Abstract
Alatish National Park, which is located in the Amhara National Regional State at the border with the Republic of Sudan, is rich in its avian resources. To study the park’s avian communities, the study area was classified based on its vegetation structures into riverine woodland, wooded grassland, woodland, and bamboo woodland. Data were collected from July 2017 to April 2018 using line transect and point count methods. As a result, 132 species of birds belonging to 18 orders and 55 families were identified. The highest species diversities during the wet (H’ = 3.53) and dry (H’ = 3.55) seasons were recorded in the riverine woodland habitat. Species evenness was also the highest during the wet (E = 0.79) and dry (E = 0.77) seasons in the riverine woodland habitat. The bamboo woodland habitat harboured the lowest species diversity during the wet (H’ = 2.81) and dry (H’ = 2.45) seasons. More species similarity (SI = 0.90) was recorded between wooded grassland and bamboo woodland habitats during the dry season. Relative abundance of birds among the different species showed significant differences (F131, 1452 = 2.94,P<0.05), and most birds in the area were identified as uncommon species. Forest fire, logging, and overgrazing by cattle have significantly contributed to habitat destruction in the park which might act as the cause for reduction in avian diversity. Therefore, appropriate conservation strategies should be designed and implemented to minimize avian habitat destruction due to various anthropogenic activities within the park.
Highlights
In Ethiopia, there are 881 avian species with 19 endemics, as well as 31 globally threatened and one introduced species [1]
Alatish National Park is located in the West Gondar Administrative Zone, about 1048 km northwest of Addis Ababa and 311 km southwest of Gondar town. e Park is bordered in the west and northwest by the Republic of Sudan, in the east and northeast by Quara Woreda, and in the south, southwest, and southeast by Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State. e vegetation of the park is known to act as a “green guard” against the desert expansion from Sudan and Sahel region [18]. e geographic position of the park is within 11°48′ – 12°26′N latitude, and 35°16′ – 35°46′E longitude (Figure 1)
A total of 132 avian species belonging to 18 orders and families were identified during the study period, and among these only species were identified as resident birds
Summary
In Ethiopia, there are 881 avian species with 19 endemics, as well as 31 globally threatened and one introduced species [1]. Most avian species occur in Important Bird Areas (IBAs), these areas represent only 5% of the country’s total area [2]. Amhara National Regional State has been designated as one of the IBAs of the country and comprises 75% of the Central Ethiopian Highland endemic bird areas [3]. Some of the avian species that occur in this region are threatened with extinction, while others such as Abyssinian longclaw (Macronyx flavicollis Ruppell, 1840), Harwood’s Francolin (Francolinus harwoodi Blundell and Lovat, 1899), and Wattled ibis (Bostrychia carunculata Ruppell, 1840) are in the IUCN Red Data Book [4]. Environmental heterogeneity in the form of spatial variation in the habitat and local climate can influence the distributions of species [6]
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