Abstract
Birds are one of the best-known classes of living organisms, they are important bioindicators of an ecosystem. This study was undertaken to determine the diversity and abundance of birds in Reiek Biodiversity Spot, Mizoram, northeastern India. Intensive study was conducted from January to March 2019 by line transect method. A total of 117 species of birds belonging to 37 families and 10 orders were recorded and the Shannon-Wiener diversity index was calculated (H'= 3.85). Family Muscicapidae dominated the area comprising of 16 species, followed by Timaliidae with 6 species. Among all the species recorded, Alcippe nipalensis has the highest relative abundance (13.35%), followed by Staphida castaniceps (Striated Yuhina) and Zosterops palpebrosus (Oriental White Eye) with 8.60% and 6.03% each. Family-wise relative abundance revealed that Pycnonotidae has the highest relative abundance (17.45%), followed by Sylviidae (15.91%) and Timaliidae (13.35%). The area supports a rich and diverse avian community, therefore, recommended better management of the entire landscape.
Highlights
Birds are one of the best-known classes of living organisms and bird community is known to play crucial roles in the functioning of an ecosystem in which they are found.[1,2] They are cosmopolitan and uneven in their distributions; their distribution, diversity and densities depend on various factors such as climate, altitude, vegetation, water availability and anthropogenic activities.[3]
A total of 117 bird species, belonging to 37 families and 10 orders were recorded from Reiek Biodiversity Spot (Table 1)
The bird species composition in the present study is lesser than studies that have been carried out in various protected areas around the state such as- a study carried out by Sailo and Lalthanzara in Lengteng Wildlife Sanctuary recorded 126 species of birds belonging to 35 families, 15 while the famous Murlen Wildlife Sanctuary is known to harbor more than 150 species of birds.[16]
Summary
Birds are one of the best-known classes of living organisms and bird community is known to play crucial roles in the functioning of an ecosystem in which they are found.[1,2] They are cosmopolitan and uneven in their distributions; their distribution, diversity and densities depend on various factors such as climate, altitude, vegetation, water availability and anthropogenic activities.[3]. 662 species of birds in Mizoram among which 31 falls under the category of globally threatened species.[7] Despite birds being the best-known class of living organisms, there are still substantial gaps in our knowledge regarding their distributions, abundances and densities.[8] Studies on bird diversity are important as it raises an awareness of the need for global conservation of the avian community[9,10] and to understand the well-being of an ecosystem as a whole and help to delineate the importance of a regional or local landscape for avian conservation. Keeping in view of the above points, the present study was carried out to add baseline information on avian species diversity and abundance in Reiek Biodiversity Spot, Mizoram, northeastern India and to create awareness for their conservation and help in strategic conservation planning. Considering the scarcity of information on the avian diversity as discussed above, the present study is designed to assess the species composition and to investigate the diversity and relative abundance of birds in Reiek Biodiversity Spot, Mizoram, India
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