Effect of season, habitat type and anthropogenic pressure on the bird diversity in the vineyards agroecosystems in the region of Fes‐Meknes

Abstract

AbstractAgroecosystems are becoming more developed in Morocco, which requires conducting research about their importance to indigenous avifauna. We studied the influence of seasonality and parcel characteristics, including habitat type and anthropogenic pressures on bird diversity in vineyards. Our findings show that bird diversity varies by habitat type with heterogeneous parcels being more diverse than homogeneous parcels; in addition to that, bird diversity was higher in edge habitat, olive and uncultivated land while it was lower in vine habitat, whereas the cereal was the poorest habitat in the vineyards. Our results revealed that avian diversity changes with the seasons, being higher in winter, autumn and spring than in the summer. Evaluation of anthropogenic pressures indicates that avifauna diversity was negatively associated with the distance to the nearest building and the nearest edge, but positively associated with the distance to the nearest water source. Our research identifies potentially important variables influencing bird diversity in these agricultural ecosystems, which can help us to understand more clearly the ecological needs of birds of this habitat. As a result, we make some recommendations to help preserve bird diversity and improve their survival, including securing and protecting edge habitat, boosting habitat diversity and contributing to the overall effort to reduce climate change impacts, all of which will not be possible without the cooperation of landowners, farmers, managers and researchers.