The Orange River avifauna: abundance, richness and comparisons

Simmons, Robert E.; Allan, David G.; Dean, W. R.

doi:10.1080/00306525.2002.11446736

Cited by 9 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Environmental temperatures in the Kalahari during the summer are high and surface water sources scarce (even during high rainfall periods), and yet the region supports a diverse avian community. Previous studies in the southern African arid zone have demonstrated how the avian communities are strongly shaped by water resources (Simmons et al 2002), and that some resident birds (e.g. sandgrouse, Pterocles spp.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in the use of surface water resources by desert birds are revealed using isotopic tracers

Smit¹,

Woodborne

Wolf

et al. 2019

The Auk

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The scarcity of free-standing water sources is a key determinant of animal and plant community structure in arid environments, and an understanding of the extent to which particular species use surface water is vital for modeling the effects of climate change on desert avifauna. We investigated interspecific variation in the use of artificial water sources among birds in the Kalahari Desert, South Africa, by (i) observations at waterholes and (ii) tracing spatial water-use patterns during summer by isotopically labeled water sources and blood sampling. More than 50% of the avian community (primarily insectivores and omnivores) were not observed to drink. The majority (53%) of species drinking at waterholes were granivorous, and their use of surface water was best predicted by their relative abundance in the community. Species representing the remaining dietary guilds drank significantly more on hot days. Blood samples revealed that only 11 of 42 species (mostly granivores and a few omnivores) showed evidence of drinking at a waterhole with enriched deuterium values; on average, in the latter birds, water from the enriched waterhole accounted for ~38% of their body water pool. These findings illustrate that 2 methods employed in this study provide different, but complementary data on the relative importance of a water source for an avian community. Although our results suggest that most avian species are independent of surface water, drinking patterns on the hottest days during our study period suggest that free-standing water might become more important for some of the non-drinking species under hotter climatic conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in the use of surface water resources by desert birds are revealed using isotopic tracers

Smit¹,

Woodborne

Wolf

et al. 2019

The Auk

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“…Interestingly, no Palearctic anseriforms were recorded wintering in the study area. Very few were recorded in other places in Namibia (Kolberg, 2012a,b) and elsewhere in southern Africa (Simmons and Allan, 2002;Anderson et al, 2003;Hockey et al, 2005;Kopij, 2013ab). They probably overwinter in southern Africa only occasionally as vagrants, as their main wintering grounds are in west and central Africa.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal variation in waterbird assemblage in the Mahango Game Reserve, north-eastern Namibia

Kopij

Paxton²

2019

WSA

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There are few African studies on seasonal changes in the waterbird assemblages in river ecosystems. Tropical freshwater ecosystems are regarded as more stable habitats over the year than terrestrial ones. The same could be expected in regard to the bird fauna associated with such ecosystems. In order to test if waterbird asembalges followed the stable ecosystem paradigm a study was undertaken in the Okavango River, in the Mahango Game Reserve, north-eastern Namibia. Counts of all waterbirds were conducted in wet and dry seasons during 2001-2006. In total, 88 waterbird species were recorded. In wet seasons the number was slightly lower (N = 75) than in dry seasons (N = 78) (chi-square test: χ 2 = 0.06; p > 0.05). The total number of individuals of all resident species recorded in wet seasons was unexpectedly much lower in wet (N = 9 979) than in dry seasons (N = 15 501) (chi-square test: χ 2 = 1 196; p < 0.01). In wet seasons, Collared Pratincole, Blacksmith Lapwing, African Openbill Stork and African Darter dominated (58.8%), while in the dry season: White-faced Duck, Spur-winged Goose, African Skimmer, African Reed Cormorant, African Darter and Squacco Heron contributed 60.8% to the overall abundance. Diversity indices were similar in both seasons.

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Can severely fragmented patches of riparian vegetation still be important for arid-land bird diversity?

Seymour

Simmons

2008

Journal of Arid Environments

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The Orange River avifauna: abundance, richness and comparisons

Cited by 9 publications

References 1 publication

Differences in the use of surface water resources by desert birds are revealed using isotopic tracers

Differences in the use of surface water resources by desert birds are revealed using isotopic tracers

Seasonal variation in waterbird assemblage in the Mahango Game Reserve, north-eastern Namibia

Can severely fragmented patches of riparian vegetation still be important for arid-land bird diversity?

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