English

Abstract. Ramlah S, Santosa Y, Santoso N, Rushayati SB. 2021. The variation of bird diversity in various oil palm land cover in North Mamuju, West Sulawesi, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 22: 3068-3074. The development of oil palm plantations provides various positive impacts. On the other hand, this development is suspected to bring negative impacts on biodiversity, especially reducing bird species diversity. Based on the other research, well-managed oil palm plantations that maintain high conservation value areas have high species diversity. This study aimed to identify bird species diversity in different types of oil palm plantation land covers in North Mamuju. Data observation of bird species was performed using the transect method. There were 4 transects on each land cover. The results of this study showed that the young oil palm area had a high index of diversity and species richness. The high species diversity in the young palm area was caused by habitat variations. There was a water flow that provides more feed sources. The distance between the young oil palm area and secondary forest area affected the number of species, species richness and diversity of bird species. The category of insectivore guild which included aerial insectivores and insectivores was the dominant guild in all types of land cover, both in the number of species and the number of individual abundances.

The rapid development of urbanization has changed landscape patterns and biological habitats severely and, therefore, affected biodiversity. In this study, we selected 75 townships in Lishui, a mountainous area in eastern China, to conduct bird surveys for two years. We analyzed the birds' composition characters in townships with different levels of development in order to identify the effects on bird diversity of the urban development level, land cover pattern, landscape pattern, and other factors. In total, 296 bird species from 18 orders and 67 families were recorded between December 2019 and January 2021. A total of 166 species of birds belonged to Passeriformes (56.08%). The seventy-five townships were divided into three grades by K-means cluster analysis. The average number of bird species, richness index, and diversity index were higher in G-H (highest urban development level) compared with the other grades. At the township level, landscape diversity and landscape fragmentation were the key factors that positively affected the bird species number, diversity index, and richness index. Landscape diversity had a greater effect than landscape fragmentation, particularly on the Shannon-Weiner diversity index. The diversity and heterogeneity of urban landscapes could be improved by constructing biological habitats in future urban development planning to maintain and increase biodiversity. The results obtained in this study provide a theoretical basis for urban planning in mountainous areas, and a reference for policymakers to formulate biodiversity conservation strategies, construct reasonable biodiversity patterns, and solve practical biodiversity conservation problems.

Effects of patch-burn grazing and rotational grazing on grassland bird abundance, species richness, and diversity in native grassland pastures of the Midsouth USA

Aim The composition of communities is known to be influenced by biogeographical history, but also by local environmental conditions. Yet few studies have evaluated the relative importance of the direct and indirect effects of multiple factors on species diversity in rich Neotropical forests. Our study aims to assess drivers of change in local bird species richness in lowland tropical rain forests.Location Thirty‐two physiographic subregions along the corridor of the Panama Canal, Panama.Methods We mapped the distributions of all forest‐dwelling bird species and quantified the environmental characteristics of all subregions, including mean annual rainfall, topographic complexity, elevational variability, forest age and forest area. Plant species richness, believed to be correlated with structural complexity, was estimated by interpolation through kriging for subregions where data were unavailable.Results The study region has a strong rainfall gradient across a short distance (65 km), which is also accompanied by steep gradients in plant and bird species diversity. Path analysis showed that precipitation strongly affected plant species diversity, which in turn affected avian diversity. Forest age and topography affected bird diversity independently of plant diversity. Forest area and its proportion occurring in the largest two fragments of each subregion (habitat configuration) were also positive correlates of bird species richness.Main conclusions Our results suggest that plant species richness, known to be influenced in part by biogeographical history and geology, also affects bird species assemblages locally. We provide support for the hypothesis that bird species richness increases with structural complexity of the habitat. Our analysis of the distributions of the region's most disturbance‐sensitive bird species showed that subregions with more rainfall, more complex topography and older forests harboured not only richer communities but also more sensitive species; while subregions with the opposite characteristics usually lacked large fractions of the regional forest bird community and hosted only common, widely distributed species. Results also emphasize the importance of preserving forest diversity from habitat loss and fragmentation, and confirm that larger, continuous forest tracts are necessary to maintain the rich avian diversity in the region.


