WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Surveys around seven Shiroro Reservoir sites recorded 21,418 individual birds representing 179 species. Semi-natural habitats supported higher taxonomic and functional diversity than more disturbed or infrastructure-proximate locations; broad species-richness and Shannon responses were not strongly seasonal, although some functional metrics differed between wet and dry periods.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Large infrastructure landscapes are not ecologically uniform. Retained vegetation structure and semi-natural habitat around reservoir margins can matter for community composition even where the reservoir itself dominates the map.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
This is observational evidence from one reservoir landscape, not a before–after hydropower experiment. Site differences are correlated with several habitat and disturbance factors, and measured vegetation variables explained only part of the variation.
SOURCE
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
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