Patterns of bird diversity in Kruger National Park, South Africa: insights from distribution modelling using point count data in 2009 Peter Long1,2 & Frazer Higgins1,2 1 Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK +44 (0)1225 385437
[email protected] 2 Operation Wallacea Ltd. Hope House, Old Bolingbroke, Spilsby, Lincolnshire, PE23 4EX, UK Introduction Kruger National Park in South Africa covers an area of 18,989 square kilometres, making it one of the largest game reserves in Africa. It has become a major tourist attraction, largely due to the biodiversity within the park which comprises Baobab sandveld, Mopane scrub, Lebombo knobthorn-marula bushveld, mixed acacia thicket, Combretum-silver clusterleaf woodland and riverine forest ecosystems. Kruger supports over 500 species of birds, almost 150 species of mammal (including all of the Big Five), over 100 species of reptile and almost 2000 plant species. Operation Wallacea and WEI have worked in partnership with SANparks to collect biodiversity monitoring data in Kruger. Between 4th July and 12th August 2009, teams of volunteers led by experienced guides conducted bird point counts across Kruger National Park, South Africa. Additionally point counts took place in Nzikazi concession of Kruger from 28th April until 12th August. The aim of this study is to use this dataset to explore patterns of bird diversity in the park and develop recommendations for monitoring birds in Kruger. In this study we use a high-quality field monitoring dataset for an assemblage of birds integrated in GIS with readily available environmental data derived from remote sensing in order to model and validate the distributions of 51 bird species in Kruger.