Title
Impacts of small-scale gold mining on birds and anurans near the Tambopata Natural Reserve, Peru, assessed using passive acoustic monitoring
Date Issued
01 June 2016
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Alvarez-Berríos N.
Campos-Cerqueira M.
Hernández-Serna A.
Román-Dañobeytia F.
Aide T.M.
Publisher(s)
Mongaby.com e-journal
Abstract
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASM) is becoming a significant cause of environmental degradation in tropical ecosystems. In this study, we conducted a rapid assessment on the impact of an ASM gold mine on the vocalizing avian and anuran communities in the buffer zone of the Tambopata National Reserve in Peru. We used seven audio recorders (three near an active mine, two in an abandoned mine, and two in an adjacent forest) to collect 2900 recordings to generate soundscapes and compare acoustic activity patterns of birds and anurans among sites. We identified 56 bird species during the morning chorus (05:00-07:00) and 9 anurans species in the evening chorus (18:00-20:00). Bird species richness was similar between the forest (28 bird species), the abandoned mine (25 species) and the active mine (24 species), but species richness of birds sensitive to disturbance was much lower in the active mine. In contrast, anuran species richness was highest in the active mine (5 species) and lowest in the forest (2 species). Results indicate that acoustic monitoring and soundscape analysis can be effective tools for evaluating the impact of mining activities on vocalizing species, and could become useful tools in rapid environmental impact assessments for mitigation and conservation strategies in ASM mining regions.
Start page
832
End page
851
Volume
9
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Conservación de la Biodiversidad
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84976448584
Source
Tropical Conservation Science
ISSN of the container
19400829
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus