Fading from the forest: Bird community shifts related to urban park site-specific and landscape traits

Site-specific and landscape traits of urban green areas have been identified as determinants for the presence/absence of bird species among urban systems. Nevertheless, most urban ecology studies have focused their research on urban park site-specific traits, ignoring the importance of landscape attributes in shaping avian communities. In this study we assessed changes in urban park bird communities related to vegetation traits, urban infrastructure, human activity, potential bird predators, and the distance to the border of Mexico City. Our results show that both site-specific and landscape variables explained bird communities diversity values. Still, the strongest relationship found in this study, with the exception of the abundance of specialist species, was with the distance from the border of the city. Relationships between bird community diversity values and the distance from the border of the city differed among bird species richness and abundances, with specialist and mutual species richness rising significantly towards the border, and mutual species abundance rising significantly towards the center of the city (see “Methods” for definitions regarding specialist and mutual species). Overall, our results show that bird species richness and composition similarity fade out as the distance from border of the city increases. Hence, results derived from this study highlight the importance of the effect that the isolation of urban parks can have on bird communities in a neotropical mega-city.