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Animal Biodiversity and Conservation. Volume 43.1 (2020) Pages: 43-54

Taxonomic nestedness based on guilds? Bird assemblages of the Jardines de la Reina National Park, Cuba, as study case

García-Quintas, A., Fundora Caballero, D., Parada Isada, A.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2020.43.0043

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Abstract

Nestedness is a widely known structuring model in insular and fragmented biotas that has often been assessed, but most studies to date have used a taxonomic approach. However, the relevance of an approach using functional groups has become increasingly highlighted in community ecology research. In this study, we evaluated the occurrence of nested structure in the Jardines de la Reina National Park bird assemblages as a whole, and its trophic guilds by following three different grouping criteria. We constructed species presence–absence matrices for each guild and estimated the degree of nestedness with the metric based on the overlap and decreasing fill, assessing its significance by means of two null models. Overall bird assemblage was significantly nested (NODF = 76.99; p = 0.01) whereas terrestrial insectivores (NODF = 81.32) and insectivores (NODF = 80.04) were the only trophic guilds (out of 19) that showed significant nestedness (p ≤ 0.01). These results could provide evidence of the structural and functional cohesion of avifauna at the study site, especially among its insect–eating taxa. Taxonomic nestedness based on a guilds approach may help identify suitable conservation strategies for avian communities inhabiting naturally fragmented areas such as the Jardines de la Reina National Park.

Keywords

Functional grouping, Low–lying islands, Nested community, Null model, Protected area, Trophic guild

Cite

García-Quintas, A., Fundora Caballero, D., Parada Isada, A., 2020. Taxonomic nestedness based on guilds? Bird assemblages of the Jardines de la Reina National Park, Cuba, as study case. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 43: 43-54, DOI: https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2020.43.0043

Reception date:

03/06/2019

Acceptation date:

10/09/2019

Publication date:

02/01/2020

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