Deforestation and bird habitat loss in Colombia. (May 2021) - Negret, Pablo Jose
Abstract: Tropical deforestation continues at high rates in many regions, but it is often reported only in terms of area lost or its impacts on high-profile threatened species. Here, we examined the impact of both past and projected future deforestation on habitat extent for the entire assemblage of forest-dependent birds across the country with the greatest richness of bird species: Colombia. Of the 550 forest-dependent species analysed, almost all ( n = 536; 96.5%) had lost habitat, and 18% had lost at least half of their habitat by 2015. We used the recently developed Loss Index (LI) to capture the severity of habitat loss for the forest bird assemblage, discovering that the current LI for Colombia is 35, which means 35% of bird species have lost at least 35% of their habitat. However, there were large regional differences. The national LI for Colombia is projected to rise to 43 by 2040 if recent forest loss trends continue. A threat assessment for the regionally-endemic species in the country showed that 12 (30%) of the species that are projected to lose 50% or more of their historical habitat by 2040 are not currently classified as threatened by the IUCN, suggesting that there are many unlisted species that face an imminent extinction threat from ongoing habitat loss. This extensive habitat depletion affecting entire species assemblages has significant implications for tropical forest ecosystems. We consider the risks this poses to ecosystem function and ecosystem service provision in Colombia's forests, and the ramifications of our findings for other tropical biodiversity hotspots.