 Birds are important bio-indicators and provide various ecosystem services including pollination, dispersal, and pest control. However, they are threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. Study on species diversity, relative abundance, and habitat associations of avifauna were conducted in Tara Gedam Monastery forest patch and associated habitats from July 2016 to April 2017. Stratified random sampling approach was used to classify habitats and select sampling plots based on vegetation type. Consequently, forest, bushland, farmland, and plantation habitats were used for data collection. Point count and line transect methods were used to collect data, and Shannon-Weiner and Simpson’s diversity indices were used to estimate the avian species diversity. One-way ANOVA was conducted to compare avian relative abundance and richness among the different habitat types. A total of 98 species of birds belonging to 14 orders and 41 families were recorded in Tara Gedam Monastery forest and associated habitats. Eighty-seven resident bird species and eleven Palearctic migrants were identified of which seven species are endemic to Ethiopia and Eritrea. The highest avian diversity (H’=4.23) was recorded in the study area during the wet season.The highest species similarity index (SI=0.47) was recorded between forest and bushland habitats during the wet season, while the lowest similarity index (SI=0.07) was found between bush-land and farmland habitats during the dry season. Species richness and relative abundance of bird species varied between the wet and dry seasons. Besides birds, Tara Gedam Monastery forest supports a large number of other wild fauna species, which indicates the area’s potential to support biodiversity. Therefore, there must be a collaborative work between the monastery and different governmental and non-governmental organizations to protect the entire ecosystem in order to conserve the whole biodiversity of the area in general and the avifauna in particular.

A study of bird species diversity (BSD) on three seral stages characteristic of secondary succession on the New Jersey Piedmont was done during the winter of 1968—69, the spring of 1969, and the summer of 1969. The seral studies were a 2— to 33—year—old field (the herbaceous field), a 30—year—old field (the cedar field), and a climax oak—hickory forest (the oak forest). Two study plots, each with an area of 2 hectares, were chosen within each seral stage. Diversity indices were calculated using the Shannon—Weaver information formula, H'=—‐Σpilogepi. The species count (species richness) was found to account for many of the differences in BSD between the seral stages. The evenness with which species were numerically distributed (equitability) was found to be lowest and to be lowest and to have its greatest influence on the diversity index in the herbaceous field, due to the presence of large flocks of non—nesting species. Equitability was higher and more constant in the cedar field and oak forest. Territoriality was thought to account for the higher equitabilities observed in summer. In winter, the more rigorous environment was thought to be a factor in lowering the equitability at least in the cedar field.Equitability was not lowered as much in the oak forest, possibly due to aggregations of birds into mixed species flocks. The cedar field and oak forest were qui te different in the seasonal patterns of equitability. Both species richness and equitability were concluded to be important parameters in ecological study.

Birds are the most conspicuous and significant component of freshwater wetland ecosystem. Presence or absence of birds may indicate the ecological conditions of the wetland area. The objectives of this study were to determine bird species abundance and their relationship with microclimate and habitat variables. Distance sampling point count method was applied for determining species abundance and multiple regressions was used for finding relationship between bird species abundance, microclimate and habitat variables. Bird species were monitored during November, 2007 to January, 2009. A total of 8728 individual birds comprising 89 species and 38 families were detected. Marsh Swamp was swarmed by 84 species (69.8%) followed open water body by 55 species (17.7%) and lotus swamp by 57 species (12.6%). Purple swamphenPorphyrio porphyrio(9.1% of all detections) was the most abundant bird species of marsh swamp, lesser whistling duck—Dendrocygna javanica(2.3%) was dominant species of open water body and pink-necked green pigeon—Treron vernans(1.7%) was most common species of lotus swamp. Results revealed that the habitat characteristics such as vegetation composition (i.e. emergent and submerged vegetations, grasses, shrubs, and trees), vegetation structures (tree diameter and height) and microclimate variables (temperature, relative humidity and light intensity) were the key factors that influenced the distribution, diversity and density of the wetland bird species. This study also revealed that the wetland bird species have adapted a fairly unique set of microhabitat and microclimate conditions.

The Sapen Nusantara Conservation forest park is agroforestry that has certain vegetation. The vegetation in Sapen Nusantara Protected forest park seems to support the existence of birds as wildlife that need a living habitat. The existence of bird species in Sapen Nusantara Protected forest park is very important in supporting agroforestry vegetation. However, until now the diversity of bird species there has not been identified and recorded properly. The forest is one of the buffer forests of Mount Arjuno protection forest, so the ecosystem must be maintained. This study aims to analyze the diversity of bird species in the agroforest forest area in Sapen Nusantara Conservation forest park, Ledug Village, Pasuruan. The research was conducted in July 2021 using the direct observation method (point count) on ecotourism routes by calculating and recording the trails traversed using GPS, sampling by observing walking along the path/road accompanied by predetermined observation points, identification based on MacKinnon et al., (2010) and information on the status of its protection. Data analysis used the Shannon-Wiener diversity index, evenness index, and species richness index. The results of the study identified 18 bird species from 16 families with a total of 169 individuals. Of all the birds found, 18 species are listed in IUCN status, and 4 are listed in the protected status PP No. P.106 of 2018 and 3 species are listed in the CITES category Appendix II. It is known that the Shannon diversity index (H'=2,547) is in the medium diversity category. species evenness index (E=0.9) with a high evenness category and stable community. Then the specific wealth index (R=3.31) with the category of species richness is classified as medium. The presence of birds in the Sapen Nusantara conservation park forest indicates that the ecosystem in the forest is still maintained and this cannot be separated from the role of the community, especially the Ledug Lembaga Masyarakat Desa Hutan (LMDH), which manages and maintains the forest.

