Bird diversity between a protected area and urban remnant vegetation patches: the Sloss debate

Author

Muzondo, Chidochashe. V.

Title

Bird diversity between a protected area and urban remnant vegetation patches: the Sloss debate

Abstract

The single large versus several small (SLOSS) protected areas debate of the 1970s and 1980s, has not yet reached a general understanding. There is ongoing debate about which model is better between the two for biodiversity conservation. This study adds to the SLOSS debate by looking at bird diversity between a single large, protected area (Chivero Park) and several small urban vegetation remnant patches in Harare. Birds were sampled using point count method and 30 points were sampled at each site. Data was analysed using R software. Species richness (q=0), Shannon diversity (q=1) and Simpson diversity (q=2) were compared using iNEXT. Taxonomic and functional species composition dissimilarity were compared using analysis of similarity (ANOSIM). To visually display patterns in species composition between study sites, a non-metric multidimensional scaling (nMDS) ordination was applied. A total of 2612 individual birds, comprising of 138 species were recorded for the two sites. Species richness was similar between the sites, though Harare had higher Shannon diversity and Simpson diversity compared with Chivero Park. Taxonomic species composition and functional abundance composition were different between Harare and Chivero Park. However, functional species richness varied between sites, all the nine functional groups found in Southern Africa were represented in Chivero Park. African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer) had the highest indicator value at Chivero Park due to presence of a lake while Pied crow (Corvus albus) a generalist species was the one with the highest indicator value in Harare. The findings from this study provide evidence that several small patches are home to a diverse bird species because of the diverse floristic habitat attributes that are found in an urban area. Urban areas support a lot of generalist bird species due to the presents of supplementary food from waste and litter. This study has revealed that several small remnant vegetation patches can support a diverse community of birds that are comparable or even better than single large, protected areas. Therefore, conservation efforts should also be directed towards enhancement of conservation models that are based on several small patches.

Date

May 2019

Publisher

BUSE

Keywords

SLOSS debate,

Small urban vegetation,

Fragmented Patches,

Biodiversity conservation

Supervisor

Professor J. Muvengwi