Habitat restoration for the endangered Yellow Cardinal (Gubernatrix cristata): a forest treatment without affecting bird diversity at the center of Argentina

Abstract

Forest loss and degradation, including woody encroachment as one of the most widespread habitat degradation processes, has been especially marked in South America. For habitat restoration, several management methods of woody encroachment removals have taken place to promote the landscape returns to its native state and beneft both livestock production and wildlife habitat management. Here, we evaluate the potential of a selective mulching of shrubs/saplings to providehabitat restoration to the globally endangered Yellow Cardinal (Gubernatrix cristata). From 2020 to 2022, we compared 20 ontrol and 10 treatment points in the Espinal of La Pampa, Argentina. We compared Yellow Cardinal abundance and bird diversity doing one bird census on each point per year. We also compared the vegetation cover by doing a visual estimationof each plant stratum. Yellow Cardinal abundance (0.77±0.14 individuals per point) was positively related with treatment sites. We found abundance (27.84±1.07 per point), richness (14.38±0.36 per point), Shannon index (2.46±0.03 per point), and Simpson index (0.89±0.01 per point) employed to asses bird α diversity, and Mountford index (0.63±0.0006), and Morisita index 0.29±0.004) employed to asses bird β diversity were not related with sites. Bird diversity varied by year,due to abundance was bigger in 2020 than in 2022, Shannon index and Simpson index were bigger in 2021 than in 2022, and Mountford index was smaller in 2020 than in 2021 and in 2022. The treatment sites only showed lower shrub/sapling cover because the practice was correctly done. We conclude this woody encroachment removal could be implemented to improve the habitat conservation of this endangered species, without afecting the diversity of the bird community. Also,further both long-term studies, as well as transdisciplinary habitat restoration plans, are essential to continue improvin Yellow Cardinal conservation.