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Diversity
Special Issues
Birds in Temperate and Tropical Forests—2nd Edition
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Birds in Temperate and Tropical Forests—2nd Edition

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2025 | Viewed by 5095

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jan Riegert

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 1760, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
Interests: diversity and behavioural ecology of birds in temperate and tropical regions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Michał Budka

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Biology, Department of Behavioural Ecology, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Uniwersytetu Poznańskiego 6, 61-614 Poznań, Poland
Interests: acoustic communication; acoustic monitoring; behavioural ecology; bird diversity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce the forthcoming Special Issue of Diversity, which focuses on forest bird communities.

Forests worldwide represent unique ecosystems that are, especially within the tropics, poorly understood. Due to their complexity, forests often act as global biodiversity hotspots for various animals, including birds. Forest ecosystems were previously thought to represent stable environments. However, the dynamics of forest growth considerably impact the structure of bird communities, even over short periods of time. Within the tropics, tree logging leading to forest reduction or forest fragmentation represents the main cause of bird diversity loss. As forests are important environments for many bird species, their conservation remains a priority.

Forests birds show fascinating variability in their survival strategies. This variability (e.g., from cavity nesters to species that nest in open nests or among feeding strategies) leads to complex interspecies relationships, such as competition that may affect bird community structure. The complex patterns in predator–prey relationships may also considerably vary with changes in forest structure.

We are inviting papers on any of abovementioned topics to this Special Issue. In addition to studies on specific sites, we also encourage large-scale studies enabling a unique comparison of different bird communities from different forest ecosystems.

Dr. Jan Riegert
Dr. Michał Budka
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diversity is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • temperate forest bird community
  • tropical forest bird community
  • bird diversity
  • large-scale bird diversity
  • competition
  • predation
  • feeding guild
  • long-term changes in bird communities
  • tree logging
  • forest structure changes

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 2755 KiB  
Article
Changes in Bird Community Structure on Mount Cameroon Driven by Elevational and Vertical Gradients
by Solange Mekuate Kamga, Simon A. Tamungang, Taku Awa II, Kryštof Chmel, Francis Luma Ewome, Lucas Lyonga Molua, Guillermo Uceda-Gómez, Štěpán Janeček, Jiří Mlíkovský and Jan Riegert
Diversity 2023, 15(6), 727; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15060727 - 1 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2123
Abstract
The distribution of birds in the tropical mountains is important not only for testing fundamental scientific hypotheses, but also for bird conservation. In order to obtain knowledge on bird community structure within the tropical highland ecosystem, we used ground-to-canopy mist nets to assess [...] Read more.
The distribution of birds in the tropical mountains is important not only for testing fundamental scientific hypotheses, but also for bird conservation. In order to obtain knowledge on bird community structure within the tropical highland ecosystem, we used ground-to-canopy mist nets to assess bird species distribution along a vertical ground-to-canopy gradient for two elevational bands on Mount Cameroon. The study area included lowland forest (Drink Garri, 650 m a.s.l.) and montane forest (Mann’s Spring, 2200 m a.s.l.). We mist netted a total of 2658 individuals, including recaptures, belonging to 118 species from 50 genera. NLAG (net location above the ground), vegetation cover and locality significantly affected the bird communities. The composition of avian communities strongly differed between the two elevational bands. Species diversity considerably decreased with NLAG in both localities and increased with increased vegetation cover at the low elevation site. Species dietary guilds were significantly influenced by the seasonality, elevation, NLAG and vegetation cover. For most of the feeding guilds included in the study (frugivores, omnivores, insectivores, granivores and nectarivores), we found a negative correlation between the abundances and vegetation cover. Meanwhile, percentages of abundance of frugivores, nectarivores and omnivores showed a positive correlation with NLAG. We discuss the substantial changes in feeding guild structure along a vertical gradient and between two elevational bands. In conclusion, Mount Cameroon’s forest vegetation structure differs between two elevational bands and along vertical gradients from ground to canopy, considerably affecting the bird community structure. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Birds in Temperate and Tropical Forests—2nd Edition)
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Review

