Alteraciones de coloración en el plumaje de aves silvestres del Ecuador

This paper analyze 61 cases of plumage chromatic aberrations (total or partial absence of pigments in some or all feathers) in 43 species of wild birds, grouped into 21 families, including 51 new records and being the first report for these aberrations in Ecuador for 14 families. Records were compiled from our own data, skilled birdwatchers’s personal communications and visits to ornithological collections in Quito, Ecuador. The most common aberration was leucism and the species with the highest number of reports were the Greater Thrush Turdus fuscater and the Rufous-collared Sparrow Zonotrichia capensis. Most records came from rural areas in the high Andean region where Pichincha was the province with more records. The documentation of the distribution and frequency of these aberrations has important implications for conservation and monitoring as to evidence the possible causes that induce these alterations within bird populations; to this end, we also present the definition of the most important types of chromatic aberrations in order to familiarize birdwatchers with and to promote their report.Este artículo analiza 61 casos de aberraciones cromáticas del plumaje (ausencia total o parcial de pigmentos en algunas o en todas las plumas) en 43 especies de aves silvestres ecuatorianas, agrupadas en 21 familias, incluyendo 51 nuevos registros y siendo este el primer reporte de aberraciones en Ecuador para 14 familias. Esta compilación incluye datos colectados por los autores, comunicaciones personales de expertos observadores de aves y visitas a colecciones ornitológicas de museos en Quito, Ecuador. La alteración más común fue el leucismo y las especies con mayor número de reportes fueron el Mirlo Grande Turdus fuscater y el Gorrió Ruficollarejo Zonotrichia capensis. La mayoría de registros proviene de áreas rurales en la zona altoandina, siendo Pichincha la provincia con más registros. La documentación de la distribución y frecuencia de estas aberraciones de coloración de plumaje tiene importantes implicaciones de conservación y monitoreo, permitiendo evidenciar las posibles causas que inducen estas alteraciones en las poblaciones de aves; por ello también presentamos definiciones de los principales tipos de aberraciones cromáticas con el fin de familiarizar a los observadores de aves y estimular la difusión de sus registros

Birds, Nangaritza River Valley, Zamora Chinchipe Province, southeast Ecuador: update and revision

The remote Nangaritza Valley of southeast Ecuador has high bird diversity, combining Amazonian birds with species typical of eastern Andean slopes and foothills, a small number of taxa endemic to the Cordillera del Cóndor region of southern Ecuador and northern Peru, as well as a few forms from the dry Marañón valley region. Here, we update and review avifaunal records from the Nangaritza Valley, comparing them with the bird fauna of the Cordillera del Kutukú and making a brief assessment of bird conservation in the area. To date, 535 species are known to occur in the Nangaritza Valley, including eight species endemic or near endemic to the outer ridges and adjacent Andean slopes in southeast Ecuador and northeast Peru. Conservation perspectives in the area are not favorable owing to increasing deforestation, expansion of the agricultural frontier and mining concessions, which threaten eight regional endemic species

