Article studying the effects of extreme rainfall variations on forest bird communities by monitoring the bird species richness in the different forest types present in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR).
Established in 1890, the University of North Texas has grown to be one of the nation's largest public research universities. Offering more than 200 degree programs, the university honors diversity, caring, creativity, and innovation in order to empower students to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Article studying the effects of extreme rainfall variations on forest bird communities by monitoring the bird species richness in the different forest types present in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR).
Physical Description
15 p.
Notes
Abstract: A natural laboratory is a place supporting the conditions for hypothesis testing under non-anthropogenic settings. Located at the southern end of the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion in southwestern South America, the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve (CHBR) has one of the most extreme rainfall gradients in the world. Subject to oceanic climate conditions, it is also characterized by moderate thermal fluctuations throughout the year. This makes it a unique natural laboratory for studying the effects of extreme rainfall variations on forest bird communities. Here, we monitor the bird species richness in the different forest types present in the CHBR. We found that species richness decreased with increasing precipitation, in which an increase of 100 mm in average annual precipitation showed about 1% decrease in species richness. Similar patterns were found among different forest types within the CHBR. These results provide a baseline to investigate the interactions between physical and biotic factors in a subpolar region that climatically contrasts with boreal forests, which is subject to continental climatic conditions. This research highlights the importance of ecological and ornithological long-term studies in the CHBR, which can contribute both to a higher resolution of the heterogeneity of climate changes in different regions of the world, and to orient conservation policies in the Magellanic sub-Antarctic ecoregion in the face of growing development pressures.
This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Forest and plantation biodiversity.
This article is part of the following collection of related materials.
UNT Scholarly Works
Materials from the UNT community's research, creative, and scholarly activities and UNT's Open Access Repository. Access to some items in this collection may be restricted.
Quilodrán, Claudio S.; Sandvig, Erik M.; Aguirre, Francisco; de Aguilar, Juan Rivero; Barroso, Omar; Vásquez, Rodrigo A. et al.The extreme rainfall gradient of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve and its impact on forest bird richness,
article,
January 20, 2022;
(https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1953967/:
accessed April 24, 2025),
University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu;
crediting University of North Texas.
