Contrasting patterns of land use by resident and migratory bird assemblages in a tropical working landscape

The spatial configuration and management of agricultural and other land-use practices can affect ecological assemblages. However, the differences in how resident and migratory birds respond to land use are not well understood, hindering our understanding of bird biodiversity responses to land use. In a tropical moist broadleaf forest landscape of southeastern Mexico, we assessed alpha, beta, and functional diversity as indicators of ecosystem functioning in resident and migratory birds across landscape- and habitat-level gradients, incorporating distance to a protected area, understory vegetation cover, and three land uses: 1) primary forest, 2) secondary forest, and 3) cattle pasture. Compositionally, resident and migratory bird assemblages exhibited similar gradual shifts across land uses. However, while resident bird richness steadily declined with increasing distance from a protected area and simplification of understory vegetation structure, migratory bird richness did not change. ..., , , # Contrasting patterns of land use on resident and migratory bird diversity in a tropical landscape

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gmsbcc307](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gmsbcc307)

## Description of the data and file structure

We examined how land use affects resident and migratory bird diversity in a tropical forest landscape in southeastern Mexico. While both bird groups showed similar shifts in composition across land uses, only resident richness declined with habitat simplification and distance from a protected area. Migratory birds, especially insectivores, compensated for declines in resident insectivores in modified habitats, highlighting their role in sustaining ecosystem functions and the need to manage landscapes around protected areas.

Point count surveys for bird diversity data, quadrat sampling for vegetation data, and remote sensing work with Google Earth for broader landscape-level variables.

The dataset consists of a Palenque_Diversity_and_SiteInfo.csv file and th...,