Global and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions

Species interactions can propagate disturbances across space via direct and indirect effects, potentially connecting species at a global scale. However, ecological and biogeographic boundaries may mitigate this spread by demarcating the limits of ecological networks. We tested whether large-scale ecological boundaries (ecoregions and biomes) and human disturbance gradients increase dissimilarity among plant-frugivore networks, while accounting for background spatial and elevational gradients and differences in network sampling. We assessed network dissimilarity patterns over a broad spatial scale, using 196 quantitative avian frugivory networks (encompassing 1496 plant and 1004 bird species) distributed across 67 ecoregions, 11 biomes, and 6 continents. We show that dissimilarities in species and interaction composition, but not network structure, are greater across ecoregion and biome boundaries and along different levels of human disturbance. Our findings indicate that biogeographic boundaries delineate the world’s biodiversity of interactions and likely contribute to mitigating the propagation of disturbances at large spatial scales.The authors acknowledge the following funding: University of Canterbury Doctoral Scholarship (L.P.M.); The Marsden Fund grant UOC1705 (J.M.T., L.P.M.); The São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP 2014/01986-0 (M.G., C.E.), 2015/15172-7 and 2016/18355-8 (C.E.), 2004/00810-3 and 2008/10154-7 (C.I.D., M.G., M.A.P.); Earthwatch Institute and Conservation International for financial support (C.I.D., M.G., M.A.P.); Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Supporting Research in the Rio de Janeiro State – FAPERJ grant E-26/200.610/2022 (C.E.); Brazilian Research Council grants 540481/01-7 and 304742/2019-8 (M.A.P.) and 300970/2015-3 (M.G.); Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation No. 22426–1 (J.C.M., I.M.), No. 9163-1 (G.B.J.) and No. 11042-1 (MCM); Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz (Propp-UESC; No. 00220.1100.1644/10-2018) (J.C.M., I.M.); Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia - FAPESB (No. 0525/2016) (J.C.M., I.M.); European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant 787638) and The Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 173342), both awarded to C. Graham (D.M.D.); ARC SRIEAS grant SR200100005 Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (D.M.D.); German Science Foundation—Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft PAK 825/1 and FOR 2730 (K.B.G., E.L.N., M.Q., V.S., M.S.), FOR 1246 (K.B.G., M.S., M.G.R.V.) and HE2041/20-1 (F.S., M.S.); Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT/MCTES contract CEECIND/00135/2017 and grant UID/BIA/04004/2020 (S.T.) and contract CEECIND/02064/2017 (L.P.S.); National Scientific and Technical Research Council, PIP 592 (P.G.B.); Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas - Project 898 (V.S.D.)

Specialization increases in a frugivorous bird–plant network from an isolated montane forest remnant

The structure of mutualist interactions is still poorly understood in isolated remnants of montane forests. We tried to answer whether a plant–frugivore network from an isolated remnant could maintain its functional structure, despite the absence of certain species and traits. We hypothesized that a network of frugivore birds and plants from an isolated remnant would be less specialized and modular, and would show higher degree of nestedness than one from a continuous forest area. Func- tionally distinctive species in the networks were also identified based on analyses of the fourth-corner matrices, which cross plant and bird traits weighted by their interaction frequencies. The structure of studied networks showed a high similarity in which most interactions were performed by small generalist bird species on plant species carrying small unprotected fruits. Both networks showed similar levels of niche partitioning, although specialization and modularity increased in the isolated remnant network. Networks also showed a strong correlation between fruit weights and bird masses reflecting the functional distinctiveness of large frugivorous birds and plants with the heaviest fruits. Several large bird species were recorded in the studied networks although they contributed with a low percentage of interactions. Therefore, networks from isolated forest remnants seem resilient to the reduction of species richness due to the persistence of tolerant bird species and plant species carrying small fruits

Patrón preliminar de distribución del busardo dorsirrojo Buteo polysoma en Ecuador

Se establece el patrón de distribución del busardo dorsirrojo Buteo polyosoma en Ecua- dor. Mediante revisión de registros de especímenes y observaciones en el país, se establece la distribución de las dos formas de esta especie, B. polyosoma peruviensis y B. polyosoma polyosoma. Ambas formas tu- vieron un patrón de distribución disjunta en el Ecuador, con la forma peruviensis restringida a la región suroccidental, entre los 0 y 1.000 m.s.n.m., mientras la forma nominal se distribuyó a lo largo del callejón interandino, hasta los 3.500 m.s.n.m. Localidades importantes para la especie fueron el área del Volcán Pichincha, el Valle de Yunguilla y los alrededores de Ambato, de donde provienen un mayor número de especímenes para la forma nominal, y el área de la Península de Santa Elena para la forma peruviensis. Esta distribución confirma la preferencia por hábitats xerofíticos de Buteo polyosoma. Ambas formas podrían tener un área de contacto en el suroccidente de Loja, donde existen condiciones ambientales idóneas para la presencia de ambas formas, pero hasta el momento no existen especímenes que lo confirmenPeer reviewe

