BIOGEOGRAPHY AND LANDSCAPE PREDICTORS OF SPECIES RICHNESS IN NICARAGUAN DRY FOREST BIRDS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.58843/ornneo.v37i1.1407Keywords:
Central American birds, Conservation planning, Forest-dependent species, Point counts, Patch sizeAbstract
Knowledge of Nicaragua's Pacific slope seasonal tropical dry forest ecosystem and its avifauna remains limited, hindering effective conservation planning. To assess avian community composition and relative abundance, from 2009 to 2018 we conducted standardized monthly surveys in 147 point counts at 29 study sites along Nicaragua's Pacific slope. We also determined the influence of geographic, climatic, and landscape predictors on avian species richness and community similarity among sites. Overall, we documented 257 species at 29 study sites along the Pacific slope, including 17 species that were not previously reported, bringing the cumulative total known from the Pacific slope to 440 species, representing 57% of the country's avifauna. Species distributions exhibited strong geographic heterogeneity: Pacific-exclusive taxa predominated from Chinandega to Managua, whereas Caribbean-affiliated species peaked in Rivas. The geographic variable of elevation did not significantly influence overall species richness, but percent of forest-dependent species increased marginally with elevation, having highest densities in Rivas (70%) and Granada (17%). Landscape variables of tree cover and forest patch size were not associated with overall avian richness, but a larger forest patch size strongly predicted a higher percent of forest-dependent species, underscoring the importance of habitat contiguity. Biogeographic clustering further distinguished the northern and southern assemblages, with unique highland communities above 1000 m. These findings highlight the Pacific slope as a region of exceptional but uneven avian diversity, where the conservation of large, contiguous forest patches, particularly in montane zones, is critical for sustaining forest specialists, maintaining ecological connectivity, and safeguarding ecosystem services.
References
Aguilar-Jocol S, M Bustamante-Castillo, M Tax (2025) Bird diversity in different vegetation types in the Pacific coastal plain of Guatemala. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 20: 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.20.e131792
Álvarez-Álvarez EA, R Rodríguez-Godínez, P Sierra-Morales, SA Medina-Valdivia, E Vázquez-Salgado, M Brito-Millán, RC Almazán-Núñez (2020) Patterns of bird diversity and endemism along an elevational gradient in the southern Mexican highlands. Zoological Studies 59: e69. https://doi.org/10.6620/ZS.2020.59-69
AOS (American Ornithological Society) (2025) Check-list of North American birds. Available at https://checklist.americanornithology.org/ [Accessed 13 March 2025]
Arendt WJ, O Lane, MA Tórrez, JC Gámez Castellón (2013) First record of Tricoloured Munia (Lonchura malacca) for Nicaragua. Boletín SAO 22: 33–37.
Arendt WJ, MA Tórrez (2008) Primer reporte del híbrido intergenérico Vermivora chrysoptera x Vermivora pinus ('Brewster's Warbler') en Nicaragua. Zeledonia 29: 25–29.
Avibase (2025) Bird checklist of Mexico (Clements, version 2024) Available at https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org [Accessed 15 April 2025]
Bauer GP, WJ Arendt (2007) Conservación y turismo en cuencas críticas. Technical Report. United States Agency for International Development, Washington, D.C., USA.
Bauer GP, WJ Arendt, O Ramos, MA Tórrez (2008) Critical watershed analysis. Technical Report. United States Agency for International Development, Washington, D.C., USA.
Belt T (2003) El naturalista en Nicaragua. Fundación Vida, Managua, Nicaragua.
Bergoeing JP (1987) Reconocimiento geomorfológico de la vertiente del Pacífico de Nicaragua, América Central. Revista Geográfica 106: 69–94.
Bibby CJ, ND Burgess, DA Hill (1992) Bird census techniques. Academic Press, London, UK.
Billerman SM, BK Keeney, GM Kirwan, F Medrano, ND Sly, MG Smith (eds) (2025) Birds of the World. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Bird Conservancy (2025) Avian conservation assessment and population estimates databases. Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Available at https://pif.birdconservancy.org/ [Accessed 24 October 2025]
Buckland ST, EA Rexstad, TA Marques, CS Oedekoven (2015) Distance sampling: Methods and applications. Springer, Cham, Switzerland.
Castañeda Mendoza E, A Medina Fitoria, J Cruz Gámez (2004) El Uso de la avifauna como herramienta para la conservación de áreas naturales en la Reserva Natural Chocoyero-El Brujo. Encuentro 69: 7–24.
