Blinkova O., Shupova T.: Bird communities and vegetation composition in the urban forest ecosystem: correlations and comparisons of diversity indices. Ekológia (Bratislava), Vol. 36, No. 4, p. 366-387, 2017.Assessment of relationships and diversity indices between bird's communities and composition of the forest ecosystem is an important subject of synecological research to identify the intensity of human impact on the flora and fauna. Urban recreation is one of the major causes of violation of the structural and functional integrity of the forest ecosystem. Studies of avian complex and phytocoenosis have focused on the impact of urban recreation on the compositions of tree, shrub and herbaceous layers and species, trophic and ecological compositions of breeding-birds and feeding-birds communities. This paper compares the measurement of the diversity of bird communities and forestry vegetation (diversity indices, dominance indices, distribution uniformity indices) of intensive, medium, moderate and weak stages of recreational transformation of biotope. The stands formed Quercus robur L., Carpinus betulus L., Acer platanoides L., Tilia cordata L. The floristic list comprised 78 grass species. A total number of 43 species of avifauna including 37 breeding species are observed during the study. There were significant correlations between vertical heterogeneity of tree distribution and abundance, species richness and nesting density of birds. The interrelationship between species diversity of birds and floristic richness was also confirmed.
Blinkova O., Shupova T.: Bird communities and vegetation composition in natural and semi-natural forests of megalopolis: correlations and comparisons of diversity indices (Kyiv city, Ukraine). Ekológia (Bratislava), Vol. 37, No. 3, p. 259-288, 2018. Assessment of correlations and comparisons of diversity indices between birds communities and vegetation composition of the forest ecosystem is an important subject of synecological research to identify the intensity of human impact on the flora and fauna in megalopolis. Urban recreation is one of the major causes of violation of the structural and functional integrity of the forest ecosystem. Studies on avian complex and phytocoenosis have focused on the impact of urban recreation on the soil surface, compositions of trees, shrub and herbaceous layers and species, trophic and ecological compositions of nesting-birds and feeding-birds communities. This article compares the measurement of the diversity of bird communities and forestry vegetation (diversity indices, dominance indices, evenness indices) in the natural and semi-natural forests of the Kyiv city on a gradient of recreational transformation. The stands formed consist of Quercus robur L., Carpinus betulus L., Acer platanoides L., Tilia cordata L., Ulmus glabra Huds., Fraxinus excelsior L. and Prunus avium L. The floristic list comprised 65 grass species. A total of 49 species of avifauna were found, including 44 species that were protected by the Bern, Bonn and Washington Conventions. There were significant correlations between vertical and horizontal heterogeneities of tree distribution and abundance, species richness and nesting density of birds. The interrelationship between species diversity of birds and floristic richness was also confirmed.
During migration, the availability of food that affects the success of bird movements, the nature and timing of their movements, is critical for many bird species. The relationship between migration routes and the ripening of fruit and berry plants along the route is important. Four types of forest belts were studied: wind-blown maple-ash, latticed maple-linden, dense oak-maple-linden, wind-blown oak-maple-poplar. During the study 43 bird species were identified consuming 9 major fruit and berry plant species: Sambucus nigra, Prunus spinosa, Crataegus laevigata, Rosa canina, Prunus padus, Sorbus aucuparia, Rhamnus cathartica, Morus nigra, Prunus cerasus. The highest average number of birds feeding in forest belts (4.14 ind./km) was registered in oak-maple-linden dense forest belts, while the lowest number (1.48 ind./km) was recorded in wind-blown maple-ash ones. Maple-linden latticed forest belts characterize the best index data of α-diversity of birds. In the summer-autumn diet, succulent fruit are the most important: Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) – 11.8% of the total number of birds observed to feed on this food resource, Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) – 11.3%, Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) – 9.3%, Song thrush (Turdus philomelos) – 7.3%, Hawfinch (Coccothraustes coccothraustes) – 7.1%, Blackbird (Turdus merula) – 5.4%. 42 species of birds were observed to feed on black elderberry. More than half (51.2%) of the species composition of birds feeding on fruit and berry plants were migratory birds. Consequently, juicy berries are an important food during bird migrations.
