Data from: 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. Relative to primary forest bird assemblages, we found that
migratory bird abundances were greater in secondary forest and cattle
pasture, and migratory insectivores compensated for 68% of the abundance
losses of resident insectivores in secondary forest and cattle pasture.
Among these insectivores in secondary forest and cattle pasture, increases
in migratory birds compensated for the abundance declines of resident
birds that utilize foliage gleaning and sallying foraging methods. Our
findings emphasize the importance of evaluating and managing landscapes
around protected areas, highlight the distinct responses of resident and
migratory birds to land use, and reveal the mechanisms that sustain
ecosystem functions in modified landscapes.