Effect Of Habitat On The Avifauna Of La Joya-Buenavista Coastal Lagoon System, Chiapas, Mexico

Coastal lagoon systems provide food and shelter for a great diversity of birds. A rapid assessment survey of bird species richness and abundance was carried out in the La Joya-Buenavista lagoon system, Chiapas State, using the count in transects to obtain data from three habitats (Lagoon, Channel and Inlet) between April and August 2017. The influence of habitat on avifauna was evaluated through univariate and multivariate statistical analyzes. We identified 16 orders, 31 families, 58 genera and 69 species. The best represented families were Ardeidae, Scolopacidae and Laridae. The Lagoon habitat harbored the greatest richness (50 spp.) and accumulated abundance (1094 organisms), while the Channel had a relatively low number of organisms but with notable records for some families and species with some risk category. In contrast, Inlet presented a lower number of species and a greater abundance of species associated with anthropogenic disturbance. The results show a significant effect of the habitat in the avifauna, but without differences at a temporal level, so it is recommended to continue and intensify the sampling to an annual cycle and with interannual replicas to corroborate the spatial pattern found. The use of a habitat approach in assessments of avifauna shows that this group is a potential indicator for the analysis of ecological structure, an aspect that can be incorporated into a management plan for regional coastal ecosystems.