Diversity and Abundance of Birds of the Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve and its buffer zone, Costa Rica

Abstract

In the Alberto Manuel Brenes Biological Reserve (ReBAMB) and its buffer zone (BZ) there were not quantitative data available to detect changes in bird populations and communities in the future. Therefore, our objective was to determine the abundance and diversity of birds in the ReBAMB and its BZ to generate information that serves for long-term monitoring. The study was conducted using the methodology of counting points between October 2009 and June 2011 in eight sampling routes, 3 within the ReBAMB and 5 in its BZ. 1506 individuals of 190 species distributed in 43 families were recorded. 161 are residents, 29 are migratory, 23 endemic and 10 threatened with risk of extinction or with small populations. The most abundant species were Bubulcus ibis (7.57%) and Chlorospingus flavopectus (7.3%). Others had abundances lower than 5% (167 were less than 1%). In addition C. flavopectus and Troglodytes aedon were the only species observed in seven of the eight routes. The route with the highest number of individuals (358) and more exclusive species (20) was Las Rocas. The species-richest location was San Lorenzo (68) and the highest index of diversity is shared between Las Rocas and Quetzal (D = 0.97). The similarity between routes did not exceed 50%, indicating that there are significant differences in species composition. The combination of natural and modified habitats in the study area allows conservation of a high diversity of species, from generalists to forest-dependent and threatened and endemic. These results may serve as a reference for future research to evaluate conservation efforts in this reserve and its BZ.