Replication Data for: The effect of reforestation on bird communities in two types of forests in Nevado de Toluca, Mexico

Abstract. We analyzed the diversity and richness of plants and birds of two forests with different structural characteristics in the area of Nevado de Toluca. Eight mist nets were placed in one natural forest and in one reforested forest, both in the State of Mexico, Mexico. In both sites we describe volume, dominance, density and Importance Value Index of the herbaceous, shrub and arboreal plant strata. We used correspondence analysis to test the existence of association between forest type and the month-dependent probability of bird species captured. To identify the variable that relates the changes in the abundance of bird species with the positions of the nets, which in turn are associated to vegetation attributes, we used the Outlying Mean Index test. The three vegetal strata had different structural characteristics in both forests. Mulhenbergia macroura J.F. Gmel (Poacea) was the most associated plant to birds’ abundance variations between sites. The presence of this grass (M. macroura) was associated to the species Eugenes fulgens, Junco pheonotus, Oreothlyphis superciliosa, Regulus calendula, Setophaga coronata, which were not reported in the native forest. Ten species of birds were more frequent in the natural forest from January to February, while 14 species were abundant in the reforested forest from April to May. The probability to catch birds was the same for both forests in March. Differences found in this work were not significant, that is, reforestation after previous deforestation did not significantly affect the diversity of birds in the area sampled in Nevado de Toluca. Methods We randomly distributed eight 12-meter-long mist nets along the paths of each study site. We performed two types of sampling: a) five-month sampling: from Friday to Sunday, from January to May 2015, once a month simultaneously in both forests; b) 13-month sampling: from January to October, carried out consecutively, one week, from Friday to Sunday, alternating forests. We revised the net each hour from 8 to 14 hrs, schedules were modified depending on extreme weather conditions.