International Institute of Tropical Forestry

Title: AVIAN RESOURCE USE IN DOMINICAN SHADE COFFEE PLANTATIONS

Author: WUNDERLE. JR, JOSEPH M.; LATTAA, STEVEN C.

Date: 1998

Source: Wilson Bull., 110(2) :271-281

Description: We quantified foraging behavior of 19 bird species in shade coffee plantations in the Dominican Republic to document and evaluate their use of food resources in the shade overstory relative to the coffee understory. All species were observed foraging in the Znga “era overstory, and 18 of the 19 species had median foraging heights significantly above the median maximum coffee height. Eight species (42%) foraged exclusively in the canopy or subcanopy and not in the coffee understory. No species foraged exclusively in the coffee, although the Narrow-billed Tody (To&s angustirostn’s) foraged mostly in coffee. A negative correlation was found between a species’ median foraging height in our shade plantations and its abundance in nearby sun coffee plantations. Invertebrates and nectar were the most important food items in the Znga overstory where 95% of the species gleaned leaf surfaces, 63% probed flowers, 58% gleaned or probed wood, 47% used epiphytes (for invertebrates or fruits), and 26% gleaned or probed Inga fruit. In contrast, birds in coffee foraged primarily for invertebrate prey as 42% of all species gleaned leaf surfaces, 21% gleaned or probed wood, 21% gleaned or probed fruit, and 5% probed flowers. The Znga overstory was an important foraging site for most species suggesting that plantations without a shade overstory (i.e., sun coffee) will have a lower diversity and abundance of food and hence are less attractive to birds than traditional shade plantations.

Keywords: 

View and Print this Publication ( 922k )

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

WUNDERLE. JR, JOSEPH M.; LATTAA, STEVEN C.   1998.  AVIAN RESOURCE USE IN DOMINICAN SHADE COFFEE PLANTATIONS.   Wilson Bull., 110(2) :271-281.