Life in a hot valley: effects of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the spatial dynamics of mammal and ground-dwelling bird communities in the Magdalena River Valley in Colombia

The lowland ecosystems of the Magdalena River Valley exhibit a marked gradient, from tropical dry forests in the south of the valley to tropical rainforests and swamps in the north. These ecosystems have a composition of fauna and flora characterized not only by a high level of diversity but also by a high level of vulnerability due to the productive processes there. Activities such as cattle ranching, agriculture, mining, and urban expansion have led to an enormous transformation of the forests, threatening the species that live there. Under these conditions, forest-dwelling animals, such as medium and large mammals and some birds, are exposed to pressures that compromise their long-term persistence in the landscape. This project focused on the effects of environmental and anthropogenic factors on the diversity and occupancy patterns of mammals and ground-dwelling birds along the lowland forests of the Magdalena River Valley. It uses camera trap data from eight study sites (30 to 35 camera traps per site) located along the gradient. The study is divided into three chapters, in the first I used a multispecies occupancy model to assess the response of mammals and birds to the extreme conditions of an arid ecosystem and human activity, and how this response may vary with two species' traits, body mass and percentage of carnivory. In the second chapter, I focused on the effects of environmental and anthropogenic disturbance gradients on the community structure and occupancy patterns of mammals and ground-dwelling birds along the Magdalena River valley. Finally, in the third chapter, I evaluated the effectiveness of a conservation strategy based on restoration corridors to improve landscape connectivity for ground-dwelling fauna.

• Autores: Montes Rojas, Andrés Fernando
• Tipo de recurso: Doctoral thesis
• Fecha de publicación: 2024
• Institución: Universidad de los Andes
• Repositorio: Séneca: repositorio Uniandes
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repositorio.uniandes.edu.co:1992/75421
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/1992/75421
• Palabra clave: Life-history traits; Occupancy modeling; Camera traps; Dryland; Human-made disturbance; Extreme environment; Gradient; Imperfect detection; Spatial autocorrelation; Multispecies occupancy; Ecological restoration; Corridors; Functional diversity; Conservation strategies; Biología
• Rights: embargoedAccess
• License: Attribution 4.0 International