Elevational Ranges of Montane Birds and Deforestation in the Western Andes of Colombia.
Abstract
Deforestation causes habitat loss, fragmentation, degradation, and can ultimately
cause extinction of the remnant species. Tropical montane birds face these threats
with the added natural vulnerability of narrower elevational ranges and higher specialization
than lowland species. Recent studies assess the impact of present and future global
climate change on species' ranges, but only a few of these evaluate the potentially
confounding effect of lowland deforestation on species elevational distributions.
In the Western Andes of Colombia, an important biodiversity hotspot, we evaluated
the effects of deforestation on the elevational ranges of montane birds along altitudinal
transects. Using point counts and mist-nets, we surveyed six altitudinal transects
spanning 2200 to 2800 m. Three transects were forested from 2200 to 2800 m, and three
were partially deforested with forest cover only above 2400 m. We compared abundance-weighted
mean elevation, minimum elevation, and elevational range width. In addition to analysing
the effect of deforestation on 134 species, we tested its impact within trophic guilds
and habitat preference groups. Abundance-weighted mean and minimum elevations were
not significantly different between forested and partially deforested transects. Range
width was marginally different: as expected, ranges were larger in forested transects.
Species in different trophic guilds and habitat preference categories showed different
trends. These results suggest that deforestation may affect species' elevational ranges,
even within the forest that remains. Climate change will likely exacerbate harmful
impacts of deforestation on species' elevational distributions. Future conservation
strategies need to account for this by protecting connected forest tracts across a
wide range of elevations.
Type
Journal articleSubject
AnimalsBirds
Conservation of Natural Resources
Ecosystem
Biodiversity
Tropical Climate
Colombia
Climate Change
Animal Distribution
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23547Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1371/journal.pone.0143311Publication Info
Ocampo-Peñuela, Natalia; & Pimm, Stuart L (2015). Elevational Ranges of Montane Birds and Deforestation in the Western Andes of Colombia.
PloS one, 10(12). pp. e0143311. 10.1371/journal.pone.0143311. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/23547.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Stuart L. Pimm
Doris Duke Distinguished Professor of Conservation Ecology in the Nicholas School
of the Environment and Earth Sciences
Stuart Pimm is a world leader in the study of present-day extinctions and what can
be done to prevent them. His research covers the reasons why species become extinct,
how fast they do so, the global patterns of habitat loss and species extinction and,
importantly, the management consequences of this research. Pimm received his BSc degree
from Oxford University in 1971 and his Ph.D. from New Mexico State University in 1974.
Pimm is the author of over 350 scientific papers and five books. He i

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