Abstract
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
Highlights
Ethiopia has diverse sets of ecosystems, ranging from humid forests and extensive wetlands to deserts and supporting a wide variety of life forms Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (EWNHS), 1996; Viveropol, 2001)
A total of 95 bird species belonging to 11 orders and 44 families were identified during the present study with 79 and 83 species during the wet and the dry seasons, respectively
Apini and Dikuma forest patches have quite diverse flora, which harbour 95 species including seven endemic species of Ethiopia. Ten avian species such as African citril (Serinus citrinelloides), white winged cliff chat (Thamnolaea semirufa), Abyssinian oriole (Oriolus monacha), white backed black tit (Parus leuconotus), thick billed raven (Corvus crassirostris), white throated seed eater (Serinus xanthopygius), banded barbet (Lybius undatus), Abyssinian wood pecker (Dendropicos abyssinicus), wattled ibis (Bostrychia carunculata), and white collared pigeon (Columba albitoraues) are shared endemic species between Ethiopia and Eritrea. This coincides with the result of Teklu Gosaye (2011) as he reported that five endemic species of Ethiopia and seven endemic species shared with Eritrea in south west shoa, Ethiopia
Summary
Ethiopia has diverse sets of ecosystems, ranging from humid forests and extensive wetlands to deserts and supporting a wide variety of life forms Ethiopian Wildlife and Natural History Society (EWNHS), 1996; Viveropol, 2001). The altitudinal difference with the highest peak of Ras Dashen (4543m a.s.l.) and the lowest in the Afar depression (120m below sea level) is the main reason for the highest biodiversity in Ethiopia (Shibru Tedela, 1995; EWNHS, 1996). These wide ranges of altitudes have given the country a variety of ecologically distinct and isolated areas that lead to the diversification of endemic species (EWNHS, 1996). Microhabitat selection, and guild assemblage can be affected by landscape features such as elevation, topography, proximity to water, forest patch size, distance between patches and the extents of forest edges (Hepinstall-Cymerman and Parrish, 2012).
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