Oil palm plantations are rapidly expanding in tropical areas, although the nature of the impacts on the functional roles of the different species in the ecosystem is poorly understood. The present study is the first assessment of how oil palm affects the functional diversity of birds in the Brazilian Amazon and tests the hypothesis that converting forest to oil palm decreases functional diversity of bird communities, selecting species more tolerant to environmental disturbances. We conducted point counts to survey bird communities in 16 plots in the eastern Amazon. We sampled 32 points in riparian forest, 128 in oil palm and 160 in forested habitats. To test whether the conversion of forest into oil palm plantations affects functional diversity of birds we calculated the FD (Functional Diversity) and FRic (Functional Richness) indices. To examine whether oil palm plantations select species functionally more similar than expected by chance we used a null model (SES.FD). FD was significantly higher in the forest plots in comparison with riparian forests and oil palm, and lower in oil palm when compared with riparian forests. FRic, in turn, was greater in forest plots than in oil palm and in riparian forest. These results show that the conversion of forested areas to oil palm represents a great loss of functional strategies. The SES values indicate that in forested habitats bird communities tend to be functionally clustered while in the oil palm they are functionally overdispersed. The functional traits most affected by oil palm were those associated with diet and foraging stratum. In short, oil palm plantations reduced functional diversity of birds, although the presence of riparian forests within the plantations and the fragments of forest adjacent are extremely important for the maintenance of ecosystem services.

Biodiversity data, particularly species occurrence and abundance, are indispensable for testing empirical hypothesis in natural sciences. However, datasets built for research programmes do not often meet FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) principles, which raises questions about data quality, accuracy and availability. The 21^st century has markedly been a new era for data science and analytics and every effort to aggregate, standardise, filter and share biodiversity data from multiple sources have become increasingly necessary. In this study, we propose a framework for refining and conforming secondary biodiversity data to FAIR standards to make them available for use such as macroecological modelling and other studies. We relied on a Darwin Core base model to standardise and further facilitate the curation and validation of data related including the occurrence and abundance of multiple taxa of a region that encompasses estuarine ecosystems in an ecotonal area bordering the easternmost Amazonia. We further discuss the significance of feeding standardised public data repositories to advance scientific progress and highlight their role in contributing to the biodiversity management and conservation.

Passeriformes is the largest and most diverse avian order in the world and comprises the Passeri and Tyranni suborders. These suborders constitute a monophyletic group, but differ in their ecology and history of occupation of South America. We investigated the influence of biogeographic history on functional and phylogenetic diversities of Passeri and Tyranni in forest and savanna habitats in the Brazilian Amazon. We compiled species composition data for 34 Passeriformes assemblages, 12 in savannas and 22 in forests. We calculated the functional (Rao's quadratic entropy, FD_Q) and phylogenetic diversities (mean pairwise distance, MPD, and mean nearest taxon distance, MNTD), and the functional beta diversity to investigate the potential role of biogeographic history in shaping ecological traits and species lineages of both suborders. The functional diversity of Passeri was higher than for Tyranni in both habitats. The MPD for Tyranni was higher than for Passeri in forests; however, there was no difference between the suborders in savannas. In savannas, Passeri presented higher MNTD than Tyranni, while in forest areas, Tyranni assemblages showed higher MNTD than Passeri. We found a high functional turnover (~75%) between Passeri and Tyranni in both habitats. The high functional diversity of Passeri in both habitats is due to the high diversity of ecological traits exhibited by species of this group, which enables the exploitation of a wide variety of resources and foraging strategies. The higher Tyranni MPD and MNTD in forests is likely due to Tyranni being older settlers in this habitat, resulting in the emergence and persistence of more lineages. The higher Passeri MNTD in savannas can be explained by the existence of a larger number of different Passeri lineages adapted to this severe habitat. The high functional turnover between the suborders in both habitats suggests an ecological strategy to avoid niche overlap.

Nesting associations between birds and wasps may increase reproductive success of birds because the stings of these insects serve to protect the ofspring against predators. The predation of wasps by birds is known from elsewhere and usually birds feed on the wasps during fight. Here we report on nest associations between birds and social wasps and comments on wasp nest predation by birds in the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands. The study was conducted in the sub-region known as “Pantanal de Poconé”, state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. We recorded seven associations involving four bird species: Paroaria capitata, Myiozetetes similis, M. cayannensis and Columbina talpacoti, and four wasp species: Polybia sericea, P. rufceps xanthops, Chartergus globiventris and Parachartergus fraternus. One successful nest of M. cayannensis (14.2%) was associated to P. sericea wasps. On the other hand, 42.8% of the bird nests were abandoned, and 42.8% were preyed upon. Additionally, a direct event of wasp nest predation was recorded, in which a group of Melanerpes candidus attacked a nest of P. rufceps xanthops. Other ten wasp nests were found with marks of predation made by birds. Tese were nests of Synoeca surinama (n = 2), P. chrysothorax (n = 2), P. rufceps xanthops (n = 3), P. sericea (n = 2) and P. jurinei (n = 1), suggesting that social wasps may constitute an additional element in the diet of insectivorous birds. We concluded that: 1) associations with wasps did not prevent predation of bird nests against the variety of predators in the region, and 2) the predation of social wasps by birds can contribute to population control of these social insects in the Pantanal. Further studies may shed additional light on this bird-wasp relationship.