Castillo-Chora VDJ, LA Sánchez-González, A Mastretta-Yanes, DA Prieto-Torres, AG Navarro-Sigüenza (2021) Insights into the importance of areas of climatic stability in the evolution and maintenance of avian diversity in the Mesoamerican dry forests. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 132: 741–758. https://doi.org/10.1093/biolinnean/blaa202
Chavarría-Duriaux L, DC Hille, R Dean (2018) Birds of Nicaragua: A field guide. Comstock Publishing Associates, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Chesser RT, SM Billerman, KJ Burns, C Cicero, JL Dunn, BE Hernández-Baños, RA Jiménez, O Johnson, AW Kratter, NA Mason et al. (2024) Sixty-fifth supplement to the American Ornithological Society’s checklist of North American birds. Ornithology 141: ukae019. https://doi.org/10.1093/ornithology/ukae019
Cincotta RP, J Wisnewski, R Engelman (2000) Human population in the biodiversity hotspots. Nature 404: 990–992. https://doi.org/10.1038/35010105
Dickinson EC, JV Remsen Jr, L Christidis, TS Schulenberg, D Donsker, DA Christie (2013–2014) The Howard and Moore complete checklist of the birds of the World. Aves Press London, United Kingdom.
Dinerstein ED, DM Olson, A Joshi, C Vynne, ND Burgess, ED Wikramanayake, N. Hahn, S Palminteri, P Hedao, R Noss, et al. (2017) An ecoregion-based approach to protecting half the terrestrial realm. BioScience, 67: 534–545. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/bix014
eBird (2025) eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. https://ebird.org
eBird Science (2025) Regional bird lists for Mexico & Central America. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York, USA. https://science.ebird.org
Esgueva Gómez A (1996) La Mesoamérica Nicaragüense. Universidad Centroamericana, Managua, Nicaragua (Monograph).
Fenzl N (1989) Nicaragua: Geografía, clima, geología e hidrogeología. Universidade Federal do Pará / Instituto Nicaragüense de Estudios Territoriales, Belém, Brazil.
Funk J, P Mann, K McIntosh, J Stephens (2009) Cenozoic tectonics of the Nicaraguan depression, Nicaragua, and Median Trough, El Salvador, based on seismic-reflection profiling and remote-sensing data. Geological Society of America Bulletin 121: 1491–1521. https://doi.org/10.1130/B26428.1
GBIF (2025) eBird observation dataset: Occurrence data retrieval. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.ebird
Ghalambor CK, RB Huey, PR Martin, JJ Tewksbury, G Wang (2006) Are mountain passes higher in the tropics? Janzen's hypothesis revisited. Integrative and Comparative Biology 46: 5–17. https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icj003
Gillespie TW (2000) Rarity and conservation of forest birds in the tropical dry forest region of Central America. Biological Conservation 96: 161–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0006-3207(00)00063-X
Gillespie TW, H Walter (2001) Distribution of bird species richness at a regional scale in tropical dry forest of Central America. Journal of Biogeography 28: 651–662. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2699.2001.00575.x
Gillman MP, HE Erenler, JM Maes (2026) Structure and composition of butterfly communities in the dry forest region of Nicaragua. Caribbean Journal of Science 56: 110–130. https://doi.org/10.18475/cjos.v56i1.a12
Godínez-Gómez O, CA Correa Ayram (2020) Makurhini: An R package for comprehensive analysis of landscape fragmentation and connectivity. Available at https://connectscape.github.io/Makurhini/ [Accessed 27 September 2025]
Hansen MC, PV Potapov, R Moore, M Hancher, SA Turubanova, A Tyukavina, D Thau, SV Stehman, SJ Goetz, TR Loveland et al. (2013) High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Science 342: 850–853. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1244693
Harvey WJ, N Stansell, S Nogué, KJ Willis (2019) The apparent resilience of the dry tropical forests of the Nicaraguan region of the Central American dry corridor to variations in climate over the last c. 1200 years. Quaternary 2: 25. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat2030025
Hernández S, S Morales, WJ Arendt, MA Tórrez (2009) Bird checklist of the Cerro Datanli-El Diablo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua. USAID/Nicaragua. Available at https://research.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/61464 [Accessed 12 December 2025]
Holdridge LR (1996) Life zone ecology. Tropical Science Center, San José, Costa Rica.
