Searching for food in a concrete jungle: feeding ecology of a Psittacine assemblage (Aves, Psittacidae) in a major Amazonian city
Article
Soares, C., Barnett, A., Scudeller, V. and Borges, S. 2023. Searching for food in a concrete jungle: feeding ecology of a Psittacine assemblage (Aves, Psittacidae) in a major Amazonian city. Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 95 (3). https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202320220606
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | Searching for food in a concrete jungle: feeding ecology of a Psittacine assemblage (Aves, Psittacidae) in a major Amazonian city |
Authors | Soares, C., Barnett, A., Scudeller, V. and Borges, S. |
Abstract | The efficient use of food resources is a precondition for wild species´ survival in urban environments. The feeding ecology of animals in tropical cities, however, remains poorly investigated. Here we study the feeding ecology of parrots in Manaus, a major Amazonian city, and compare the results with a parrot assemblage living in undisturbed habitats. We recorded 203 feeding bouts from eight parrot species, which consumed parts of 51 plant species. Parrot diets were dominated by native palm species (Arecaceae). Exotic plants, however, constituted an important portion of the diet of some parrots. Levin's indices, a measure of food niche width, varied from 0.40 to 0.83, indicating an overall tendency to generalist diets. Diet overlap between species was small, indicating broad resource partitioning between members of the assemblage. The diversity of plants consumed in the natural environment was greater than in the urban environment (71 species vs. 52). However, the diversity of plants consumed was similar for parrot species recorded both in natural and urban environments, indicating that occupation of the city does not imply an impoverishment in parrot diets. Creation of municipal protected areas and increasing the city afforestation would provide complementary strategies for Manaus parrot conservation. |
Keywords | Ecology; Parrots; Animals; Food; Ecosystem; Cities |
Sustainable Development Goals | 15 Life on land |
Middlesex University Theme | Sustainability |
Research Group | Behavioural Biology group |
Publisher | Academia Brasileira de Ciências (ABC) |
Journal | Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |
ISSN | 0001-3765 |
Electronic | 1678-2690 |
Publication dates | |
Online | 03 Nov 2023 |
2023 | |
Publication process dates | |
Submitted | 19 Jul 2022 |
Accepted | 08 Dec 2022 |
Deposited | 20 Feb 2024 |
Output status | Published |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765202320220606 |
PubMed ID | 37909560 |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/zvy93
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Soares etal-2023-Searching_for_food_in_a_concrete_jungle.pdf | ||
License: CC BY 4.0 | ||
File access level: Open |
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