Nesting biology and nest survival of the Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis) in grazed grasslands of central-eastern Argentina

Knowledge of the breeding biology of grassland birds is important given the accelerated rate of transformation of their habitats, which has led to noticeable population declines of many species. Although several species in South America are of conservation concern due to habitat alteration, informa...

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Autores principales: Colombo, Martín Alejandro, Jauregui, Adrián, González, Exequiel, Segura, Luciano Noel
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2021
Materias:
Zoología
Ground-nesting birds
Neotropics
Nest success
Nestling growth
Passerellidae
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/118811
Aporte de:
SEDICI (UNLP) de Universidad Nacional de La Plata
id I19-R120-10915-118811
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Zoología
Ground-nesting birds
Neotropics
Nest success
Nestling growth
Passerellidae
spellingShingle Zoología
Ground-nesting birds
Neotropics
Nest success
Nestling growth
Passerellidae
Colombo, Martín Alejandro
Jauregui, Adrián
González, Exequiel
Segura, Luciano Noel
Nesting biology and nest survival of the Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis) in grazed grasslands of central-eastern Argentina
topic_facet Zoología
Ground-nesting birds
Neotropics
Nest success
Nestling growth
Passerellidae
description Knowledge of the breeding biology of grassland birds is important given the accelerated rate of transformation of their habitats, which has led to noticeable population declines of many species. Although several species in South America are of conservation concern due to habitat alteration, information on their nesting biology is generally sparse. During three seasons we studied a breeding population of a poorly studied ground-nesting bird, the Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis), in grasslands used for cattle grazing in central-eastern Argentina. We described its breeding parameters, estimated nestling growth curves, and analyzed daily nest survival rates (DSR) as a function of grassland characteristics, including grass density, grass height, and distance to forest edges. We found 34 nests placed among low and sparse vegetation and made exclusively of grass. The modal clutch size was three eggs. Incubation and nestling periods lasted 11 and 10.5 days, respectively. Nestlings had a fast-growing tarsus, which could be advantageous to escape from predators early. Only seven nests (20.6%) were successful and predation was the principal cause of nest failure (78% of the failures). DSR was 0.91, resulting in a cumulative survival of 11% for the 23.5 day nesting period. We found no effects of habitat features on DSR, which may be a consequence of the high predation rate and a very diverse predator community in the area. Studies at a broader scale could help to elucidate which habitats favor the reproduction of these species. We emphasize the importance of knowing basic ecological aspects of native grassland birds to develop management plans, especially given the lack of protected grassland areas in the Pampas Grassland ecoregion.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Colombo, Martín Alejandro
Jauregui, Adrián
González, Exequiel
Segura, Luciano Noel
author_facet Colombo, Martín Alejandro
Jauregui, Adrián
González, Exequiel
Segura, Luciano Noel
author_sort Colombo, Martín Alejandro
title Nesting biology and nest survival of the Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis) in grazed grasslands of central-eastern Argentina
title_short Nesting biology and nest survival of the Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis) in grazed grasslands of central-eastern Argentina
title_full Nesting biology and nest survival of the Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis) in grazed grasslands of central-eastern Argentina
title_fullStr Nesting biology and nest survival of the Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis) in grazed grasslands of central-eastern Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Nesting biology and nest survival of the Grassland Sparrow (Ammodramus humeralis) in grazed grasslands of central-eastern Argentina
title_sort nesting biology and nest survival of the grassland sparrow (ammodramus humeralis) in grazed grasslands of central-eastern argentina
publishDate 2021
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/118811
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