DOI: 10.5061/dryad.djh9w0w9k
title: Data from: A tropical paradise for all? Nest-site selection shifts by an endemic Neotropical woodpecker associated with human settlements

description: Human modification of forests is the main threat to woodpeckers due to
 their ecological reliance on forest structure. However, little is known of
 how woodpecker species respond to habitat modification and land-use change
 in the Neotropics. In 2018, we determined nest-site selection by the
 Mexican endemic Melanerpes chrysogenys (Golden-cheeked Woodpecker) in
 protected old-growth tropical dry forest and in non-urban human
 settlements to evaluate how land-use change may alter nest-site selection
 by endemic species. We found that tree substrate and surrounding
 vegetation differed between protected forest and human-modified areas, and
 that M. chrysogenys varied nest-site selection criteria with land-use
 change. In protected forest, woodpeckers selected tree substrate variables
 of large, emergent, live Roseodendron donnell-smithii trees for nesting,
 with surrounding vegetation according to resource availability in the
 forest. However, in non-urban human settlements, M. chrysogenys used the
 dominant Cocos nucifera palms as nesting substrate but selected palms in
 surrounding vegetation with more large trees (&gt;15 cm DBH), more
 standing dead palms, and more vegetation cover above 2 m height. This
 shift in nest-site selection criteria may enable M. chrysogenys to adapt
 to modified environments, but the selection of surrounding vegetation
 traits reflects reliance of the species on forest structure for potential
 foraging resources. To maintain habitat conditions for endemic woodpecker
 species in human-modified areas, we suggest increasing abundance of native
 tree species in non-urban human settlements and developing management
 guidelines for the maintenance of standing dead trees or palms with
 appropriate human-safety guidelines. As woodpeckers are primary cavity
 excavators that sustain complex nest-webs, these recommendations are
 likely to benefit a variety of additional non-excavator species in
 human-modified environments.
description: Data collected by direct observation in the field and quadrant
 vegetation sampling. Hypothesis testing analysis conducted with
 Mann-Whitney U, 2-sample t-tests, chi-square tests, and multiple logistic
 regression.
description: # Data from: A tropical paradise for all? Nest-site selection shifts by an
 endemic Neotropical woodpecker associated with human settlements
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.djh9w0w9k](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.djh9w0w9k) ## Description of the data and file structure Data are provided in Excel book format with two sheets Plots: data for nest and random trees Quadrants: data for point-center quarter samples around nest and random trees ### Files and variables #### File: Data\_Maya-Elizarraras\_et al 2025.xlsx **Description:** Excel book provides data for cavity and vegetation characteristics around nest and random trees ##### Variables * **Habitat_type:** Categories of Non-urban human settlement (1) and Tropical dry forest (2). * **Class:** Categories of Nest (1) and Random tree (2). * **Point:** Code name for each individual site. * **Quadrant:** Identifier code, where 0 is the center of the quadrant or focal tree, and 1-4 sequential numbers for each of the four quadrants. * **Tree_specie:** Scientific name of tree species coded by first three letters of genus and first three letters of species. * **Cavity_width:** Entrance diameter of cavity (cm). NA = Not Applicable as no nest-cavity present. * **Cavity_depth:** Internal vertical depth of cavity (cm). NA = Not Applicable as no nest-cavity present. ND = No Data. * **Cavity_height:** Height of cavity entrance from the ground (m). NA = Not Applicable as no nest-cavity present. * **Cavity_DBH:** Diameter of support structure at cavity entrance (cm). NA = Not Applicable as no nest-cavity present. * **Tree_DBH:** Diameter at breast height of tree (cm). * **Tree_height:** Total height of tree (m) * **Tree_condition:** Categories of Dead (1) or Live (2). * **Inclination:** Angle of the cavity entrance from vertical (0-45°). NA = Not Applicable as no nest-cavity present. * **Orientation:** Cavity entrance orientation (0-360°). NA = Not Applicable as no nest-cavity present. * **Habitat_trees:** Total number of trees per plot * **Habitat_trees_10:** number of trees with Diameter at Breast Height &lt;10 cm per plot * **Habitat_trees_11-15:** number of trees with Diameter at Breast Height 11-15 cm per plot. * **Habitat_trees_15:** number of trees with Diameter at Breast Height &gt;15 cm per plot. * **Habitat_dead_fall:** Number of fallen dead trees. * **Habitat_dead_stand:** Number of standing dead trees. * **Habitat_Branches_7:** Number of branches with a diameter &gt;7 cm at their node and height &gt;4 m. * **Habitat_cavities:** Number of woodpecker cavities in survey plot. * **Habitat_cov_0.5:** Vegetation cover (%) at height of 0 - 0.5 m. * **Habitat_cov_1:** Vegetation cover (%) at height of 0.5 - 1 m. * **Habitat_cov_2:** Vegetation cover (%) at height of 1 - 2 m. * **Habitat_cov_4:** Vegetation cover (%) at height of 2 - 4 m. * **Habitat_cov_8:** Vegetation cover (%) at height of 4 - 8 m. * **Habitat_cov_16:** Vegetation cover (%) at height of 8 - 16 m. * **Habitat_cov_32:** Vegetation cover (%) at height of 16 - 32 m. * **Distance:** Distance (m ) from the focal tree. NA = Not Applicable as this is the focal tree. * **Canopy_radius1:** Tree canopy length measurement (m). * **Canopy_radius2:** Tree canopy width measurement (m). * **Canopy_cover:** Tree canopy cover, calculated as a geometric ellipse using canopy length and width measurements. ## Code/software Statistical analyses were conducted using RStudio and the base R package version 4.1.0 (R Core Team 2021). Mardia-Watson-Wheeler test of cavity entrance orientation performed using the software PAST (Hammer et al. 2001).