Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Biodiversity and Conservation
Published in: Biodiversity and Conservation 14/2019

05-09-2019 | Original Paper

Changes in grassland bird communities and breeding success after a fire in the Argentinian Pampas

Authors: Rocío Bahía, Sergio Zalba

Published in: Biodiversity and Conservation | Issue 14/2019

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

Fire is responsible for the structure and composition of the biological communities in grasslands, despite this, few studies evaluate the effects of fire on bird communities, especially in the southern cone of South America. We compared the structure and composition of vegetation, bird communities, density of nests and predation rates between burnt and unburnt areas in grassland habitats in the Argentine Pampas during two reproductive seasons following a fire. The abundance, richness and diversity of birds were lower in the burnt areas and followed a pattern of interannual recovery associated with the increase in vegetation cover. The density of nests and the number of nesting species was higher in the controls only during the first season. The risk of predation of artificial nests in burnt areas was greater 1 year after the fire in respect to the controls, this difference decreased over time in inverse relationship with the percentage of plant cover surrounding the nests. Our results highlight the importance of a good vegetation structure and cover to support abundant and species-rich bird communities, as well as high values of nest density and reproductive success, and the ability of vegetation and bird communities to recover after the fire. However, this successional and temporary loss of habitats of high nesting value should be analyzed on a larger scale in order to consider the effect of the total reduction, and the fragmentation of the grasslands in a good state of conservation, on the population dynamics of grassland birds.
previous article Funding for nature conservation: a study of public finance networks at World Wide Fund for nature (WWF)
next article Conservation planning following reclamation of intertidal areas throughout the Yellow and Bohai Seas, China

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 390 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe




 

