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Urbanization and bird diversity: does the relationship change in deserts and subtropical forests?

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Abstract

The relationship between urbanization and different bird diversity facets, such as taxonomic and functional diversity, may depend on the biome where cities are located. We analyzed the impact of urbanization on bird taxonomic and functional diversity in two contrasting biomes of Argentina: desert and subtropical forests. A total of five cities and five natural areas were surveyed in each biome during the breeding season. Taxonomic diversity was measured as the bird species richness in each sampling unit, whereas functional diversity was compared with null models that controlled for differences in species richness. Taxonomic diversity increased in periurban areas located in the desert and in natural areas of forests. Natural areas of the desert biome had similar functional diversity to that of urban areas, whereas natural areas of the forest biome had lower functional diversity than expected for a given number of species. Urban core areas in both biomes were dominated by species that eat seeds and plant materials, and by ground foragers. Natural areas in both biomes were dominated by species that eat invertebrates, and by understory and midstory foragers. Our results showed contrasting relationships between different bird diversity facets and urbanization in desert and forest biomes. Moreover, the results found highlighted the importance of considering different urban habitats in large-scale comparisons and the need for particular management actions in different biomes.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica of Argentina, PICT-2015-0978. We thank Carolina Pinto and Andres de Miguel for field assistance and Jorgelina Brasca for editing the English writing. Logistical support and legal permissions were provided by Administración Parques Nacionales (RNE San Antonio), Fundación Temaikén (Reserva Natural Osununú), Reserva Privada Surucuá, Centro de Investigaciones Antonia Ramos and E. Avigliano, Ministerio de Ecología de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la provincia de Misiones, F. J. Castía (Parque Provincial Esmeralda), Pablo Cuello (Reserva Ñacuñan), Andres Castro and Marcela Montané (Mendoza). An anonymous reviewer helped to improve a previous version of the manuscript. The authors dedicate this piece of work to our co-author M.I. Bellocq, dearest colleague and friend who will always be in our hearts and memories.

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Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica of Argentina, PICT-2015–0978.

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  1. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires–IEGEBA (CONICET –UBA), Ciudad Universitaria, Pab 2, Piso 4, 1426, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Lucas M. Leveau, Anahi S. Vaccaro & M. Isabel Bellocq

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  1. Lucas M. Leveau
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Contributions

Conceptualization, L.M.L. and M.I.B.; methodology, L.M.L., A.V., M.I.B.; formal analysis, L.M.L.; investigation, L.M.L., A.V., M.I.B.; resources, L.M.L.; data curation, L.M.L.; writing—original draft preparation, L.M.L.; writing—review and editing, L.M.L.; supervision, L.M.L.; project administration, L.M.L.; funding acquisition, L.M.L.

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Correspondence to Lucas M. Leveau.

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Leveau, L.M., Vaccaro, A.S. & Bellocq, M.I. Urbanization and bird diversity: does the relationship change in deserts and subtropical forests?. Urban Ecosyst 25, 1891–1900 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-022-01269-w

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