Impacts of the loss of neotropical highland forests on the species distribution: a case study using resplendent quetzal an endangered bird species

The resplendent quetzal Pharomachrus mocinno is an endangered bird specie that reproduces only in small cloud forests, such as those found in Latin America, but over the past century, intensification of cattle ranching and agriculture has resulted in the loss and fragmentation of cloud forests. Results are presented from a study in which the effects of land-cover changes of cloud forests on the current distribution of quetzals were explored in southern Mexico. Past breeding habitats were identified based on a literature review, and the distribution was then compared with the current distribution determined by recent field surveys. Of the 39 breeding evergreen cloud forests that existed in 1970, only five were found to have persisted. The bird surveys revealed that the distribution of quetzals had been reduced by 82% during the past 30 yr due to the destruction and fragmentation of evergreen cloud forests caused by land transformation.