Estación Biológica Cocha Cashu

Changing patterns of nest predation and predator communities along a tropical elevation gradient

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Revista Científica:

Ecology Letters

Año:

2023

Volumen:

26

Número:

4

Páginas:

609-620

DOI:

10.1111/ele.14189

ISSN:

1461-023X (impreso), 1461-0248 (electrónico)

Keywords (Autor):

avian nest predators; nest predation; nesting success; predator community

Resumen

Tropical montane communities host the world's highest beta diversity of birds, a phenomenon usually attributed to community turnover caused by changes in biotic and abiotic factors along elevation gradients. Yet, empirical data on most biotic factors are lacking. Nest predation is thought to be especially important because it appears to be common and can change selective pressures underlying life history traits, which can alter competitive interactions. We monitored 2538 nests, 338 of which had known nest predators, to evaluate if nest predation changes along a tropical elevational gradient. We found that nest predation decreased with elevation, reflecting the loss of lowland predators that do not tolerate colder climates. We found different "super" nest predators at each elevation that accounted for a high percentage of events, suggesting that selection pressures exerted by nest predator communities may be less diffuse than has been hypothesized, at least for birds nesting in the understory.

Copyright:

© 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Autor (es ):

Londoño Gustavo A., Gómez Juan Pablo, Sánchez-Martínez Manuel A , Levey Douglas J., Robinson Scott K.

Editorial:

John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Ciudad:

Reino Unido

Idioma:

Inglés

Tipo de Referencia:

Articulo de revista academica

Investigadores: