Comparative Evaluation of Bird Species Diversity in Different Ecosystems of Akure Forest Reserve, Ondo State

Abstract

Birds are crucial to maintenance of the balance in many ecosystems by providing various   ecological services. The comparative evaluation of different ecosystems to bird species diversity and structure were investigated in different ecosystems in Akure Forest Reserve, Ondo State, Nigeria, to elucidate the effect of habitat modification on bird communities. Point count method was employed to identify bird species in three plantations between June and July, 2017 for comparative evaluation of avifauna abundance and diversity. A total of 55 bird species belonging to 11 Orders and 23 families were recorded in the plots. The highest number of birds was recorded in the Queen’s plot (34) followed by the Enrichment plots (33) and the Cocoa plantation (29). On the whole, 281 individual bird species were counted and the abundance of birds varied between the three ecosystems. The Enrichment plots recorded the highest number of individual birds (114) while Cocoa plantation and Queen’s plot recorded 97 and 70 respectively. Among the three ecosystems, the highest species diversity was found in Queen’s forest (3.37) while the least was recorded in cocoa plantation (3.13). The species composition of Queen’s and Enrichment plots were more similar than the cocoa plantation. The community structure of birds was dominated by insectivores with 41.2% in the Queen's plot, 33.3% in Enrichment plot and 24.1% in the Cocoa plantation plot. The study has shown that different types of ecosystems would alter birds’ community structure and that maintenance of vegetation of the ecosystems is paramount to conservation of the native and ecologically-important bird species.