Avifauna de un paisaje rural heterogéneo en Risaralda, cordillera Central de Colombia

Although the transformation of natural landscapes and the appearance of agricultural covers negatively affect biodiversity, some heterogeneous rural landscapes offer opportunities for species conservation and can host very diverse ecological communities. Here we present a description of the bird assemblages in an Andean rural landscape in Risaralda, Colombia, and explore the spatial structure of bird diversity in response to geographical distance between localities, and the species richness in the different vegetation types in the landscape. During 5 years (2013-2017) we recorded 309 species, 50 families and 22 orders in 15 localities of subandean rural landscapes between 1600 and 2200 m a. s. l. We found the spatial turnover in species composition is associated with the geographical distance between localities and vegetation cover diversity in each locality, showing a high complementarity between the local mosaic assemblages. Different types of vegetation contributed to beta diversity and increased regional bird richness. We consider that it is important to include rural landscapes in conservation initiatives at regional and national levels.