Abstract

Introduction:  More and more studies include functional diversity to understand biodiversity patterns. However, in Tolima department, little research has been conducted on this aspect in bird communities, creating a knowledge gap to this important facet of biodiversity.

Objective:  To determine changes or patterns in the taxonomic and functional diversity of bird communities at the Centro Universitario Regional del Norte (CURDN) for eight years.

Methods:  The data were organized to identify changes in the bird community over time and during different climatic periods (high and low precipitation). Several indices of taxonomic and functional diversity (alpha and beta) were used. Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) and Non-Parametric Analysis of Similarity (ANOSIM) were applied to evaluate the impact of climatic periods and temporal variation.

Results:  During the sampling, 2 691 individuals were recorded. We found that there was no difference in the taxonomic and functional alpha diversity. However, the results of these two facets of biodiversity revealed opposing patterns that are structuring bird communities. The partitioning analysis of taxonomic beta diversity revealed a process of species turnover, while functional beta diversity revealed functional nestedness.

Conclusions:  Functional diversity suggested that anthropogenic activities in the CURDN act as filters that structure bird communities. These findings highlight the importance of considering these two facets of biodiversity to determine changes or patterns in bird communities over a long period.

Key words: biological diversity; fragmentation; functional redundancy; functional traits; resilience; temporal dynamics.