Habitat selection in transformed landscapes and the role of forest remnants and shade coffee in the conservation of resident birds

1. Biodiversity conservation in transformed landscapes is becoming
increasingly important. However, most assessments of the value of modified
habitats rely heavily on species presence and/or abundance, masking
ecological processes such as habitat selection and phenomena like
ecological traps, which may render species persistence uncertain. High
species richness has been documented in tropical agroforestry systems but
comparisons with native habitat remnants generally lack detailed
information on species demography and habitat use. 2. We generated a
multi-species, multi-measure framework to evaluate the role of habitat
selection in the adaptation of species to transformed landscapes, and
demonstrate that its use could affect how we value the contribution
different land uses make to biodiversity conservation. 3. We analyzed
seven years of capture-mark-recapture and observation data for twelve
species of resident birds present in native forest remnants and shade
coffee plantations in a mega-diverse region. We assessed whether species
behaved adaptively by evaluating the correlation between measures of
habitat preference (occurrence, abundance, fidelity, inter-seasonal
variance and age) and performance (body condition, muscle, primary molt,
breeding and juveniles) in forest and coffee, and generated hypotheses
about their role in species persistence. 4. We documented adaptive habitat
selection for seven species, non-ideal selection for four, and maladaptive
selection for one. While many species showed equal-preference and/or equal
performance in many traits, in general we found more evidence for birds
preferring and/or performing better in forest than coffee, although
relationships between our indicators and population adaptation need to be
studied further before our proposed framework can be applied to more
species and landscapes. 5. While shade coffee can act as a
biodiversity-friendly matrix providing complementary or supplementary
habitat to a wide range of resident bird species, protecting remnants of
native vegetation is still of paramount importance for biodiversity
conservation in agricultural landscapes.