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Literature
Aguilar TM, Dias RI, Oliveira AC, Macedo RH (2008) Nest-site selection by Blue-black Grassquits in a Neotropical savanna: do choices influence nest success? J Field Ornithol 79:24–31
Amodeo MR, Zalba SM (2013) Wild cherries invading natural grasslands: unraveling colonization history from population structure and spatial patterns. Plant Ecol 214:1299–1307
Askins RA, Chávez-Ramírez F, Dale BC, Haas CA, Herkert JR, Knopf FL, Vickery PD (2007) Conservation of grassland birds in North America: understanding ecological processes in different regions. Ornithol Monogr 64:1–46
Azpiroz AB, Isacch JP, Dias RA, Di Giacomo SA, Suertegaray Fontana C, Morales Palarea C (2012) Ecology and conservation of grassland birds in southeastern South America: a review. J Field Ornithol 83:217–246
Barlow J, Peres CA, Henriques LMP, Stouffer PC, Wunderle JM (2006) The responses of understorey birds to forest fragmentation, logging and wildfires: an Amazonian synthesis. Biol Conserv 128:182–192
Barnett JM, Pearman M (2001) Listacomentada de las avesargentinas: annotated checklist of the birds of Argentina. Lynx, Barcelona
Beltzer A (1990) Biología alimentaria del verdon común Embernagraplatensisplatensis (Aves: Emberizidae) en el valle aluvial del rio Parana medio, Argentina. Ornitol Neotrop 1:25–30
Bendell JF (2012) Effects of fire on birds and mammals. Cap. 4 en. In: Kozlowski T, Ahlgren C (eds) Fire and ecosystems. Academic Press, New York
Berry L, Lill A (2003) Do predation rates on artificial nests accurately predict predation rates on natural nests? The effects of nest type, egg type and nest-site characteristics. Emu 103:207–214
Blair JM, Nippert J, Briggs J (2014) Grassland ecology. In: Monson R (ed) The plant sciences—ecology and the environment. Springer, New York, pp 389–423
Bond WJ, Woodward FI, Midgley GF (2004) The global distribution of ecosystems in a world without fire. New Phytol 165:525–538
Bowman DMJS, Murphy PB (2010) Fire and biodiversity. In: Sodhi NS, Ehrlich PR (eds) Conservation biology for all. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 163–180
Burgos J (1968) El clima de la provincia de Buenos Aires en relación con la vegetación natural y el suelo. In: Cabrera AL (ed) Flora de la provincia de Buenos Aires, vol 1. Colección científica INTA, Buenos Aires, pp 33–100
Cabrera AL (1976) Regiones Fitogeográficas Argentinas. In: Parodi LR (ed) Enciclopedia Argentina de Agricultura y Ganadería, Tomo 2, Fascículo 2. ACME, Buenos Aires, p 85
Cardoni DA, Isacch JP, Iribarne O (2015) Avian responses to varying intensity of cattle production in Spartinadensiflora saltmarshes of south-eastern South America. Emu 115:12–19
Clavero M, Brotons L, Herrando S (2011) Bird community specialization, bird conservation and disturbance: the role of wildfires. J Anim Ecol 80:128–136PubMed
Codesido M, González Fischer C, Bilenca D (2008) Asociaciones entre diferentes patrones de uso de la tierra y ensambles de aves en agroecosistemas de la Región Pampeana, Argentina. Ornitol Neotrop 19:575–585
Codesido M, González-Fischer C, Bilenca D (2011) Cambios en la distribución de especies de aves terrestres en agroecosistemas de la Argentina Central. El cóndor 113:266–273
Comparatore VM, Martinez MM, Vasallo AI, Barg M, Isacch JP (1996) Abundancia y relaciones con el hábitat de aves y mamíferos en pastizales de Paspalumquadrifarium(paja colorada) manejados con fuego (Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina). Interciencia 21:228–237
Coppedge BR, Fuhlendorf SD, Harrell WC, Engle DM (2008) Avian community response to vegetation and structural features in grasslands managed with fire and grazing. Biol Conserv 141(5):1196–1203
Costanza R, D’Arge R, De Groot R, Farber S, Grasso M, Hannon B, Limburg K, Naeem S, O’Neill RV, Paruelo J, Raskin RG, Sutton P, Van den Belt M (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253–260
Cozzani NC (2010) Efectos del pastoreo sobre el éxito de cría de aves de pastizal pampeano. Tesis doctoral, Universidad Nacional del Sur. 156
Cozzani N, Zalba SM (2009) Estructura de la vegetación y selección de hábitats reproductivos en aves del pastizal pampeano. Ecol Austral 19:35–44
Cozzani N, Zalba SM (2012) Depredadores de nidos en pastizales del Parque Provincial Ernesto Tornquist (Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina), su importancia relativa bajo distintas intensidades de pastoreo. El Hornero 27(2):137–148
Cueto VR, Lopez de Casenave J (1999) Determinants of bird species richness: role of climate and vegetation structure at a regional scale. J Biogeogr 26:487–492
D´ Antonio CM, Vitousek PM (1992) Biological invasions by exotic grasses, the grass/fire cycle, and global change. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 23:63–87
Darrieu CA, Camperi AR, Cicchino AC (1996) Ecologíaalimentaria de Pseudoleistesvirescens (Vieillot 1819) (Aves, Icteridae), enambientesribereñosdelnordeste de la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina.Serie Informe No 51. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la provincia de Buenos Aires. La Plata, Argentina, pp 14
