UNDERSTORY BIRDS AS INDICATORS OF FOREST CONDITION IN LOGGING SITES IN THE SOUTHERN YUNGAS

TALLEI EVER; SCHAAF ALEJANDRO; POLITI NATALIA; RIVERA LUIS

Congreso; Ornithological Congress of the Americas; 2017

Determining the presence or abundance of a small group of indicator species may be amore efficient alternative than sampling a community as a whole. This approach hasbeen useful for long-term environmental monitoring schemes where species identifiedas indicators provide evidence of the impacts of environmental changes. Understorybirds are a group sensitive to logging because they respond to changes in forestcomposition and structure. Our objective was to identify understory birds species thatcan be used as indicators of forest condition in piedmont forest of northwesternArgentina under logging. In sites under logging we conducted 202 counting points of 10minutes duration and 50 m fixed-radius and 172 reference sites. At each site weidentified bird species by visual and acoustic detection during the reproductive seasons2015/16 and 2016/2017. To determine indicator species we applied the indicatorspecies analysis and the dominance value analysis. We registered 2574 individuals of 37understory birds species. Common or dominant indicator bird species in logging sitesincluded: Thamnophilus caerulescens, Poecilotriccus plumbeiceps, Synallaxis scutata, Leptotila megalura and Cripturellus tataupa, whereas in reference sites: Sittasomus griseicapillus, Lepidocolaptes angustirostris, Cyanocorax chrysops, Casiornis rufus, Veniliornis frontalis, and Thraupis sayaca. There is a reduced group of understory birdsspecies that may be used as indicators for the implementation of monitoring programsfor changes in forest condition