Avian Ecology in Latin American Cityscapes

This book gathers a representative sample of the relevant knowledge related to the ecology, behavior, and conservation of birds in urban Latin America. Latin America is one of the most biodiverse regions of the world, yet it is still understudied. Although it concentrates most of its population in rapidly growing cities under considerable economic, social, and environmental disparity, the study of the effects that urbanization has on biodiversity in Latin America is still insufficient. Among the best-studied wildlife groups, birds have been widely used as bioindicators in urban areas. Going from general to specific information regarding avian communities, populations, behavior, threats, and conservation issues, this book describes the state-of-the-art of avian urban ecology in the region. Such knowledge will hopefully promote the regional consolidation of the field and encourage future mechanistic studies that untangle the recorded patterns in order to have the required informationto bridge the gap between evidence-based knowledge and practice in urban systems. Thus, the information included in this document will allow scientists, students, and even decision takers to relate with the current knowledge and gaps related to the topic, providing perspective for future studies and actions.

Ian MacGregor-Fors is Researcher at the Institute of Ecology (INECOL) in Mexico. His passion for birds since adolescence lead him to study Biology at the University of Guadalajara (Mexico). After receiving a PhD with honors at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), he has focused his research on the response of wildlife communities to human disturbances (mainly in towns and cities) and the ecology and distribution of invasive bird species. He has authored or coauthored over 65 publications in scientific journals, as well as two books, several book chapters, and diverse popular science pieces. As of 2012, he is part of the Advisory Board of the International Network Urban Biodiversity & Design (URBIO), seeking to promote the implementation of the United Nations ‘Convention on Biological Diversity’ (CBD) in urban areas. He was Associate Editor for Landscape and Urban Planning from 2014 to 2016 (where he is currently Editorial Advisor), and is presently Associate Editor for the Journal of Urban Ecology, Urban Naturalist, and Huitzil–the Mexican Journal of Ornithology. He is confident that the use of evidence-based knowledge considering the physical, ecological, and social spheres of urban systems can result in the development of biodiverse, resilient, and healthy cities, for which willingness of all implied stakeholders is keystone.

Juan F. Escobar-Ibáñez is a PhD student at the Institute of Ecology (INECOL), Mexico. After studying Biology at the University of Guadalajara (Mexico), he carried out a master’s focused on the role that sugarcane croplands embedded in a cloud forest matrix have on avian communities using a landscape-scale approach. His PhD dissertation is framed on the responses of bird communities to urbanization in four urbanized sites of central Veracruz (Mexico), focusing on diversity and composition changes, as well as identifying some of the related drivers, with an important focus on nest predation.His publications are focused on the natural history and ecology of birds in human disturbed sites, mainly urban. Together with Dr. Ian MacGregor-Fors, he is leading a project to assess the response of birds to urbanization across Mexican capital cities. His main goal as a scientists is to use scientific knowledge as foundation to develop strategies that reduce our impact on biodiversity and increase human well-being in anthropogenic socio-ecosystems.