Bird Community Structure And Diversity In Peninsular Malaysia

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2017-07
Authors
Azman, Nur Munira
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Peninsular Malaysia has rich and diverse flora and fauna. Much of these have yet to be documented. The avifauna is an important group that has received little attention, ecologically in this country. Different approaches of diversity measurements are presented in this thesis in order to evaluate the bird diversity in natural and man-made habitats. The objectives of this study are to determine the current bird species composition and diversity, to analyse β-diversity of birds, to investigate patterns of rarity among birds in natural habitats, and to study the contribution of rice fields to the bird diversity in Peninsular Malaysia by using multiple diversity measurements. The presence/absence data were obtained from primary (2002-2013) and secondary sources (1992-2015) recorded from 53 sites of natural habitats. Primary and secondary of bird data were also collected since year 2013-2014 from 83 sites of rice fields in nine states, Peninsular Malaysia. Point counts and mist-netting methods were used for bird census. Species accumulation curve was plotted to describe the species composition of birds. Seven species estimators were performed to estimate the current bird species richness and evaluate estimators’ performance. The β-diversity was described through calculation of variation, turnover, and taxonomic similarity. The pattern of rarity among forest birds were determined by using Rabinowitz’s seven forms of rarity. Meanwhile the contribution of rice fields on the total bird species in Peninsular Malaysia was analysed by using taxonomic distinctness measures. Four hundred and thirty eight bird species were recorded from 53 sites of study areas. The MMMeans estimated 482 bird species for natural habitats of Peninsular Malaysia. The β-diversity analysis showed that bird diversity was negatively correlated with distance but positively influenced by elevation,
Description
Keywords
Bird community structure and diversity , in peninsular Malaysia
Citation