Shorebirds and their relationship with a salinity gradient in the evaporating ponds of Ecuasal, Ecuador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18272/reo.v10i2.2206Keywords:
Distribution, evaporating ponds, salinity, community structure, migrationAbstract
The artificial ponds of Ecuasal are internationally recognized as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN) site for hosting more than 100,000 shorebirds annually. We investigated the richness, abundance and community structure of shorebirds that use the Ecuasal ponds during the winter migratory and reproductive periods and their variation in relation to a salinity gradient. Bi-weekly surveys were carried out during 10 months (July 2017–April 2018) in five areas with different salinities. We investigated the relationship between shorebird abundance with the salinity gradient using generalized linear mixed models and performed a Kruskal-Wallis analysis to detect variations in abundances between months. We recorded a total of 143,576 individuals of 20 species and 4 families: Scolopacidae, Charadriidae, Haematopodidae and Recurvirostridae. Monthly variation in shorebird abundance responded directly to the migratory periods, with minimum numbers observed in July (1,589 individuals) and maximum numbers in August (39,671 individuals) and February (14,919 individuals), which correspond to the winter migration and pre-reproductive migration, respectively. In this study, the most abundant species were Wilson’s Phalarope Phalaropus tricolor (107,081 individuals), Black-necked Stilt Himantopus mexicanus (15,869 individuals), Least Sandpiper Calidris minutilla (8,104 individuals) and Semipalmated Sandpiper C. pusilla (5,423 individuals). Salinity was a determining factor in the distribution of shorebirds, with greater number of birds observed in high salinity areas. Regarding temporal distribution, no statistical differences were detected between migratory periods, possibly due to the gregarious behavior of shorebirds.
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