Biodiversity conservation in silvopastoral systems in Maniguás and Río Blanco (Matagalpa, Nicaragua)

Abstract

Biodiversity  conservation  in  silvopastoral  systems  in  Maniguás  and  Río  Blanco  (Matagalpa,  Nicaragua).   We  estudied biodiversity of birds, mollusks and plants on 12 land use types from 41 farms, 28 in Bul bul and 13 in Paiwas (Matagalpa, Nicaragua). For the study of vegetation structure and birds we estblished 10 plots on each land use type. For the study of birds, point counts were made on each  farm,  and  for  the  stuy  of  mollusks  we  sampled  50%  of  the  quadrats  made  for  sampling  vegetation  and  birds.  Samplings  were conducted from December 2003 until August 2004. We performed 3 sampling campaigns for the study of birds, 2 for the study of mollusks and 1 for the study of vegetation. We identified 170 plant species, 180 bird species, and 56 mollusk species. Highest values of plant species richness  were  found  in  the  primary  forests from  Quirragua  (S=  46),  and  riparian  forests  (S=  43).  The  highest  values for  bird  species richness were found in riparian forest (S=74), and in altered secondary forests (S=72). As for mollusks, primary forests S=35, followed by ’Tacotales’  (S= 28). Highest biodiversity values for plants were found in the primary forest of Quirragua (H´=3.34), and in riparian forests (H´=3.12) For birds, riparian forests (H´= 3.92) and altered secondary forests (H´=3,86) were the most diverse. Highest biodiversity values for mollusks were found in primary forests (H’ = 2.93) and riparian forests (H’= 2.46).