Abstract

REVELO HERNANDEZ, Carolina; GALLEGO ZERRATO, Juan José; CASTRO OSPINA, Juan Felipe  and  MURILLO GARCIA, Oscar E.. Morphometric Variation in the Assembly of Passerine Birds Present in Two Zones of Tropical Forest with Different Degrees of Disturbance. rev. cienc. [online]. 2016, vol.20, n.spe, pp.125-137. ISSN 0121-1935.

The association between morphology and habitat has been demonstrated in many studies of functional morphology; therefore, changes in habitat level may be reflected in morphological attributes of the communities. This study evaluated whether there are differences in morphological characteristics of passerine birds between two zones with different degrees of disturbance for which catches were made with mist nets and morphometric characters of individuals captured were recorded. It was found that there are differences in morphology between areas and these are mainly due to the relationship between tarsus length, wings and tail with the total length. From these relationships, two basic morphologies were established. Forest birds have short wings, long tail and long tarsus, while birds of the perturbated area have long wings, short tail and short tarsus. However, we found birds with intermediate morphologies in both areas. Therefore, intervened habitats change not only the composition of species but also the morphological characteristics of Passeriformes assemblies probably due to a biotic homogenization process

Keywords : morphology; adaptation; habitat; disturbance; Passeriformes assembly.

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