@article{TEXTUAL,
      recid = {13803},
      author = {Céspedes Arias, Laura N. and Wilson, Scott and Bayly,  Nicholas J.},
      title = {Community modeling reveals the importance of elevation and  land cover in shaping migratory bird abundance in the  Andes},
      journal = {Ecological Applications},
      address = {2021-10-21},
      number = {TEXTUAL},
      abstract = {The tropical Andes are characterized by extreme  topographic and climatic complexity, which has likely  contributed to their outstanding current species diversity,  composed of many range-restricted species. However, little  is known about how the distribution and abundance of highly  mobile organisms, like long-distance migratory birds,  varies across different land covers, elevations, and  climatic conditions within the Andes. We conducted 1,606  distance-sampling point counts across the Colombian Andes,  spanning elevations from 253 to 3,708 m, a range of  precipitation regimes and representative land covers. We  then employed a novel application of a multispecies  hierarchical modeling approach to evaluate how elevation,  local land cover, aboveground woody biomass, cloud cover,  precipitation, and seasonality in precipitation shape the  abundance of the migratory land bird community in the  Andes. We detected 1,824 individuals of 29 species of  migratory land birds, six of which were considered  incidental in our study region. We modeled the abundance of  the remaining 23 species, while considering observer and  time of day effects on detectability. We found that both  elevation and land cover had an overriding influence on the  abundance of migratory species across the Andes, with  strong evidence for a mid-elevation peak in abundance, and  species-specific responses to both variables. As a  community, migratory birds had the highest mean abundance  in shade coffee plantations, secondary forest, and mature  forest. Aboveground woody biomass did not affect the  abundance of all species as a group, but a few showed  strong responses to this variable. Contrary to predictions  of a positive correlation between abundance and  precipitation, we found no evidence for community-level  responses to precipitation, aside for a weak tendency for  birds to select areas with intermediate levels of  precipitation. This novel use of a multispecies model sheds  new light on the mechanisms shaping the winter distribution  of migratory birds and highlights the importance of  elevation and land cover types over climatic variables in  the context of the Colombian Andes.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/13803},
}