Understanding factors determining the distribution of species is a key requirement for protecting diversity in a specific area. The aim of this study was to explore the factors affecting diversity and distribution of species of birds on different forested hills in central Nepal. The area is rich in species of birds. Because the area is characterized by steep gradients, we were also interested in the importance of altitude in determining the diversity and species composition of the bird communities. We assessed bird diversity and species composition based on point observations along a gradient of increasing altitude in two valleys (Kathmandu and Palung) in central Nepal. Data on environmental variables were also collected in order to identify the main determinants of bird diversity and species composition of the bird communities. We recorded 6522 individual birds belonging to 146 species, 77 genera and 23 families. Resident birds made up 80% (117 species) of the total dataset. The study supported the original expectation that altitude is a major determinant of species richness and composition of bird communities in the area. More diverse bird communities were found also in areas with steeper slopes. This together with the positive effect of greater heterogeneity suggests that forests on steep slopes intermixed with patches of open habitats on shallow soil at large spatial scales are more important for diverse bird communities than more disturbed habitats on shallow slopes. In addition, we demonstrated that while different habitat characteristics such as presence of forests edges and shrubs play an important role in driving species composition, but they do not affect species richness. This indicates that while habitat conditions are important determinants of the distribution of specific species, the number of niches is determined by large scale characteristics, such as landscape level habitat heterogeneity and altitude. Thus, to protect bird diversity in the mid-hills of central Nepal, we should maintain diverse local habitats (viz. forest, shrubs, open land, etc.) but also make sure the natural habitats on steeper slopes with large scale heterogeneity are maintained.

Study on community composition, relative abundance and habitat association of avifauna in Apini and Dikuma forest patches, Awi Administrative Zone, Ethiopia, was carried out from September 2013 to April 2014. The main objective of this study was to investigate diversity, relative abundance, and habitat association of avian species in the study area. Data were collected using point count method, and analyzed using Shannon Weiner index, Simpson´s diversity index and Sorensen´s coefficient. A total of 95 avian species belonging to 44 families and 11orders were identified. Among 95 bird species, 93 are residents, one is intra-African migrant and one is Palaearctic migrant, and of the 93 resident birds, seven are endemic to Ethiopia, and ten shared between Ethiopia and Eritrea. In the present study, 79 and 83 bird species were recorded during the wet and dry seasons, respectively. Dikuma forest patch had the highest avian diversity during the dry season (H´=3.84) and Apini had the lowest (H´=3.59) in the same season. Habitat association of birds among the vegetation strata showed the highest species similarity occurred between forest interior and forest edge (CC=0.65), followed by forest edge and shrub (CC=0.62), and the least was between forest interior and shrub (CC=0.3). Species richness and composition are important parameters to maintain stability and functioning of an ecosystem. To conserve the rich avian diversity of Apini and Dikuma forest patches, the anthropogenic disturbances in the area should be minimized.Keywords: Diversity index, point count, relative abundance, resident birds, species similarity

The Mexican coast offers a wide variety of ecosystem services. Yet, tourist infrastructure and agricultural activities that affect biodiversity are being developed along its coastal areas. This study analyzed avian composition, diversity, and spatial distribution across three habitats (mangrove, islet, dune) in Mitla Lagoon, located in the state of Guerrero in southern Mexico. Fieldwork was conducted over 11 months from 2015 to 2016. Bird species were recorded through sightings and vocal identification. Birds were categorized by their seasonality and by aquatic and terrestrial guilds. Bird species diversity among coastal sites was compared using Hill numbers. A total of 49 bird species from 22 families were recorded. The islet and mangrove habitats had the highest bird species richness and diversity. Waterbird guilds, such as aerial searchers and waders, were better represented in the islet, while terrestrial guilds, including both ground and arboreal foragers, were associated with the dune. On the islet, most species were waterbirds, whereas land birds were primarily found in the dune habitat. Mangroves are crucial for bird species at risk under national and international laws. This study serves as a valuable resource for designing biodiversity-focused ecotourism programs and conservation strategies in the coastal environments of the Mexican Pacific.

Avifaunal communities as indicators of silvicultural impacts in mangrove forests.

