Food resources and reproductive output of the Austral Parakeet (Enicognathus ferrugineus) in forests of northern Patagonia
Soledad Díaz A C , Thomas Kitzberger A and Salvador Peris B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A INIBIOMA-CONICET and Laboratorio Ecotono, CRUB, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Quintral 1250, (8400) Bariloche, Río Negro, Argentina.
B Departamento de Zoología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Salamanca, 37071 Salamanca, Spain.
C Corresponding author. Present address: 256 Cactus Court, Boulder, CO 80304, USA. Email: jisdiaz@gmail.com; jisdiaz@yahoo.com.ar
Emu 112(3) 234-243 https://doi.org/10.1071/MU12005
Submitted: 23 September 2011 Accepted: 20 April 2012 Published: 21 August 2012
Abstract
Assessing use of resources across resource gradients and over time is necessary for determining factors that influence the natural distribution of birds. We analysed the pattern of availability of food resources, the use of food resources and the influence of food availability on reproduction and demography for the Austral Parakeet (Enicognathus ferrugineus) in two southern temperate forests of Argentine Patagonia. The abundance of Austral Parakeets in Nothofagus pumilio forests co-dominated by Araucaria araucana was generally higher and fluctuated more than abundance of populations in monospecific N. pumilio forest. This appears to be related to A. araucana providing a larger but more variable food resource. Austral Parakeets responded quickly to changing availability of resources by modifying their diet if alternative food resources were available, and reproductive success also increased when seed availability was high. We found mixed forests to be a unique and important habitat for Austral Parakeets in the northern part of their range, and conservation management should recognise this special role that mixed N. pumilio–A. araucana forests play in Austral Parakeet ecology.
Additional keywords: Araucaria araucana, habitat use, Nothofagus pumilio, pollen, seed, psitacid, southern temperate forest.
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