The Forest without Hornbills: Comparing the Forest Between Breeding and Non-Breeding Sites of Hornbills in the Southern Tenasserim Western Forest Complex Corridor in Thailand

Abstract

This study compares the two adjacent forest communities in the southern Tenasserim Western Forest Complex Corridor in Thailand. We distinguished the difference between the two forest communities as breeding and nonbreeding sites from the presence of active nests of hornbills where the breeding site is located in the protected area. In 2011‒2012, we established a total of 36 plots (20 × 50 m2) covering the sampling areas of 3.6 hectares in each forest site. The species diversity and composition of the two forest communities tended to be similar. However, the availability of potential nest trees (dbh ≥ 40 cm.) and productive-sized known fruit trees for hornbills (dbh ≥ 10 cm.) in the breeding site were more abundant for hornbills to use as breeding and feeding sites than the non-breeding site. The non-breeding site could serve only as a temporary feeding site due to its low density of known fruit trees.