C. Nsor, Nana Afua Ankomah Dei, John Nkrumah, Rockson Acolatse, E. Danquah
{"title":"Bird community structure and habitat association in Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary, Ashanti Region (Ghana)","authors":"C. Nsor, Nana Afua Ankomah Dei, John Nkrumah, Rockson Acolatse, E. Danquah","doi":"10.1071/WR21148","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Context. Globally, an estimated 1.3% of the bird species have gone extinct over the past millennia, largely owing to habitat loss. Aims. This study investigated bird–habitat associations and assemblages in the Owabi Ramsar wetland. Methods. The study was conducted over 5 months (May–September 2019) in four habitat types (agricultural land, built-up, forest reserve, and open-water area). Data were collected in 84 plots across four habitats (i.e. built-up area = 25, forest reserve = 25, agricultural land = 25 and open-water area = 9 plots), using a point-count technique. The Gambin model, non-metric multidimensional scaling, Chao-1, and Hill numbers models were used to evaluate differences in bird diversity and composition among the habitat types. Key results. In all, 1260 individual birds, belonging to 81 species, were encountered. Many of the species occurred in the forest habitat (n = 46, 56.8%. Species from the agricultural land (n = 37) and built-up (n = 30) were mainly habitat generalists that used these two habitats as their shared feeding station. Bird–habitat specialisation grouping equally showed the forest specialists to be the highest (n = 23, 38.4%), whereas the open water had the least number of habitat specialisation associations (e.g. white-faced whistling duck, n = 20, 24.7%). Five species were widely distributed in all four habitats (e.g. bronze-mannikins and white-throated bee-eaters), indicating their broad habitat preferences and ability to adapt to varied conditions. The forest reserve tended to be the most diverse, which was likely mediated by factors such as nesting microhabitats, varied food availability, and human-led activities. Conclusions. This study highlighted bird dietary structure and associated habitat type and bird-habitat specialisation in four different land-use types at Owabi Ramsar wetland. Implications. Given the increasing level of disturbance, there is the likelihood that the population of forest-dependent and open water-dependent birds will be lost or will have to change or modify their behaviour to be similar to that of open-tolerant or open-country birds if managers of the Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary fail to implement the recommended management interventions highlighted.","PeriodicalId":23971,"journal":{"name":"Wildlife Research","volume":"3 1","pages":"827 - 839"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Wildlife Research","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1071/WR21148","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT Context. Globally, an estimated 1.3% of the bird species have gone extinct over the past millennia, largely owing to habitat loss. Aims. This study investigated bird–habitat associations and assemblages in the Owabi Ramsar wetland. Methods. The study was conducted over 5 months (May–September 2019) in four habitat types (agricultural land, built-up, forest reserve, and open-water area). Data were collected in 84 plots across four habitats (i.e. built-up area = 25, forest reserve = 25, agricultural land = 25 and open-water area = 9 plots), using a point-count technique. The Gambin model, non-metric multidimensional scaling, Chao-1, and Hill numbers models were used to evaluate differences in bird diversity and composition among the habitat types. Key results. In all, 1260 individual birds, belonging to 81 species, were encountered. Many of the species occurred in the forest habitat (n = 46, 56.8%. Species from the agricultural land (n = 37) and built-up (n = 30) were mainly habitat generalists that used these two habitats as their shared feeding station. Bird–habitat specialisation grouping equally showed the forest specialists to be the highest (n = 23, 38.4%), whereas the open water had the least number of habitat specialisation associations (e.g. white-faced whistling duck, n = 20, 24.7%). Five species were widely distributed in all four habitats (e.g. bronze-mannikins and white-throated bee-eaters), indicating their broad habitat preferences and ability to adapt to varied conditions. The forest reserve tended to be the most diverse, which was likely mediated by factors such as nesting microhabitats, varied food availability, and human-led activities. Conclusions. This study highlighted bird dietary structure and associated habitat type and bird-habitat specialisation in four different land-use types at Owabi Ramsar wetland. Implications. Given the increasing level of disturbance, there is the likelihood that the population of forest-dependent and open water-dependent birds will be lost or will have to change or modify their behaviour to be similar to that of open-tolerant or open-country birds if managers of the Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary fail to implement the recommended management interventions highlighted.
期刊介绍:
Wildlife Research represents an international forum for the publication of research and debate on the ecology, management and conservation of wild animals in natural and modified habitats. The journal combines basic research in wildlife ecology with advances in science-based management practice. Subject areas include: applied ecology; conservation biology; ecosystem management; management of over-abundant, pest and invasive species; global change and wildlife management; diseases and their impacts on wildlife populations; human dimensions of management and conservation; assessing management outcomes; and the implications of wildlife research for policy development. Readers can expect a range of papers covering well-structured field studies, manipulative experiments, and analytical and modelling studies. All articles aim to improve the practice of wildlife management and contribute conceptual advances to our knowledge and understanding of wildlife ecology.
Wildlife Research is a vital resource for wildlife scientists, students and managers, applied ecologists, conservation biologists, environmental consultants and NGOs and government policy advisors.
Wildlife Research is published with the endorsement of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian Academy of Science.