Main uses of road borders by bird assemblages in the Flooding Pampa

MYRIAM MERMOZ; DANIELA DEPALMA

Puerto Iguazú, Misiones

Congreso; Ornithological Congress of the Americas; 2017

Given the increasing land transformation of grassland into crops, field and road borders could provide shelter, food and nesting places to birds, although generally the specific use of borders is not recorded. The objective of this study was to investigate border use by birds in the Pampean Region in order to determine the conservation value of borders. During the breeding season of 2016, we randomly selected 24 borders of paved and unpaved roads of the Flooding Pampa and recorded the behaviors and substrates of 306 individuals belonging to the 10 most abundant bird species of the area. We evaluated the association between bird species and the different behaviors and substrates with two correspondence analyses respectively, and the association between substrates and behaviors with a canonical correspondence analysis. The most used substrates were woodland, wetland and artificial perchs and their main uses were shelter, alimentation and reproductive activities, among them nesting. Although in general each species was mainly associated with one substrate, one species can use more than one environment to fulfill its different requirements. Thus, one favorable scenario for bird assemblage would be constituted by a diversity of environments in the borders. Greater extension of environments would reduce nest predation risk, and their proximity and continuity would reduce the amount of time adults leave the nest searching for food. We highlight the importance of studying border use during non-breeding season and nesting success in these patches.