Consumo de Savia por Melanerpes cactorum y su Rol en la Estructuración de Ensambles de Aves en Bosques Secos

The White-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes cactorum) drills holes in branches and trunks to feed on sap flows, providing an energy-rich food resource for other birds. Here we describe ecological and behavioral traits of the White-fronted Woodpecker related to its sap-feeding habits in the semiarid Chaco of Argentina and explore the structure of the avian assemblage in relation to the sap resource. Sap consumption by the White-fronted Woodpecker and other sap-feeding species was strongly seasonal and positively associated with periods of resource scarcity. The White-fronted Woodpecker actively defended the sap wells from smaller birds. Specialist and facultative nectarivores that assimilate sucrose at a high rate represented an important proportion of sap-feeding birds. In this system of woodpecker, sap, and other sap-feeding species, each species’ consumption depends on its physiological and behavioral characteristics as well as on the availability of other food in the surrounding environment.Melanerpes cactorum perfora ramas y troncos de árboles y arbustos para consumir la savia que fluye de las perforaciones, posibilitando a otras especies de aves el acceso a un recurso de alto contenido energé- tico. En este estudio describimos rasgos de la historia natural de M. cactorum relacionados con su alimentación en el Chaco semiárido de Argentina e investigamos la estructuración de ensambles de aves en torno al recurso savia. Para M. cactorum y las especies de aves que consumieron savia, el consumo de savia fue marcadamente estacional, posiblemente asociado a periodos de escasez de recursos. Melanerpes cactorum defendió activamente las perforaciones ante algunas especies de aves cuya masa corporal fue menor a la de los carpinteros. Las especies nectarívoras especialistas y facultativas con alta tasa de asimilación de sacarosa representaron una importante proporción de las aves que consumieron savia. En el sistema carpinteros–savia–aves consumidoras de savia, el consumo de este recurso depende de características fisiológicas y comportamentales de las especies, como así también de la disponibilidad de otros recursos alimenticios en los ambientes que habitan.Fil: Nuñez Montellano, Maria Gabriela. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; ArgentinaFil: Macchi, Leandro. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Tucumán; Argentin

Methods for collection and analysis for data on fruit reflectance

Methods for collection and analysis for data on fruit reflectance

Construction of the phylogenetic tree

We constructed the meta-tree of plants from trees stored in Phylomatic (Webb & Donoghue 2005) and using the R package taxize (Chamberlain & Szöcs 2013). To resolve relationships not defined by Phylomatic for Muehlenbeckia and Phoradendron genera, and for the Myrsinaceae family, we used information from the webpage of the Missouri Botanical Garden (http://tropicos.org/). Phylogenetic relationships among Solanaceae (Solanum, Salpichroa, Vassobia, Dunalia, Eriolarynx and Iochroma) were resolved using trees from Levin, Watson & Bohs (2005), Bohs (2007), Weese & Bohs (2007), Olmstead et al. (2008) and Särkinen et al. (2013). Phylogenetic relationships among Celtidaceae, Myrtaceae and Rosaceae were resolved using tree from Song et al. (2001), Lucas et al (2007), and Potter et al. (2007), respectively

Competing models in the GLM procedure

Competing models in the GLM procedure to determine the importance of fruit conspicuousness on fruit consumption by birds

Bases and criteria for fruit consumption data

The first step in the multi-step process we used to make raw data on fruit consumption comparable, consisted in the delimitation of datasets that were homogeneous with respect to their geographic location, forest type, collection date and sampling technique. This entailed, on the one hand, the split of some large raw datasets (e.g. covering various types of forests, or more than one season) and, on the other, the grouping of similar opportunistic records from different sources in a same dataset

R script for estimating relationships between fruit display traits

R script for estimating relationships between fruit display trait

Neotropical ornithology: Reckoning with historical assumptions, removing systemic barriers, and reimagining the future

A major barrier to advancing ornithology is the systemic exclusion of professionals from the Global South. A recent special feature, Advances in Neotropical Ornithology, and a shortfalls analysis therein, unintentionally followed a long-standing pattern of highlighting individuals, knowledge, and views from the Global North, while largely omitting the perspectives of people based within the Neotropics. Here, we review current strengths and opportunities in the practice of Neotropical ornithology. Further, we discuss problems with assessing the state of Neotropical ornithology through a northern lens, including discovery narratives, incomplete (and biased) understanding of history and advances, and the promotion of agendas that, while currently popular in the north, may not fit the needs and realities of Neotropical research. We argue that future advances in Neotropical ornithology will critically depend on identifying and addressing the systemic barriers that hold back ornithologists who live and work in the Neotropics: unreliable and limited funding, exclusion from international research leadership, restricted dissemination of knowledge (e.g., through language hegemony and citation bias), and logistical barriers. Moving forward, we must examine and acknowledge the colonial roots of our discipline, and explicitly promote anti-colonial agendas for research, training, and conservation. We invite our colleagues within and beyond the Neotropics to join us in creating new models of governance that establish research priorities with vigorous participation of ornithologists and communities within the Neotropical region. To include a diversity of perspectives, we must systemically address discrimination and bias rooted in the socioeconomic class system, anti-Blackness, anti-Brownness, anti-Indigeneity, misogyny, homophobia, tokenism, and ableism. Instead of seeking individual excellence and rewarding top-down leadership, institutions in the North and South can promote collective leadership. In adopting these approaches, we, ornithologists, will join a community of researchers across academia building new paradigms that can reconcile our relationships and transform science. Spanish and Portuguese translations are available in the Supplementary Material.• Research conducted by ornithologists living and working in Latin America and the Caribbean has been historically and systemically excluded from global scientific paradigms, ultimately holding back ornithology as a discipline.• To avoid replicating systems of exclusion in ornithology, authors, editors, reviewers, journals, scientific societies, and research institutions need to interrupt long-held assumptions, improve research practices, and change policies around funding and publication.• To advance Neotropical ornithology and conserve birds across the Americas, institutions should invest directly in basic field biology research, reward collective leadership, and strengthen funding and professional development opportunities for people affected by current research policies.Peer reviewe