Tropical forest birds after 20 years of the establishment of a reservoir: Extinction, colonization, and recolonization events

Abstract

Reservoirs are fundamental for human well-being but can cause landscape changes (e.g., habitat fragmentation and loss), altering biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, we know little about reservoir long-term effects on bird communities of tropical rainforests at different temporal scales. We assessed species richness and composition changes in four consecutive periods in a reservoir area in the Colombian Tropical Andes. After 20 years of monitoring avifauna within the reservoir, we recorded 360 bird species along with 47 local extinction and 184 colonization events. We found that species richness increased by 42% during the first 11 years after reservoir establishment. After that, changes in species bird composition were largely explained by species turnover. Eighty-two percent of the expected species in the region were recorded within the reservoir area. Also, forests surrounding the reservoir are a habitat for several threatened bird species. Bird community changes observed can be explained by secondary succession, changes in vegetation cover (i.e., increase in forest area), the transformation of aquatic ecosystems, forest protection, and restoration programs focused on biodiversity conservation. Long-term systematic bird sampling in tropical forests is key to understanding biodiversity dynamics and the effectiveness of conservation actions.

Keywords

• Avifauna
• Biodiversity hotspot
• Forest conservation
• Local extinction
• Secondary succession
• Species turnover