Abstract. Withaningsih S, Parikesit, Rakha. 2022. Diversity of bird species in Pangheotan grassland and Mount Masigit Kareumbi Hunting Park, West Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 23: 2790-2798. The diversity of bird species is often used as an indicator of the ecosystem balance of an area. One of the efforts to preserve and protect the diversity of bird species is made by fostering habitat in the Pangheotan I Grassland (Kebun Rumput Pangheotan, hereinafter Pangheotan grassland) of PT. Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) VIII, West Bandung District, Indonesia and the Wali Pohon Block of Mount Masigit Kareumbi Hunting Park (Taman Buru Gunung Masigit Kareumbi herein after TBGMK), Bandung District, Indonesia. This study aims to determine the diversity of bird species in the two areas so that it can be used as basic data in making planning strategies for maintaining and increasing biodiversity. Bird data collection techniques using the point count method and analysis of bird species diversity data were carried out using a quantitative data analysis approach. In the second year of habitat development, 27 species of birds were found in Pangheotan grassland, with a Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H') of 2,479 (medium diversity), an evenness index of 0.814 (even abundance), and Pycnonotus aurigaster was the species of bird that had the highest relative frequency and relative abundance. Meanwhile, in the second year of habitat development in TBGMK, 45 species of birds were found with H' of 3,237 (high diversity), and E of 0.926 (even abundance), and srigunting kelabu (Dicrurus leucophaeus) was the species of bird that had the highest relative frequency and relative abundance. The results of the study show the success of the habitat development carried out in these two locations through the biodiversity by design program.

The expansion of oil-palm plantations in Indonesia is often blamed as the driving causes of deforestation and impacts on environmental changes including the destructed biodiversity. Our understanding regarding environmental impacts on biodiversity is still limited. We address this issue by examining the diversity of butterfly and bird species under two type habitat conditions in Central Borneo. We calculated the butterfly and bird species number, richness, evenness, similarity, and composition inside the established oil-plantation area comprising four large-scale plantations and seven smallholding plantations, as habitat after plantation establishment. In comparison, we did so similarly inside secondary forest and shrubs, as habitat before oil-palm plantation establishment. Our results revealed that the habitat after plantation establishment exhibited a higher number of butterfly and bird species than the habitat beforehand. However, the richness, evenness, and similarity indices for the species revealed variations, which were affected by dominant species in two habitats. The establishment of oil-palm plantation brought about significant impacts on the composition of species and affected the species similarities between two habitats. The oil-palm plantation landscape and reserved forest vegetation were essential in supporting diversity and ecological role of species on habitat condition after oil-palm plantation establishment.

The spatial distribution of suitable habitats and dispersal abilities of the constituent taxa jointly affect the structure of metacommunities in standing freshwaters. Most studies exploring spatial effects on aquatic metacommunities, however, focus on at most a few taxonomic groups. Within two consecutive seasons, we studied spatial patterns in the species richness and composition of three passively dispersing and three actively flying freshwater invertebrate groups (rotifers, microcrustaceans and molluscs vs. hemipterans, aquatic beetles and odonates) in a metacommunity system consisting of 42 newly or recently created fishless pools in a highly heterogeneous Central European sandstone landscape consisting of deep valleys and steep ridges. We hypothesized that the extent to which these dispersal barriers affect invertebrate groups depends on their dispersal mode, and that the ability of each group to colonize new habitats is affected by the landscape morphology. Moreover, we predicted that the history and age of the pools would play a major role in structuring of invertebrate communities. Following the classical island biogeography pattern, habitat size (measured as pool surface area or depth) was the key characteristic influencing species richness for each of the six studied groups (range of explained variation: 10%–58.7%). The number of nearby aquatic habitats (i.e., potential colonization sources) was also an important determinant of species richness for molluscs (18.8%), crustaceans (36.4%) and aquatic beetles (27.2%). After pool size, the most important factor influencing species richness was the presence and functional composition of aquatic macrophytes in the pools, which affected the species richness of odonates (25.2%), aquatic beetles (12.2%), rotifers (11.1%), and crustaceans (8.3%). Valley distances between localities, defined as the shortest distance that avoids crossing steep ridges, explained consistently slightly more variation in species composition (2.6%–12.6%) than did Euclidean distances (1.0%–10.1%) for all six groups. Spatial variables (the valley distance matrix, position of pools within clusters in the landscape, and the number of nearby aquatic habitats) explained more variation in species composition (3.4%–25.4%) than local pool characteristics (2.8%–9.4%) or temporal variation (0%–7.6%) in all taxa except hemipterans, whose species composition was almost equally affected by local (3.3%) and spatial factors (3.4%). We conclude that landscape‐level spatial structure in our study area affects the dispersal and metacommunity assembly of both actively and passively dispersing invertebrates more than studied pool characteristics or temporal variation. The observed congruence between groups with different dispersal modes is likely because flying insects follow similar dispersal routes as the key animal vectors of passive dispersers. Our study highlights the importance of including relevant topography features in studies of aquatic metacommunities in complex and heterogeneous landscapes, even for taxa considered to be efficient dispersers.