Howell TR (1964) Birds collected in Nicaragua by Bernardo Ponsol. The Condor: Ornithological Applications 66: 151–158. https://doi.org/10.2307/1365392
Howell TR (2010) Thomas R. Howell’s checklist of the birds of Nicaragua as of 1993. Ornithological Monographs 68: 1–108. https://doi.org/10.1525/om.2010.68.1.1
IUCN (2024) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2024-1. Available at https://www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed 23 December 2025]
Janzen DH (1967) Why mountain passes are higher in the tropics. The American Naturalist 101: 233–249. https://doi.org/10.1086/282487
Jarquín O, S Morales (2017) Red de monitoreo de aves en el bosque seco de Nicaragua 2017-2018. Quetzallí Nicaragua S.A., Managua, Nicaragua. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331717910_Red_de_Monitoreo_de_Aves_en_el_Bosque_Seco_Nicaragua_2017-18 [Accessed 16 June 2025]
Karp DS, AJ Rominger, J Zook, J Ranganathan, PR Ehrlich, GC Daily (2012) Intensive agriculture erodes β‐diversity at large scales. Ecology Letters 15: 963–970. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01815.x
Komar O (1998) Avian diversity in El Salvador. Wilson Bulletin 110: 511–533.
Kottek M, J Grieser, C Beck, B Rudolf, F Rubel (2006) World map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification updated. Meteorologische Zeitschrift 15: 259–263. https://doi.org/10.1127/0941-2948/2006/0130
Lane OP, WJ Arendt, M Tórrez, JC Gámez Castellón (2013) Pilot assessment of mercury exposure in selected biota from the lowlands of Nicaragua. Mesoamericana 17: 19–28.
Lepage D (2025) Mexico bird checklist (Clements v2024) Avibase bird checklists of the World. Available at https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org [Accessed 17 July 2025]
Lezama M, S Otterstrom, L González (2019) Guía de campo de los Psittacidae del corredor biológico Paso Del Istmo, Rivas, Nicaragua. Paso Pacífico, Managua, Nicaragua.
Lindenmayer DB, GE Likens (2011) Direct measurement versus surrogate indicator species for evaluating environmental change and biodiversity loss. Ecosystems 14: 47–59. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-010-9394-6
MARENA (2010) Estudio de ecosistemas y biodiversidad de Nicaragua y su representatividad en el SINAP. Ministerio del Ambiente y de los Recursos Naturales, Managua, Nicaragua.
Martínez-Sánchez JC (2007) Lista patrón de las aves de Nicaragua. Con información de nuevos registros, distribución y localidades donde observar aves. Alianza para las Áreas Silvestres, Managua, Nicaragua.
Martínez-Sánchez JC, JM Maes, E van den Berghe, S Morales, EA Castañeda (2001) Biodiversidad Zoológica en Nicaragua. Ministerio del Ambiente y de los Recursos Naturales / Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo. Managua, Nicaragua.
McCain CM (2009) Global analysis of bird elevational diversity. Global Ecology and Biogeography 18: 346–360. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2008.00443.x
McCrary JK, WJ Arendt, S Morales, JT Arengi, LJ López (2008) New avian sight records for Nicaragua, with notes on abundance, distribution and habitat use. Cotinga 29: 102–107.
McGarigal K, SA Cushman, MC Neel, E Ene (2002) FRAGSTATS: Spatial pattern analysis program for categorical maps. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. Available at: https://www.fragstats.org/ [Accessed 13 March 2025]
Medina A, K Williams-Guillen (2024) Guía de aves del corredor biológico Paso del Istmo Rivas, Nicaragua. Paso Pacífico, Managua, Nicaragua.
Menezes Pinto Í, C Emer, E Cazetta, JC Morante-Filho (2021) Deforestation simplifies understory bird seed-dispersal networks in human-modified landscapes. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 9: 640210. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2021.640210
Miles L, AC Newton, RS DeFries, C Ravilious, I May, S Blyth, V Kapos, JE Gordon (2006) A global overview of the conservation status of tropical dry forests. Journal of Biogeography 33: 491–505. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2005.01424.x
Morales S, A Martínez-Salinas, WJ Arendt, MA Tórrez (2008a) Redescubrimiento de Dendroica chrysoparia en Nicaragua. Zeledonia 12: 30–34.
Morales S, D Osorno, WJ Arendt, S Hernández (2008b) Bird checklist Ometepe Island. Jerry Bauer, Managua, Nicaragua.
Morales S, JM Zolotoff, M Gutiérrez, M Tórrez (2009) Nicaragua. Pp. 281–288 in C Devenish, DF Díaz Fernández, RP Clay, I Davidson, I Yépez Zabala (eds). Important Bird Areas Americas - Priority sites for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife International, Quito, Ecuador.
Murphy PG, AE Lugo (1986) Ecology of tropical dry forest. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 17: 67–88. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.es.17.110186.000435
Neate-Clegg MHC, SEI Jones, O Burdekin, M Jocque, ÇH Şekercioğlu (2018) Elevational changes in the avian community of a Mesoamerican cloud forest park. Biotropica 50: 805–815. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12596
Núñez-Zapata J, AT Peterson, AG Navarro-Sigüenza (2016) Pleistocene diversification and speciation of White-throated Thrush (Turdus assimilis; Aves: Turdidae). Journal of Ornithology 157: 1073–1085. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-016-1350-6
Palomera-García C, E Santana C, R Amparan Salido (1994) Patrones de distribución de la avifauna en tres estados del occidente de México. Anales del Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Serie Zoología 65: 137–175.
