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Dayananda SK, Athukorala HF, Peabotuwage I, Kumara C, Ranasinghe T, Samarasinghe D, Gouveia A, Kotagama SW, Mammides C, Jiang A, Goodale E. Rubber plantations are impermeable to an avian understory specialist in Sri Lanka. MOVEMENT ECOLOGY 2024; 12:47. [PMID: 38880879 PMCID: PMC11181654 DOI: 10.1186/s40462-024-00484-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 05/31/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Understanding how landscape characteristics affect animal movement is essential for conservation in human-dominated habitats. A fundamental question is how monoculture agroforests, including rubber and tea plantations, affect wildlife and its movement. Experimental translocations represent an important technique to assess animals' habitat selection while moving through agricultural matrices, especially when complemented with observations of birds' natural movements, and with "control" translocations, in which birds are moved within their natural habitat such as forest. Yet, experimental translocations have been little used for birds outside the Western Hemisphere. METHODS We conducted experimental translocations and home-range measurements on an understory forest specialist, Brown-capped Babbler (BCBA, Pellorneum fuscocapillus), and a forest generalist, Tickell's Blue Flycatcher (TBFL, Cyornis tickelliae). These species were studied in three rubber plantations, which also included some open areas mostly planted with tea, and in three forest reserves of Sri Lanka. RESULTS Four of the five BCBAs translocated within disturbed habitats (rubber plantations) could not return to their capture locations. However, all four individuals within undisturbed habitats (forest reserves) successfully returned to their point of origin within 10.5 daytime hours. In contrast, all TBFLs returned to their capture locations in both disturbed (n = 7) and undisturbed habitats (n = 3) within 11.3 daytime hours. A Cox-proportional survival model demonstrated that the percentage of rubber cover decreased return time, similar to the effect of open-area cover. The home range surveys (n = 13 for BCBA, n = 10 for TBFL) revealed that very little of the birds' natural home-ranges was covered by rubber (0.2% for BCBA, 13.1% for TBFL at 50% Kernel Density Estimates KDE). Home range size for BCBA was approximately half the size in disturbed habitats compared to undisturbed ones, although there was no significant difference between habitats for TBFL. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that rubber plantations can be impermeable to understory habitat specialist birds, and even generalist species may avoid them long-term. Our findings highlight the potential utility of strips of native vegetation, particularly those featuring understory layers, as corridors to facilitate the movement of forest specialists in landscapes dominated by rubber plantations and other types of disturbed habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Salindra K Dayananda
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, China
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China
- Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Department of Zoology and Environment Science, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, Colombo, 00700, Western Province, Sri Lanka
| | - Harsha F Athukorala
- Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Department of Zoology and Environment Science, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, Colombo, 00700, Western Province, Sri Lanka
| | - Indika Peabotuwage
- Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Department of Zoology and Environment Science, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, Colombo, 00700, Western Province, Sri Lanka
| | - Chandralal Kumara
- Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Department of Zoology and Environment Science, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, Colombo, 00700, Western Province, Sri Lanka
| | - Tharindu Ranasinghe
- Wild Island Foundation, 6A, Mendis Lane, Moratuwa, 10400, Western Province, Sri Lanka
| | - Dhammithra Samarasinghe
- Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Department of Zoology and Environment Science, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, Colombo, 00700, Western Province, Sri Lanka
| | - Ana Gouveia
- Institute of Environment and Ecology, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, Guangdong, China
| | - Sarath W Kotagama
- Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka, Department of Zoology and Environment Science, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, Colombo, 00700, Western Province, Sri Lanka
| | - Christos Mammides
- Nature Conservation Unit, Frederick University, 1036, Pallouriotisa, Nicosia, Cyprus
| | - Aiwu Jiang
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation, College of Forestry, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, Guangxi, China.
| | - Eben Goodale
- Department of Health and Environmental Science, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, China.
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Wu J, Hu J, Zhao X, Sun Y, Hu G. Role of tea plantations in the maintenance of bird diversity in Anji County, China. PeerJ 2023; 11:e14801. [PMID: 36815977 PMCID: PMC9933740 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.14801] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Tea plantations support regional sustainable development and have the potential to support more biodiversity than urban open spaces. Numerous studies have shown the value of low-intensity agroecosystems for preserving biodiversity, however tea plantations have received less attention. The relationship between tea plantations and the diversity of macro-organisms, such as birds, is still not fully understood. Methods We investigated the bird diversity and vegetation conditions and calculated landscape metrics in 30 tea plantations in Anji County, Zhejiang Province, China. At these 30 sampling sites, we recorded 262 individuals belonging to 37 species, which were classified into two guilds: nature- and urban-dependent birds. We used cluster analysis to group the sampling sites based on the abundance of the birds. Then we evaluated the effects of associated plant diversity in tea plantations and the surrounding landscape composition on these bird guilds using species association computation and a generalized linear model. Results The results show that the maintenance of bird diversity by tea plantations benefits both nature- and urban-dependent birds. We found that landscape-scale factors surrounding the tea plantations mainly affected the bird richness due to their habitat selection. Landscape agglomeration and habitat quality were the dominant landscape-scale metrics. Patch-scale factors of tea plantations, especially the vegetation structure, had a strong influence on the abundance of the birds. Nature-dependent birds preferred to occur in tea plantations with perennial herbs, while urban-dependent birds were attracted by the general distributed plants, as annual herbs. Therefore, we concluded that tea plantations play an important role as a transitional zone between natural habitats and urban areas, thus reducing the impact of urbanization and maintaining bird diversity in low-quality habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jueying Wu
- School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jinli Hu
- School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Xinyu Zhao
- School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yangyang Sun
- School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Guang Hu
- School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
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Sreekar R, Si X, Sam K, Liu J, Dayananda S, Goodale U, Kotagama S, Goodale E. Land use and elevation interact to shape bird functional and phylogenetic diversity and structure: Implications for designing optimal agriculture landscapes. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.13927] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rachakonda Sreekar
- Institute of Entomology Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Department of Biological Sciences National University of Singapore Singapore Singapore
| | - Xingfeng Si
- Zhejiang Tiantong Forest Ecosystem National Observation and Research Station School of Ecological and Environmental Sciences East China Normal University Shanghai China
| | - Katerina Sam
- Institute of Entomology Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
- Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Ceske Budejovice Czech Republic
| | - Jiajia Liu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering School of Life Sciences Fudan University Shanghai China
| | - Salindra Dayananda
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation College of Forestry Guangxi University Nanning China
- Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka Department of Zoology University of Colombo Colombo Sri Lanka
| | - Uromi Goodale
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation College of Forestry Guangxi University Nanning China
- State Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Subtropical Agro‐Bioresources College of Forestry Guangxi University Nanning China
- Seed Conservation Specialist Group Species Survival CommissionInternational Union for Conservation of Nature Gland Switzerland
| | - Sarath Kotagama
- Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka Department of Zoology University of Colombo Colombo Sri Lanka
| | - Eben Goodale
- Guangxi Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Conservation College of Forestry Guangxi University Nanning China
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