CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 116Avian ecology and behaviorEcology and Vegetation Dynamics StudiesWildlife Ecology and Conservation

Avian Community Response to Lowland Tropical Rainforest Isolation: 40 Years of Change at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica

SIGEL, BRYAN J., SHERRY, THOMAS W., YOUNG, BRUCE E.·2006·Conservation Biology
DOI 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00293.x
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Abstract: Since 1960, most of the forest surrounding the La Selva Biological Station, an intensively studied tropical research facility in Costa Rica, has been converted to agricultural uses. We used quantitative censuses and analysis of previously published categorical abundances to assess changes in the bird community, and we evaluated potential causes of species‐specific changes by assessing their association with habitat, diet, participation in mixed‐species flocks, and nest type. Approximately the same percentage of species increased as decreased in abundance from 1960 to 1999 (10–20% of all species, depending on method of assessment). Diet was the single most important trait associated with declining species. At least 50% of the species that declined have insectivorous diets. Use of forest habitat and participation in mixed‐species flocks were also significant factors associated with declines, but nest type was unrelated to change in abundance. The species that increased in abundance tended to occur in open habitats and have omnivorous diets. These results reinforce the importance of several population risk factors associated with tropical understory insectivory and mixed‐species flocking: patchy spatial distribution, low population density, large home range, and dietary specialization. La Selva's protected area (1611 ha), despite a forested connection on one boundary with a higher elevation national park, is apparently too small to maintain at least one major guild (understory insectivores). This first quantitative assessment of bird community change at La Selva highlights the need to intensify study of the mechanisms and consequences of biological diversity change in tropical forest fragments.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00293.x

Cites

57 of 57 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
SIGEL, B. J., SHERRY, T. W., & YOUNG, B. E.
Affiliations
  • Tulane University (US)
  • NatureServe (US)
Corresponding author
SIGEL, BRYAN J.
ORCID
Venue
Conservation Biology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2006-01-09
Volume
20
Issue
1
Pages
111-121
ISSN
  • 0888-8892 (ISSN-L)
  • 1523-1739
DOI
10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00293.x
OpenAlex
W1503415318
Cited by
116
References
57
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 7
FWCI
5.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Conservation Biology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Tinker Foundation
  • University of California, Los Angeles
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Avian ecology and behavior
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Keywords
La Selva Biological Station, agricultural land conversion, dietary specialization, insectivorous birds, mixed-species flocks, habitat use, nest type, protected area size, tropical forest fragments, biodiversity change
MeSH terms
Agriculture, Animals, Birds, Conservation of Natural Resources, Costa Rica, Diet, Insecta, Population Dynamics, Species Specificity, Trees, Tropical Climate, Ecosystem, Food Chain, Biodiversity

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review