Species Composition and Diversity of Avian Fauna of Beheretsigie, Central and Ferencye Recreational Parks in Addis Ababa, Ethio
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Date
2007-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
An ecological study on birds in urban habitats was carried out from August 2006 to
March 2007 in Beheretsigie, Central and Ferencye Recreational Parks of Addis Ababa,
covering both the wet and dry seasons. Total count method was used to obtain data on
species composition, diversity and abundance of the avian communities. A total of 47173
individuals of 102 species belonging to 39 families were recorded. The relative
abundance of bird species was determined using encounter rates that give crude ordinal
scale. The result showed that most of the species were common. Seasonal fluctuation in
the abundance of bird species was observed during the study period. Shannon-Wiener
and Simpson Similarity Index were used to analyze the diversity and similarity of bird
species of the study sites. The species diversity was the highest in Behertsigie (H’=3.753)
and the least in Ferencye (H’=3.230) Recreational Parks during both seasons. There
were significant differences in the number of species identified in each site during the
study period (χ2
= 17.636, df= 2, p=<0.05). However, seasonally, at each site, there was
no significant difference in the species number. The highest species similarity was
obtained between Ferencye and Central Recreational Parks during wet (0.67) and dry
(0.73) seasons. The highest percentage similarity between seasons within each park was
obtained in Ferencye Recreational Parks (93.3%). The result of the present study has
shown that urban recreational parks are rich in avifauna. Long-term studies and
assessment of the avian communities on the sites is recommended.
Key words: Birds, recreational parks, species richness, species diversity, species
similarity.
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Keywords
Birds, recreational parks, species richness, species diversity, species similarity.