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11 pages, 961 KiB  
Review
The Ural Owl as a Keystone Species in Interspecific Interactions Among Avian Predators—A Review
by Łukasz Kajtoch
Diversity 2025, 17(2), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17020109 - 1 Feb 2025
Viewed by 353
Abstract
Ural owls are one of the largest owls in Europe, exhibiting known aggressive behaviour toward other raptors. They are known to interact with nearly all sympatric owls and many diurnal raptors. To summarise these interactions, a literature search was undertaken in the Web [...] Read more.
Ural owls are one of the largest owls in Europe, exhibiting known aggressive behaviour toward other raptors. They are known to interact with nearly all sympatric owls and many diurnal raptors. To summarise these interactions, a literature search was undertaken in the Web of Sciences and Scopus databases using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodology as well principal books on owl biology. The search revealed 22 relevant publications that (along with the book data) described the Ural owl’s relations with seven owls and six diurnal raptor species. The Ural owl is subordinate only to the largest predators like golden eagles and eagles, although only its chicks are known to be killed. Contrary to that, the Ural owls shape the distribution of numerous other species, mostly by strong competition (e.g., forcing tawny owls to breed in suboptimal habitats) or by predation (killing smaller owls and diurnal raptors). Their occurrence could be also protective for some species like boreal owls thanks to the removal of intermediate predators. The relations of Ural owls with goshawks are interesting, which seem to live in some balance—temporal avoidance of activity with frequent co-occurrence. Thanks to their association with old-growth forests and their impact on other predators in their territories, Ural owls act as keystone species in mountainous and boreal forests in Europe. Considering this ecosystem service, Ural owls should be effectively protected e.g., by designing forest-management-free zones around their nesting sites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Birds in Temperate and Tropical Forests—2nd Edition)
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9 pages, 2648 KiB  
Review
Woodland Birds from Neolithic Settlements in Bulgaria
by Zlatozar N. Boev
Diversity 2025, 17(2), 107; https://doi.org/10.3390/d17020107 - 1 Feb 2025
Viewed by 292
Abstract
In this study, a first attempt was made to present a general composition of birds (with an emphasis on forest birds) found in Neolithic settlements in Bulgaria. Based on data from 29 settlements, 82 bird taxa have been identified. Of these, 72 species [...] Read more.
In this study, a first attempt was made to present a general composition of birds (with an emphasis on forest birds) found in Neolithic settlements in Bulgaria. Based on data from 29 settlements, 82 bird taxa have been identified. Of these, 72 species have been identified to the species level. They constitute 17.3% (almost one-sixth) of the 417 recorded bird species in the country. About one-third (23 species) are inhabitants of forest ecosystems. Two species (2.7%) no longer nest in Bulgaria (Lyrurus tetrix and Phasianus colchicus), and another rare winter migrant (Buteo lagopus) has been found in two Neolithic settlements in Southern Bulgaria. Today, the two locations of Tetrao urogallus are far outside the limits of the species’ current shortened range. A very high number of the uncovered Neolithic birds (33 species, 45.8%) are included in the national Red Data Book of Bulgaria. Summer migrants significantly outnumber winter migrants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Birds in Temperate and Tropical Forests—2nd Edition)
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Other

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8 pages, 3869 KiB  
Brief Report
Bryophytes Present in the Nests of Birds in Yanayacu Biological Station, Ecuador
by Ángel Benítez, Edison Jaramillo, Erika Yangua-Solano and Harold F. Greeney
Diversity 2023, 15(11), 1123; https://doi.org/10.3390/d15111123 - 31 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1493
Abstract
Bryophytes are one of the main resources for bird nest construction; however, studies are limited and have been oriented to preliminary species lists. We evaluated for the first time in Ecuador the changes in the richness and composition of bryophytes in 17 nests [...] Read more.
Bryophytes are one of the main resources for bird nest construction; however, studies are limited and have been oriented to preliminary species lists. We evaluated for the first time in Ecuador the changes in the richness and composition of bryophytes in 17 nests of the species Myadestes ralloides and Catharus fuscater, of the family Turdidae. The presence/absence of bryophytes was recorded in each nest. A total of 25 bryophyte species were recorded (13 mosses and 12 liverworts). The most frequent species in the nests of the two species were the mosses Thuidium tomentosum and Meteoridium remotifolium and the liverworts Trichocolea flaccida and Frullania peruviana. The results indicated that bryophyte species’ richness and composition did not differ between the nests of the two studied bird species, because they select similar bryophyte species for nest elaboration. In general, our study showed that for the two species of birds of the family Turdidae, mosses and liverworts are key components in the elaboration of nests both internally and externally. On the other hand, we would suggest that further investigations should focus on analyzing the relation between bird nests and bryophyte phytochemistry, as well as the functional traits of bryophytes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Birds in Temperate and Tropical Forests—2nd Edition)
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