Bird assemblages in a peri-urban landscape in eastern India

Abstract

AbstractAcross the tropics, human settlements and agricultural lands have rapidly replaced the natural habitat; however, our understanding of the biodiversity value in such human-dominated landscapes is limited. To study the effects of heterogeneous habitats on bird diversity in the peri-urban landscape, we surveyed four different habitat types (residential areas, cropland and wasteland, water bodies, and sal forest) from February 2018 to January 2019. During the survey, 117 bird species were recorded belonging to 48 families and 98 genera in the study area. We observed that cropland and wasteland harboured rich avian diversity, among other sites. Both the Non-parametric Multidimensional Scale (NMDS) and one-way ANOVA Significant Test showed significant variations in bird species composition among habitats. Our study could be helpful in future conservation and management of the birds’ diversity to make peri-urban habitats more favorable.