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

Abstract

Agroecosystems 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.

Effects of vineyard management, herbaceous cover and vine plant characteristics on bird diversity in a North African agroecosystem

“…Model validation was performed with the DHARMa package (Hartig & Hartig, 2017). Based on the full models, all possible combination models are developed using the MuMIn Package (Barton, 2020). The models were ranked by increasing their Akaike Information Criterion corrected for small sample sizes using AICc (Burnham & Anderson, 2004).…”

“…To compute the variance inflation factor, we utilised the 'car' package (Fox & Weisberg, 2018). The 'MuMIn' package was used for multimodel inference (Barton, 2020). The most supported models are summarised in (Table 2).…”

“…Additionally, the availability and accessibility of food resources play a crucial role in shaping bird communities, as demonstrated by studies (Duarte et al, 2014). During autumn, the cessation of agricultural activities in the fields allows for the growth of vegetation between the rows, creating an abundance of insects and grains, which serves as a valuable food source for birds (Belkhiri et al, 2023). Furthermore, the limited disturbance by human activities in the area provides a refuge for various species, further promoting diversity (Belkhiri et al, 2023).…”

Analysis and Quality Control of Bio-actives and Herbal Cosmetics: The Case of Traditional Cooperatives from Fes-Meknes Region

“…The region has therefore long been involved in traditional medical practices and has acquired expertise in phytotherapy. 3 In fact, this practice is seen as an alternative means of improving the living standards of the region's population. 4…”

Quantitative Evaluation of Birds’ Microhabitat Selection in Urban Waterfront Environments: A Case Study on Typical Waterfronts in Hangzhou

“…, hindering bird movement and resource access(Abdelkhalek et al, 2023). Such development can also cause a decline in important breeding and nesting sites, necessary for sustaining stable bird populations.…”