This article examines the bird community of a large reservoir and its surrounding area , located in the central part of a large city in the northern part of the steppe zone of Ukraine. The city, Krivoy Rog, has a population of over 700,000 people. Large areas of the city have undergone dramatic transformation. Industrial and and residential areas of the city are located around the reservoir. The shores of the reservoirs are subject to recreational loading. The natural landscape here is a combination of steppe habitats and scubland.. The material for this study was collected in the breeding seasons of 1996, 1999, 2012, 2015. The number and distribution of birds were determined by registrations of birds along transects. The diversity index, dominance and evenness of species distribution in the breeding bird communities were compared for different habitats and different years. In breeding season 73 bird species belonging to 15 orders were found on the territory of the reservoir. Of these, 62 species bred, and 11 more used the area for foraging but bred in adjacent habitats. 24 species were present in winter. The average density of the breeding birds per species increased from 1.8 ± 0.4 pairs/km of survey route in 1996 to 3.2 ± 0.8 pairs/km in 2015. The dominant species in the breeding bird communities were Passer montanus L., Sturnus vulgaris L., Parus major L., Fulica atra L., Podiceps cristatus L. In the period 1996-1999 the habitat conditions in the territory of the water reservoir changed. These changes were associated with mass recreation of city residents here. The changes resulted in a stressful situation for the habitats and the bird communities. The changes resulted in an imbalance in the development of the bird communities. Since 2012 the birds adapted to the new environmental conditions and formed a new community. By 2015, the species diversity of birds had increased, the degree of pressure on the dominant species and the species distribution of the species had leveled off. The number of bird species nesting in the habitats of the water reservoir had increased. Within the bird communities ground and cavity nesting birds were replaced by woodland-nesting species. Transformation of bird habitat had a decisive impact on the development of the community of nesting birds. The differences in ecological characteristics of the community of birds were expressed along the gradient of transformation of habitats: the proportion of ground-nesting species in the community fell, species diversity was reduced, the dominant species increased their pressure on the bird community and and the distribution of of species abundance became more uniform. Against the background of these changes, the diversity of breeding species increased in the tree plantations, as compared to transformed natural habitats. This is evidence, that the development of the bird communities in artificially created habitats and development of bird communities in transformed habitats takes place in different ways and in different directions.
In the recreational zone of "Homilshanski Lisy" National Park 137 species of birds were identified during the period 1980–2015, of which 127 species nest, 8 winter, and 2 observed during the spring migration. The nesting species are distributed in 4 ecological groups dominated by dendrophylls (67 species), with fewer limnophylls-fresh water species (29), campophylls-open country species (16) and sclerophylls (11). Among the nesting birds 11 landscape-genetic faunal assemblages were distinguished, dominated by typical nemoral-woodland (19%), tropical (14%) and forest-steppe (13%) species. The average density of the birds nesting in the park amounts to 1.2 ± 0.2 with n overall density of 148.3 pairs/km route line. The habitat distribution of the bird population was relatively even. The most intensively populated habitat was upland oak forest, the least were pine and mixed forests. It was found that the communities of breeding birds in tree plantations changed due to the natural aging process of forests, which has led to an increase in the number of birds of prey (Falconiiformes), woodpeckers (Piciformes), secondary hollow-nesting birds. The bird communities of floodplain and steppe meadows, as well as habitats in residential areas subject to constant recreational pressure, changed under the pressure of anthropogenic loading. The favorable natural and geographical location of the park and the diversity of its habitats contributed to the emergence in the list of fauna of which are expanding their range. Analysis of the dominant species in the community points to a significant negative impact of recreational pressure on all habitats of the park. The dominant birds in the pinewood community list included only one campophyll, tree pipit (Anthus trivialis L.). For the steppe meadows, in addition to the dominant colonial birds that nest in holes , the yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava L.) was marked as subdominant. In general, in the recreational area of NPP "Homilshanski Lisy" 30 common species (24.2%, total abundance 0.198) nest on the ground. The variety and balance of breeding bird communities in most habitats is stable, but in the meadow ecosystem communities the uniformity of the distribution of species abundance is being significantly disrupted. The Jacquard and Sorenson performance indices for floodplain and steppe meadows are 0.4 and 0.5, and for grove and pine woods, respectively, 0.7 and 0.8. Taking into account the data of the cluster analysis, the distribution curves of shared abundance and participation indicatee sinanthropic breeding bird communities. It follows that anthropogenic pressure exerts the most significant effect on the birds’ occupation of breeding habitats in the recreational zone NPP "Homilshanski Lisy". The highest performance is characterized by the condition of the avifauna of forest habitats, such as oak forest and pine woods, the most threatened breeding bird communities being those of floodplain meadows.
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