Species Composition and Relative Abundance of Birds at Nansebo Forest, Southern Ethiopia

Birds are one of the components of biodiversity. Avian community studies are effective tools for monitoring a forest ecosystem. The status of birds in the present study areas is very little known. Therefore, the objective of the study was to assess species composition and relative abundance of birds at Nansebo forest in southern Ethiopia. To this end, a stratified random sampling technique was employed. Accordingly, to collect data for the study, the whole habitat of the study area was divided into dominant vegetation types. Accordingly, Moist Afromontane forest and modified habitat were identified in Nansebo forest. A line transects count aided by binocular was employed to investigate avian species diversity and relative abundance. Accordingly, 20 transect lines of 1km with a width of 0.25km or less was used to cover 27.75% of the area in Nansebo forest. Quantitative Biodiversity indices such as H’,E ,γ and α to measure species richness were used to calculate the bird species diversity and two way- ANOVA was used to test for significant variation in species richness and abundance per season among habitats. A total of 105 bird species consisting of 1endemic, 8 near endemics, 1 globally threatened and 9 Palearctic migrants were recorded in Nansebo forest. Species richness and abundance varied between the three habitats in Nansebo forest. There was significant difference in species richness among habitats in Nansebo forest (F1, 18=94.657 P=0.000) at 0.001 significance level. In Nansebo forest the highest Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H’ = 4.17) was recorded from the modified habitat. It can be concluded that the 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. Keywords/Phrases : Avian species, Habitat types, Species richness, Species similarity DOI : 10.7176/ALST/73-01 Publication date : April 30 th 2019