Landscape Connectivity and Bird Communities in Fragmented Butiá Palm Groves

ABSTRACT Butiá palm forests in South America represent an emblematic system that contains a poorly known biodiversity. These ecosystems are very fragmented due to agricultural practices that prevent regeneration and limit access to these ecosystems for many species. The transport of seeds by birds can connect patches of palm forests, facilitating a spatial network of fruit consumers. In this work, we evaluate the role of bird traits, individual palm traits, density, and spatial connectivity on the taxonomic and functional diversity of birds visiting palm forests. Through the use of camera traps during the fruiting period (February 2019 to May 2019), the richness and interaction of birds were recorded following a stratified sampling according to connectivity and distance to other ecosystems. Twenty‐seven species of birds use palm trees. Isolation, palm density, fruit abundance, palm height, and forest distance were associated with the richness and activity of bird species. These results indicate that landscape alterations can change the spatial pattern of fruit consumption by bird species and the source‐sink dynamics among palm ecosystems. We also found that two different bird assemblages consume fruits on the ground or in the canopy, and that these assemblages are shaped by palm traits, landscape connectivity, and bird traits. Therefore, two different and complementary networks are involved in the consumption of palm fruits. These results advance our understanding of frugivorous networks in general and support the management of these threatened palm ecosystems.