Peterson AT, AG Navarro-Sigüenza (2000) Western Mexico: a significant centre of avian endemism and challenge for conservation action. Cotinga 14: 42–46.
Prieto-Torres DA, OR Rojas-Soto, E Bonaccorso, D Santiago-Alarcon, AG Navarro-Sigüenza (2019a) Distributional patterns of Neotropical seasonally dry forest birds: a biogeographical regionalization. Cladistics 35: 446–460. https://doi.org/10.1111/cla.12366
Prieto-Torres DA, OR Rojas-Soto, D Santiago-Alarcon, E Bonaccorso, AG Navarro-Sigüenza (2019b) Diversity, endemism, species turnover and relationships among avifauna of Neotropical seasonally dry forests. Ardeola 66: 257–277. https://doi.org/10.13157/arla.66.2.2019.ra1
Quintero I, W Jetz (2018) Global elevational diversity and diversification of birds. Nature 555: 246–250. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25794
R Core Team (2020) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. Available at https://www.R-project.org/ [Accessed 12 December 2025]
Ramírez-Albores JE, DA Prieto-Torres, A Gordillo-Martínez, LE Sánchez-Ramos, AG Navarro-Sigüenza (2021) Insights for protection of high species richness areas for the conservation of Mesoamerican endemic birds. Diversity and Distributions 27: 18–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13153
Ríos-Muñoz CA, AG Navarro-Sigüenza (2012) Patterns of species richness and biogeographic regionalization of the avifaunas of the seasonally dry tropical forest in Mesoamerica. Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment 47: 171–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650521.2012.7
Saldívar I, K Vammen (2024) Tropical dry forests, water, biodiversity and the challenges of climate change in Nicaragua. Brazilian Journal of Biology 84: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.280001
Salmerón-Belli P, WJ Arendt (2007) Bird checklist Montibelli Private Wildlife Reserve. Jerry Bauer, Managua, Nicaragua.
Salvin O, FD Godman (1904) Biología Centrali-Americana: Aves. Vol. I. Taylor and Francis, London, UK.
Sandoval L, WJ Arendt (2011) Two new species for Nicaragua and other notes on the avifauna of the Atlantic region and Paso del Istmo Biological Corridor. Cotinga 33: 50–57.
Stattersfield AJ, MJ Crosby, AJ Long, DC Wege (1998) Endemic bird areas of the World: Priorities for biodiversity conservation. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK. https://datazone.birdlife.org/info/pubebas [Accessed 12 December 2025]
Stotz DF, JW Fitzpatrick, TA Parker III, DK Moskovits (1996) Neotropical birds: Ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Tórrez MA, WJ Arendt, P Salmeron (2009) Aves hormigueras en bosque seco del Pacífico de Nicaragua: uso de hábitat y comportamiento parasítico. Zeledonia 13: 1–9.
Tórrez M, WJ Arendt, M Sotelo (2013) Composición de aves del Pacífico sur de Nicaragua enfatizando las especies indicadores dependientes de bosque. Mesoamericana 17: 39–48.
Vázquez-Reyes LD, MdC Arizmendi, HO Godínez-Álvarez, AG Navarro‑Sigüenza (2017) Directional effects of biotic homogenization of bird communities in Mexican seasonal forests. The Condor: Ornithological Applications 119: 275–288. https://doi.org/10.1650/condor-16-116.1
Wickham H (2007) Reshaping data with the reshape package. Journal of Statistical Software 21: 1–20. https://doi.org/10.18637/jss.v021.i12
Zolotoff-Pallais JM, S Morales, M Tórrez (2006) Important Bird Areas (Áreas Importantes para Aves) en Nicaragua. Selección preliminar. Unpublished report. Fundación Cocibolca / Alianza para las Áreas Silvestres. Managua, Nicaragua.
Zolotoff-Pallais JM, M Lezama-López, L Valerio (2007) Áreas claves de biodiversidad en Nicaragua. Fundación Cocibolca, Managua, Nicaragua.
Zolotoff-Pallais JM, M Lezama, W Arendt (2009) Estado de conservación de aves acuáticas y sus hábitats en Nicaragua. USAID/Nicaragua.
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Wayne J. Arendt, Marvin Torrez, Edgar Castañeda, María Elena Salgado García, Marlon Sotelo, Orlando Jarquín
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), that allows others unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction, providing the original author and source are credited.
