Assessing The Habitat Suitability of Six Coniferous Forests Using Avian Assemblages At High Altitude Ecosystem M. N. Rajpar Department of Forestry, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal Dir (Upper), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan S. A. Khan Department of Forestry, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal Dir (Upper), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan S. Ullah Department of Forestry, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal Dir (Upper), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan A.H. Rajpar Department of Mechanical Engineering, college of Engineering, Jouf University, Saudi Arabia M. Zakaria (
[email protected] ) Department of Forest Science and Biodiversity, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, Universiti Putra Malaysia Research Article Keywords: birds, conifer forest, density, diversity, habitat, subtropical, vegetation Posted Date: June 15th, 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-586649/v1 License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Read Full License Page 1/20 Abstract Birds are habitat specialist, i.e. often selects habitat that offers ample services such as a variety of food resources, safe breeding and less disturb sites to satisfy their needs. We aimed to ascertain the conservation status of avian assemblages inhabited in six different coniferous forests. The study employed the point count method to determine the avian assemblages in each forest type. The surveys were conducted employing the distance sampling point count method and determining the oristic composition through direct visual estimation from January 2018 to March 2019. In total, 2465 bird individuals representing 57 species and 29 families were observed in six coniferous forests. Twelve tree species, nine shrub species, and 14 grass species were identied in the forests.