De la Peña M (2013) Nidos y reproducción de las aves argentinas. Serie Naturaleza, Conservación y Sociedad. de La Vega SG, Carrizo G, Chaippe A. 2003. Patagonia Las Leyes de La Estepa, Contacto Silvestre
De Villalobos AE, Zalba SM (2010) Continuous feral horse grazing and grazing exclusion in mountain pampean grasslands in Argentina. Acta Oecol 36(5):514–519
Di Giacomo AS (2005) Áreas Importantes para la Conservación de las Aves en Argentina. Sitios prioritarios para la conservación de la biodiversidad. Temas de naturaleza y conservación 5:1–514. Aves Argentinas/Asociación Ornitológica del Plata, Buenos Aires: Edición del autor
Di Giacomo AG, Di Giacomo AS, Reboreda JC (2011) Effects of grassland burning on reproductive success of globally threatened Strange-tailed Tyrants Alectrurus risora. Bird Conserv Int 21(4):411–422
Dion N, Hobson KA, Larivière S (2000) Interactive effects of vegetation and predators on the success of natural and simulated nests of grassland songbirds. Condor 102:629–634
Eldridge DJ, Bowker MA, Maestre FT, Roger E, Reynolds JF, Whitford WG (2011) Impacts of shrub encroachment on ecosystem structure and functioning: towards a global synthesis. Ecol Lett 14:709–722PubMedPubMedCentral
Foster CN, Barton PS, Sato CF, Wood JT, MacGregor CI, Lindenmayer DB (2016) Herbivory and fire interact to affect forest understory habitat, but not its use by small vertebrates. Anim Conserv 19:15–25
França LC, Marini MÂ (2009) Teste do efeito de borda na predação de ninhos naturais e artificiais no Cerrado. Zoología 26(2):241–250
Frangi JL, Bottino OJ (1995) Comunidades vegetales de la Sierra de la Ventana, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rev Fac Agron La Plata 71:93–133
Fuhlendorf SD, Harrell WC, Engle DM, Hamilton RG, Davis CA, Leslie DM Jr (2006) Should heterogeneity be the basis for conservation? Grassland bird response to fire and grazing. Ecol Appl 16:1706–1716PubMed
Githiru M, Lens L, Cresswell W (2005) Nest predation in a fragmented Afrotropical forest: evidence from natural and artificial nests. Biol Conserv 123:189–196
Homan P (2012) Survival and recolonisationfollowing wildfire at Moyston West, Western Victoria: 1. Mammals. Vic Nat 129:192–202
Homan P (2014) Survival and recolonisation following wildfire at Moyston West, Western Victoria. 2. Herpetofauna. Vic Nat 131:4–14
Isacch JP, Martínez MM (2001) Estacionalidad y relaciones con la estructura del habitat de la comunidad de aves de pastizales de paja colorada (Paspalumquadrifarium) manejados con fuego en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ornitol Neotrop 12:345–354
Kiss L, Magnin F (2006) High resilience of Mediterranean land snail communities to wildfires. Biodivers Conserv 15:2925–2944
Krapovickas S, Di Giacomo AS (1998) Conservation of pampas and campos grasslands in Argentina. Parks 8:47–53
Kristensen MJ, Frangi JL (1995) La Sierra de la Ventana: una Isla de Biodiversidad. Ciencia Hoy 5:25–34
Langlands PR, Brennan KEC, Pearson DJ (2006) Spiders, spinifex, rainfall and fire: long-term changes in an arid spider assemblage. J Arid Environ 67(1):36–59
Lloyd P, Little RM, Crowe TM (2000) Investigator effects on the nesting success of arid-zone birds. J Field Ornithol 71(2):227–235
Loydi A, Zalba SM (2009) Feral horses dung piles as invasion windows in natural grasslands. Plant Ecol 201(2):471–480
Loydi A, Distel RA, Zalba SM (2010) Large herbivore grazing and non-native plant invasions in montane grasslands of central Argentina. Nat Areas J 30(2):148–155
Lyon LJ, Huff MH, Telfer ES, Schreiner DS, Smith L, Kapler J (2000) Fire effects on animal populations. In: Smith JK (ed) Wildland fire in ecosystems. Effects of fire on Fauna. Rocky Mountain Research Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula
Marini F (2014) Informe complementario acerca del incendio en la comarca serrana del sudoeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires utilizando imágenes satelitales. Teledetección y SIG - SSD. INTA
Meinrat A, Goldammer JG (1992) Tropical wildland fires and other biomass burning: Environmental impacts and implications for land use and fire management. Conservation of West and Central African Rainforests, pp 71–110
Michalijos MP, Uboldi J (2010)Caracterización del régimen de fuego en el parque provincial Ernesto Tornquist, provincia de Buenos Aires. Tecnologías de la Información Geográfica del sur argentino
Milesi FA, Marone L, Lopez de Casenave J, Cueto VR, Mezquida ET (2002) Gremios de manejo como indicadores de las condiciones del ambiente: un estudio de caso con aves y perturbaciones del hábitat en el Monte central, Argentina. Ecol Austral 12(2):149–161
Montalti D, Ferman LM, Camperi AR, Soave GE, Arambarrim AM, Darrieu CA (2005) Winter diet of great pampa-finches Embernagra platensis in Guaminí Lagoon, Argentina. Acta Ornithol 40:79–82
Moore RP, Robinson WD (2004) Artificial bird nests, external validity, and bias in ecological field studies. Ecology 85(6):1562–1567
Mouillot F, Field CB (2005) Fire history and the global carbon budget: A 1ox 1o fire history reconstruction for the 20th century. Glob Change Biol 11:398–420
Pärt T, Wretenberg J (2002) Do artificial nests reveal relative nest predation risk on real nests? J Avian Biol 33(1):39–46
