in urban areas: evaluate as many taxa as possible, choosing the set of taxonomic groups in relation to the objectives of the study, wide the temporal and spatial survey window as much as possible, focus on several biodiversity measures, and interpreting results cautiously, as rapid assessments do not necessarily reflect ecological patterns, but just part of the history.

Where are the birds in the matrix? Avian diversity in a Neotropical landscape mosaic

ABSTRACT Studying the anthropogenic components of landscapes can provide a solid groundwork to better understand ecological patterns and processes. In this study, we assessed bird species richness and composition in 5 different environmental conditions (well-preserved cloud forest, peri-urban forest, urban greenspace, shade coffee plantation, and cattle ranch) embedded in a landscape whose original vegetation was tropical montane cloud forest. Our results showed that the most similar vegetation structure and physiognomy were peri-urban forest and shade coffee plantation, with urban greenspaces comprising a highly different condition. Regarding species richness, we found no differences for the nonbreeding season (average values 32.9–41.8), but we did find statistical differences for the breeding season (average values 24.5–43.7); highest species richness was recorded for well-preserved cloud forest (43.7 calculated species), which was significantly different from shade coffee plantation (lowest species richness value 24.5) and urban greenspaces (29 calculated species). These results support the idea that during the nonbreeding season, when habitat requirements are less strict, species distribute homogeneously across the landscape, whereas species tend to be more selective and concentrated in original forests during the breeding season. Community composition during the breeding season showed a >40% similarity cluster composed of well-preserved cloud forest, shade coffee plantation, and cattle ranch. In the nonbreeding season, however, 2 clusters were formed at ∼30% similarity: (1) urban greenspaces and cattle ranch; and (2) peri-urban forest, shade coffee plantation, and well-preserved cloud forest. Our results highlight the overall negative effect of urbanization on breeding bird species richness and composition, as well as the importance of having large patches of well-preserved cloud forests in sheltering high bird diversity.

CracidMex1: a comprehensive database of global occurrences of cracids (Aves, Galliformes) with distribution in Mexico

Abstract Cracids are among the most vulnerable groups of Neotropical birds. Almost half of the species of this family are included in a conservation risk category. Twelve taxa occur in Mexico, six of which are considered at risk at national level and two are globally endangered. Therefore, it is imperative that high quality, comprehensive, and high-resolution spatial data on the occurrence of these taxa are made available as a valuable tool in the process of defining appropriate management strategies for conservation at a local and global level. We constructed the CracidMex1 database by collating global records of all cracid taxa that occur in Mexico from available electronic databases, museum specimens, publications, “grey literature”, and unpublished records. We generated a database with 23,896 clean, validated, and standardized geographic records. Database quality control was an iterative process that commenced with the consolidation and elimination of duplicate records, followed by the geo-referencing of records when necessary, and their taxonomic and geographic validation using GIS tools and expert knowledge. We followed the geo-referencing protocol proposed by the Mexican National Commission for the Use and Conservation of Biodiversity. We could not estimate the geographic coordinates of 981 records due to inconsistencies or lack of sufficient information in the description of the locality. Given that current records for most of the taxa have some degree of distributional bias, with redundancies at different spatial scales, the CracidMex1 database has allowed us to detect areas where more sampling effort is required to have a better representation of the global spatial occurrence of these cracids. We also found that particular attention needs to be given to taxa identification in those areas where congeners or conspecifics co-occur in order to avoid taxonomic uncertainty. The construction of the CracidMex1 database represents the first comprehensive research effort to compile current, available global geographic records for a group of cracids. The database can now be improved by continuous revision and addition of new records. The CracidMex1 database will provide high quality input data that could be used to generate species distribution models, to assess temporal changes in species distributions, to identify priority areas for research and conservation, and in the definition of management strategies for this bird group. This compilation exercise could be replicated for other cracid groups or regions to attain a better knowledge of the global occurrences of the species in this vulnerable bird family.