Range extensions and other noteworthy bird records from the Ecuadorian Andes

Volume: 131Start Page: 261End Page: 26

Global and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions

Species interactions can propagate disturbances across space via direct and indirect effects, potentially connecting species at a global scale. However, ecological and biogeographic boundaries may mitigate this spread by demarcating the limits of ecological networks. We tested whether large-scale ecological boundaries (ecoregions and biomes) and human disturbance gradients increase dissimilarity among plant-frugivore networks, while accounting for background spatial and elevational gradients and differences in network sampling. We assessed network dissimilarity patterns over a broad spatial scale, using 196 quantitative avian frugivory networks (encompassing 1496 plant and 1004 bird species) distributed across 67 ecoregions, 11 biomes, and 6 continents. We show that dissimilarities in species and interaction composition, but not network structure, are greater across ecoregion and biome boundaries and along different levels of human disturbance. Our findings indicate that biogeographic boundaries delineate the world’s biodiversity of interactions and likely contribute to mitigating the propagation of disturbances at large spatial scales.Marsden Fund UOC1705Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo 2014/01986-0, 2015/ 15172-7, 2016/18355-8, 2004/00810-3, 2008/10154-7Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Rio de Janeiro E-26/200.610/2022Brazilian Research Council 540481/01-7, 304742/2019-8, 300970/2015-3Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation, 22426–1, 9163-1, 11042-1Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz 00220.1100.1644/10-2018Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia 0525/ 2016European Research Council-H2020 787638Swiss National Science Foundation 173342Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future SR200100005German Science Foundation PAK 825/1, FOR 2730, FOR 1246, HE2041/ 20-1Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia UID/BIA/04004/ 2020Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas PIP 592Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas 89

Data and code: Global and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions

Zip-file including the Data and Code necessary for reproducing the analyses from 'Global and regional ecological boundaries explain abrupt spatial discontinuities in avian frugivory interactions'. General Information regarding the data is included as a pdf file in the download.Species interactions can propagate disturbances across space via direct and indirect effects, potentially connecting species at a global scale. However, ecological and biogeographic boundaries may mitigate this spread by demarcating the limits of ecological networks. We tested whether large-scale ecological boundaries (ecoregions and biomes) and human disturbance gradients increase dissimilarity among plant-frugivore networks, while accounting for background spatial and elevational gradients and differences in network sampling. We assessed network dissimilarity patterns over a broad spatial scale, using 196 quantitative avian frugivory networks (encompassing 1,496 plant and 1,004 bird species) distributed across 67 ecoregions, 11 biomes, and 6 continents. We show that dissimilarities in species and interaction composition, but not network structure, are greater across ecoregion and biome boundaries and along different levels of human disturbance. Our findings indicate that biogeographic boundaries delineate the world’s biodiversity of interactions and likely contribute to mitigating the propagation of disturbances at large spatial scales.Funding: University of Canterbury Doctoral Scholarship; The Marsden Fund, Award: UOC1705; Earthwatch Institute and Conservation International for financial support; Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Supporting Research in the Rio de Janeiro State – FAPERJ , Award: E-26/200.610/2022 Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Award: Propp-UESC No. 00220.1100.1644/10-2018; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia, Award: 0525/2016; Horizon 2020, Award: 787638; Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Award: 173342 ARC SRIEAS, Award: SR200100005; National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Award: PIP 592; Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Award: Project 898; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Award: 2014/01986-0; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Award: 2015/15172-7; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Award: 2016/18355-8; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Award: 2004/00810-3; Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Award: 2008/10154-7; Brazilian Research Council, Award: 540481/01-7; Brazilian Research Council, Award: 304742/2019-8; Brazilian Research Council, Award: 300970/2015-3; Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation, Award: 22426–1; Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation, Award: 9163-1; Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation, Award: 11042-1; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Award: PAK 825/1; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Award: FOR 2730 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Award: FOR 1246; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Award: HE2041/20-1; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Award: CEECIND/00135/2017; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Award: UID/BIA/04004/2020; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Award: CEECIND/02064/2017Peer reviewe