Preliminary study on bird community assemblage and feeding guild in forest and developed areas of Muallim, Perak, Peninsular Malaysia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37134/ejsmt.vol6.2.5.2019Keywords:
Sustainability, biodiversity, urbanization, diet, nicheAbstract
We investigated bird species richness and feeding guilds in two contrasting habitat types i.e. forest and developed areas in Muallim district of Perak, Peninsular Malaysia. Field surveys were conducted by using point-count observation along transects and mist-netting methods to determine the presence of bird species in the forest and developed areas. There were 28 species of birds from 23 families found in these habitats, where 13 species were found in forest and 15 species in the developed areas. The species richness was similar between forest and urbanized habitats. Forest birds were mainly frugivores and frugivore-insectivores whereas those from developed areas were insectivore-granivores and insectivores. Insects are important food resources in both habitats. Our results suggest that the availability of food resources in a locality may partly influence the community structure of Avifauna where conversion of forest into developed areas may induce shifts in the distribution of feeding guilds and the presence of species within the area. While developed areas have the capacity to support bird community, species that are specialized to forests may still be affected by the habitat change. Our study provides preliminary ideas on how bird communities in the tropical region are being shaped in response to urbanization. Further studies should cover a wider geographical range and over a longer period of surveys to yield a better understanding on this issue.
Downloads
References
[2] Seto, K. C., Güneralp, B., & Hutyra, L. R. (2012). Global forecasts of urban expansion to 2030 and direct impacts on biodiversity and carbon pools. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(40), 16083-16088.
[3] McKinney, M. L. (2008). Effects of urbanization on species richness: a review of plants and animals. Urban Ecosystems, 11(2), 161-176.
[4] Sol, D., Lapiedra, O., & González-Lagos, C. (2013). Behavioural adjustments for a life in the city. Animal behaviour, 85(5), 1101-1112.
[5] Hedblom, M., & Murgui, E. (2017). Urban bird research in a global perspective. In Ecology and Conservation of Birds in Urban Environments (pp. 3-10). Springer, Cham.
[6] Jeyarajasingam, A. (2012). A field guide to the birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Oxford University Press.
[7] Mohamed Zakaria Hussin & Muhammad Nawaz Rajpar. (2014). Birds of wetlands in Peninsular Malaysia. Selangor: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
[8] Robson, C. (2015). Birds of South-East Asia: Concise Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing.
[9] Lynx Edicions (2019, July 1). Handbook of Birds of the World Alive. Retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/
[10] IUCN (2019, July 1). The IUCN red list of threatened species. Retrived from https://www.iucnredlist.org/
[11] Wells, D. (2019, July 1). Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/58074
[12] Møller, A. P. (2014). Behavioural and ecological predictors of urbanization. Avian urban ecology, 54-68.
[13] Rocamora, G., Yeatman-Berthelot, D. & de Juana, E. (2019, July 1). Greater Racquet-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus paradiseus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. Retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/60574
[14] Craig, A. & Feare, C. (2019, July 1). Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/60843
[15] Aronson, M.F., Nilon, C.H., Lepczyk, C.A., Parker, T.S., Warren, P.S., Cilliers, S.S., Goddard, M.A., Hahs, A.K., Herzog, C., Katti, M. and La Sorte, F.A. (2016). Hierarchical filters determine community assembly of urban species pools. Ecology, 97(11), 2952-2963.
[16] Croci, S., Butet, A., & Clergeau, P. (2008). Does urbanization filter birds on the basis of their biological traits. The Condor, 110(2), 223-240.
