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Data from: A tropical paradise for all? Nest-site selection shifts by an endemic Neotropical woodpecker associated with human settlements

Renton, Katherine1; Maya-Elizarrarás, Elisa1; De la Mora-Hernández, José Alfonso2; Maya-Elizarrarás, Luis Manuel1

Research facility: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Published Feb 17, 2025 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.djh9w0w9k

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Abstract

Human modification of forests is the main threat to woodpeckers due to their ecological reliance on forest structure. However, little is known of how woodpecker species respond to habitat modification and land-use change in the Neotropics. In 2018, we determined nest-site selection by the Mexican endemic Melanerpes chrysogenys (Golden-cheeked Woodpecker) in protected old-growth tropical dry forest and in non-urban human settlements to evaluate how land-use change may alter nest-site selection by endemic species. We found that tree substrate and surrounding vegetation differed between protected forest and human-modified areas, and that M. chrysogenys varied nest-site selection criteria with land-use change. In protected forest, woodpeckers selected tree substrate variables of large, emergent, live Roseodendron donnell-smithii trees for nesting, with surrounding vegetation according to resource availability in the forest. However, in non-urban human settlements, M. chrysogenys used the dominant Cocos nucifera palms as nesting substrate but selected palms in surrounding vegetation with more large trees (>15 cm DBH), more standing dead palms, and more vegetation cover above 2 m height. This shift in nest-site selection criteria may enable M. chrysogenys to adapt to modified environments, but the selection of surrounding vegetation traits reflects reliance of the species on forest structure for potential foraging resources. To maintain habitat conditions for endemic woodpecker species in human-modified areas, we suggest increasing abundance of native tree species in non-urban human settlements and developing management guidelines for the maintenance of standing dead trees or palms with appropriate human-safety guidelines. As woodpeckers are primary cavity excavators that sustain complex nest-webs, these recommendations are likely to benefit a variety of additional non-excavator species in human-modified environments.