Species Diversity, Distribution, Relative Abundance and Habitat Association of the Avian Fauna of Modified Habitat of Bahir Dar and Debre Mariam Island, Lake Tana, Ethiopia

Shimelis Aynalem, Afework Bekele, Abebe Getahu

Abstract


The study was carried out along the southern shore of Bahir Dar gulf (Lake Tana) and Debre MariamIsland from August 2006 to March 2007, covering both wet and dry seasons. Sampling sites werestratified based on the vegetation type and area cover. Point count technique was employed. A total of154 bird species consisting of three endemic, two globally threatened, and 33 Palaearctic migrants wereidentified. The species diversity index and evenness of habitats during the entire season of the studyperiods revealed that Debre Mariam Island had the highest species diversity and evenness, 0.94 and0.88, respectively. The relative abundance score of each species was variable. The number of speciesrecorded in the modified habitat of Bahir Dar during the wet and dry seasons was 74 and 107; and inDebre Mariam Island 28 and 33, respectively. The mean number of species in the wetland vegetationstratum was (7.50), followed by papyrus bed (5.67), garden (5.57), trees and woodlands (5.00), and fruittrees (4.00). Chi-square test for the wet season showed that the association of birds with the vegetationstratum was not statistically significant (P>0.05, chi-square=5.846, df =8, n= 26). But, during the dryseason, it was significant (p< 0.01, chi-square =33, df =11, n= 51). Deforestation, cultivation andpollution were the main threats for the survival of bird fauna in the area.

Keywords


Diversity indices, Distribution, Habitat Association, Relative Abundance, Species Evenness

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