Pausas JG, Parr CL (2018) Towards an undertanding of the evolutionary role of fire in animals. Evol Ecol 32:113–125
Pennington RT, Hughes CE (2014) The remarkable congruence of New and Old World savanna origins. New Phytol 204:4–6PubMed
Pons P, Clavero M (2010) Bird responses to fire severity and time since fire in managed mountain rangelands. Anim Conserv 13:294–305
Pretelli MG, Isacch JP, Cardoni DA (2013) Year-round abundance, richness and nesting of the bird assemblage of tall grasslands in the south-east pampas region, Argentina. Ardeola 60:327–343
R Development Core Team (2014) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. R foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria
Ratajczak Z, Nippert JB, Briggs JM, Blair JM (2014) Fire dynamics distinguish grasslands, shrublands and woodlands as alternative attractors in the Central Great Plains of North American. J Ecol 102:1374–1385
Recher HF, Lunney D, Matthews A (2009) Small mammal populations in a eucalypt forest affected by fire and drought. I. Long-term patterns in an era of climate change. Wildl Res 36:143–158
Renfrew RB, Ribic CA, Nack JL (2005) Edge avoidance by nesting grassland birds: a futile strategy in a fragmented landscape. Auk 122(2):618–636
Sackmann P, Farji-Brener AA (2006) Effect of fire on ground beetles and ant assemblages along an environmental gradient in NW Patagonia: does habitat type matter? Ecoscience 13:360–371
Salvador SA, Salvador LA (1986) Nota sobre la reproducción del Misto (Sicalisluteola) en Córdoba, Argentina. Hornero 12:274–280
Sanhueza CC, Zalba SM (2014) Banco de semillas, germinación y longevidad de semillas de retama (Spartiumjunceum, Fabaceae): implicancias para su control. Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica 49(1):67–76
Scorolli AL, López Cazorla AC (2010) Demography of feral horses (Equuscaballus): a long-term study in Tornquist Park, Argentina. Wildl Res 37:207–214
Stanley TR, Knopf FL (2002) Avian responses to late-season grazing in a shrub-willow floodplain. Conserv Biol 16:225–231
Ukmar E, Battisti C, Luiselli L, Bologna MA (2007) The effects of fire on communities, guilds and species of breeding birds in burnt and control pinewoods in central Italy. Biodivers Conserv 16:3287–3300
Vander Haegen WM, Schroeder MA, DeGraaf RM (2002) Predation on real and artificial nests in shrubsteppe landscapes fragmented by agriculture. Condor 104:496–506
Vickery PD, Tubaro PL, Cardoso Da Silva JM, Peterjohn BG, Herkert JR, Cavalcanti RB (1999) Conservation of grassland birds in the Western Hemisphere. Stud Avian Biol 19:2–26
Vickery PD, Zuckerberg B, Jones AL, Shriver WG, Weik AP (2005) Influence of fire and other anthropogenic practices on grassland and shrubland birds in New England. USDA Forest Service Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-191
Watson SJ, Taylor RS, Nimmo DG, Kelly LT, Clarke MF, Bennett AF (2012) The influence of unburnt patches and distance from refuges on post-fire bird communities. Anim Conserv 15:499–507
Williams DG, Zdravko B (2000) African grass invasion in the Americas: ecosystem consequences and the role of ecophysiology. Biol Invasions 2:123–140
Willson M, Morrison JL, Sieving KE, De Santo TL, Santisteban L, Díaz I (2001) Patterns of predation risk and survival of birds nests in a chilean agricultural landscape. Conserv Biol 15(2):447–456
Zalba SM, Cozzani N (2004) The impact of feral horses on grassland bird communities. Anim Conserv 7(1):35–44
Zanette L, Jenkins B (2000) Nesting success and nest predators in forest fragments: a study using real and artifical nests. Auk 117(2):445–454
Zavaleta ES, Pasari JR, Hulvey KB, Tilman GD (2010) Sustaining multiple ecosystem functions in grassland communities requires higher biodiversity. PNAS 107(4):1443–1446PubMed
Zozaya EL, Brotons L, Herrando S, Pons P, Rost J, Clavero M (2010) Monitoring spatial and temporal dynamics of bird communities in Mediterranean landscapes affected by largewildfires. Ardeola 57:33–50
Metadata
Title
Changes in grassland bird communities and breeding success after a fire in the Argentinian Pampas
Authors
Rocío Bahía
Sergio Zalba
Publication date
05-09-2019
Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Published in
Biodiversity and Conservation / Issue 14/2019
Print ISSN: 0960-3115
Electronic ISSN: 1572-9710
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-019-01850-4

Other articles of this Issue 14/2019

Biodiversity and Conservation 14/2019 Go to the issue

Original Paper

Funding for nature conservation: a study of public finance networks at World Wide Fund for nature (WWF)

Original Paper

Effects of climate on spider beta diversity across different Mediterranean habitat types

Original Paper

The global pet trade in amphibians: species traits, taxonomic bias, and future directions

Original Paper

Rapid decline of a relatively high latitude coral assemblage at Weizhou Island, northern South China Sea

Correction

Correction to: Large-scale habitat model reveals a key role of large trees and protected areas in the metapopulation survival of the saproxylic specialist Cucujus cinnaberinus

Original Paper

Erosion of phylogenetic diversity in Neotropical bat assemblages: findings from a whole-ecosystem fragmentation experiment