Species Composition, Relative Abundance and Habitat Association of Birds in Nansebo Forest, South Eastern Ethiopia

Ziyad Jemal

doi:10.7176/alst/74-03

Abstract

A study on avian species composition, relative abundance, and habitat association at Nansebo forest was carried out from June 2017 - February 2018 during wet and dry seasons. To collect data for the study, the whole habitat of the study area was divided into dominant vegetation types. Accordingly, habitat of the study area was divided into moist Afromontane forest and modified habitat in Nansebo forest. A line transects count aided by binocular was employed to investigate avian species diversity, relative abundance and Habitat association. Therefore 20 transect lines of 1km lengths with a width of 0.25km or less were used to cover 27.75% of the area in Nansebo forest. A total of 105 bird species of which 1 endemic, 8 near endemics, 1 globally threatened and 9 Palearctic migrants were recorded in Nansebo forest. Species richness and abundance varied between the three and two habitats. There was significant difference in species richness among habitats (F1, 18=94.657 P=0.000) in Nansebo forest. In Nansebo forest the highest Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’ = 4.17) recorded from the modified habitat. It can be concluded that both area has high species diversity including endemics and endangered species. It can also be good potential for bird watching tourism that can integrate economic gain with biodiversity conservation. Hence, urgent conservation measures and further detail research is recommended to conserve the bird species. Key words/Phrases : Avian species, Habitat types, Species richness, Species similarity DOI : 10.7176/ALST/74-03 Publication date :May 31 st 2019

Highlights

Ethiopia is a country with a wide range of climatic, geographical and topographic features
These have contributed to the richness in biodiversity and endemism (Yalden and Largen, 1992; Jacobs and Schloeder, 2001).It has rich biodiversity resources of which 2970 species are animals and between 6,500- 7,000 higher plants consisting of 12% endemics (EBI, 2015)
Of the animal species 320 are mammals of which 36 are endemics, 926 bird species consisting of 24 endemics, 1,249 arthropods with 11 endemics, 200 fish with 40 endemics, 202 reptiles with 17 endemics and 73 amphibians with 30 endemics (EBI, 2015 and Weldemariam Tesfahunegny, 2016)

Summary

Introduction

Background and Justification Ethiopia is a country with a wide range of climatic, geographical and topographic features. These have contributed to the richness in biodiversity and endemism (Yalden and Largen, 1992; Jacobs and Schloeder, 2001).It has rich biodiversity resources of which 2970 species are animals and between 6,500- 7,000 higher plants consisting of 12% endemics (EBI, 2015). Of the animal species 320 are mammals of which 36 are endemics, 926 bird species consisting of 24 endemics, 1,249 arthropods with 11 endemics, 200 fish with 40 endemics, 202 reptiles with 17 endemics and 73 amphibians with 30 endemics (EBI, 2015 and Weldemariam Tesfahunegny, 2016). Birds through the ages have been the source of considerable fascination and folklore and have been used as symbols (Clout and Hay, 1989)

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Conclusion