Birds associated to sections of riparian forest with anthropogenic modifications (Tucumán, Argentina): II. Assemblages present in the dry season and their relation to structural elements of the habitat

Abstract

The use of the banks of the Salí River for leisure and tourism has modified the structural and floral composition of the riparian forest to which birds respond with changes in their assemblages. The purpose was to describe the structure and composition of bird assemblages present during the dry season (autumn and winter) and analyze their relationships to structural elements of the habitat. Four campsites were selected where the vegetation was sampled with the linear technique of intersection of equidistant points along a transect, and birds with the fixed-radius point method. The bird fauna showed high similarities among sites, sharing more than half of families and species. Diversity values were similar, whereas richness and number of individuals were not. Bird species richness was not correlated to the richness of existing trees but was correlated to the vegetation cover of the uppermost stratum and with the cover value of each campsite. The dominant trophic groups, considering richness and number of individuals, were insectivorous and carnivorous. Assemblages of birds provide a clear view of the effects of changes in land use, although some faunistic elements were still preserved in forest areas of the sites.