Natural Resource, Mizan ATVET College, Mizan Teferi, SWERS, Ethiopia.
School of Wildlife and Eco-tourism, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Ethiopia.
PeerJ. 2024 Jan 11;12:e16775. doi: 10.7717/peerj.16775. eCollection 2024.
Birds' functional groups are useful for maintaining fundamental ecological processes, ecosystem services, and economic benefits. Negative consequences of loss of functional groups are substantial. Birds are usually found at a high trophic level in food webs and are relatively sensitive to environmental change.
The first surveillance bird study was carried out southeast of Ethiopia adjacent to Bale Mountain National Park aimed at investigating the composition, relative abundance, and distribution of Aves. Using regular systematic point transact sampling, the density and species composition were analyzed through the mark recapture distance sampling engine assisted by R statistical software.
This study recorded a total of seventy-eight bird species over two distinct seasons. Among these, fifteen species were exclusive to Erica habitats, twenty-six were found in natural forest habitats, and three were specific to plantation forest habitats. The study also discovered three endemic species. Based on the 2018 IUCN Red List categories, six of the species are globally threatened, three are near threatened, and the remaining sixty-nine are classified as least concern. The relative abundance of birds did not significantly differ across habitats and seasons, but variations were observed among blocks. Bird density was found to fluctuate across the three habitats and two seasons; however, these habitat differences were not influenced by seasonal changes.
The findings of this study reveal that the differences in composition and relative abundance are not merely seasonal changes in the forest and Erica habitats. Instead, these habitats create microclimates that cater to specific bird species. However, this localized endemism also presents challenges. The concentration of endemic species and potential resource constraints could pose a threat to these habitat-specialist birds.
鸟类功能群对于维持基本生态过程、生态系统服务和经济效益非常重要。失去功能群的负面影响是巨大的。鸟类通常在食物网中处于较高的营养级，对环境变化相对敏感。
第一次鸟类监测研究在埃塞俄比亚东南部进行，毗邻贝尔山国家公园，旨在调查鸟类的组成、相对丰度和分布情况。本研究采用常规系统点转换抽样方法，通过 R 统计软件辅助的标记重捕距离抽样引擎分析密度和物种组成。
本研究在两个不同的季节共记录了 78 种鸟类。其中，15 种为特有于石南花生境的物种，26 种存在于天然林生境，3 种为特有于人工林生境的物种。该研究还发现了 3 个特有种。根据 2018 年 IUCN 红色名录类别，有 6 个物种受到全球威胁，3 个物种接近受威胁，其余 69 个物种被列为最不受关注。鸟类的相对丰度在生境和季节之间没有显著差异，但在区块之间存在变化。鸟类密度在三个生境和两个季节中都有波动；然而，这些生境差异不受季节变化的影响。
本研究的结果表明，组成和相对丰度的差异不仅仅是森林和石南花生境的季节性变化。相反，这些生境创造了微气候，适合特定的鸟类物种。然而，这种局部特有性也带来了挑战。特有物种的集中和潜在的资源限制可能对这些栖息地专化鸟类构成威胁。
