Animal Biodiversity and Conservation. Volume 44.2 (2021) Pages: 213-217

Changes in the nocturnal activity of birds during the COVID–19 pandemic lockdown in a neotropical city

Estela, F. A., Sánchez-Sarria, C. E., Arbeláez-Cortés, E., Ocampo, D., García-Arroyo, M., Perlaza-Gamboa, A., Wagner-Wagner, C. M., MacGregor-Fors, I.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2021.44.0213

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Abstract

The COVID–19 lockdown provided the opportunity to measure species biodiversity in urban environments under conditions divergent from regular urban rhythms. For 90 days, including weeks of strict lockdown and the subsequent relaxation of restrictions, we measured the presence and abundance of birds that were active at night at two sites in the city of Cali, Colombia. Our results show that species richness of nocturnal birds decreased 40 % to 58 % during the weeks with more human activity, adding further evidence to the biodiversity responses of the ‘anthropause’ on urban environments.

Keywords

Anthropause, Artificial light at night, COVID–19 lockdown, Tropical cities, Urbanization, Urban ecology

Cite

Estela, F. A., Sánchez-Sarria, C. E., Arbeláez-Cortés, E., Ocampo, D., García-Arroyo, M., Perlaza-Gamboa, A., Wagner-Wagner, C. M., MacGregor-Fors, I., 2021. Changes in the nocturnal activity of birds during the COVID–19 pandemic lockdown in a neotropical city. Animal Biodiversity and Conservation, 44: 213-217, DOI: https://doi.org/10.32800/abc.2021.44.0213