Urbanization, habitat extension and spatial pattern, threaten a Costa Rican endemic bird

Muñoz, Pablo; García-Rodríguez, Adrián; Sandoval, Luis

Introduction:

Migration of people from rural environments to cities has accelerated urbanization and modified the landscape as well as the ecological processes and communities in these areas. The Costa Rican endemic Cabanis´s Ground-Sparrow (Melozone cabanisi) is a species of limited distribution restricted to the "Gran Area Metropolitana", which is the biggest urban settlement of the country. This area has experimented and still experiment an ongoing fragmentation and loss of habitat used by this species (coffee plantations, shrubs, and thickets).

Objective:

To determine the effects of urbanization on habitat abundance and spatial pattern for the occurrence of Melozone cabanisi.

Methods:

We modeled the area of potentially suitable habitat for this species in Costa Rica using occurrence and bioclimatic data. Then, we estimated the actual suitable habitat using land cover type layers. Finally, we analyzed the connectivity among the actual suitable habitat patches using single-patch and multi-patch approaches.

Results:

From the area of potentially suitable habitat estimated by the bioclimatic model, 74 % were urban areas that are unsuitable for Melozone cabanisi. The largest suitable patches within urban areas were coffee plantations; which also were crucial for maintaining connectivity between habitat patches along the species' range.

Conclusions:

To preserve and protect the Melozone cabanisi, these areas must be taken into consideration by decision-makers in the present and future management plans. We recommend avoiding change shrubs and thickets to urban cover to preserve the occurrence of Melozone cabanisi, and implement a program for the payment of environmental services to landholders, supported by the local governments, to protect those habitats in urban contexts.

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