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Making the Best of a Human Modified Habitat; an Assessment of Avian Distribution and Diversity in Federal College of Education (Technical) Gombe

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Making the Best of a Human Modified Habitat; an Assessment of Avian Distribution and Diversity in Federal College of Education (Technical) Gombe International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB) Vol-3, Issue -4, Jul-Aug- 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijeab/3.4.50 ISSN: 2456-1878 Making the best of a Human modified Habitat; an Assessment of Avian Distribution and Diversity in Federal College of Education (Technical) Gombe. Gombe State- Nigeria Nsor, C.A1; Aliyu, B1; Zhigla, D1; Dauda, E1 and Cleophas, B. A1 Department of Biological Sciences, Gombe State University- Gombe Nigeria. Corresponding author:[email protected] Abstract— We assessed the abundance and diversity of I. INTRODUCTION avian species in two distinct habitats types; main campus One of the most outstanding features of birds is their high area (human inhabited) and adjoining heavily degraded mobility and ability to travel great distances even across savannah grassland. By employing Jaccard/Tanimoto oceans (Borrow and Demey, 2001). Birds occur in all Coefficient of Similarity, we tested whether bird species habitats known to man. (Mann and Cheke, 2001); the assemblage will differ between the two habitats, while ubiquitous nature of birds and their sensitivity to ecosystem Shannon Weiner Diversity Index was used to determine the change makes them a very important component of level of diversity between sites. biodiversity, and as such; birds are often used as good Line transect assessment generated a total of 1035 indicators of the state of health of the environment (Pearce individuals of 69 avian species from 53 genera and 32 and Ferrier, 2001; Gregory et al., 2003;Krisanti et al., 2017). families. The most diverse avian family was Estrildidae with Birds reflect changes in other biodiversity (example other nine (9) avian species, followed by Columbidae with six (6), animals and plants) and are highly responsive to while Falconidae, Nectriniidae, and Turdidae families had a environmental perturbations; making them very useful in record of four (4) species each. Five families (Ardeidae, studies designed to address the effects of human and other Malaconotidae, Ploceidae, Silviidae, Sturnidae) and five environmental disturbances on community stability and families (Accipitridae, Bucerotidae, Capitonidae, ecosystem productivity (Ezealor, 2002; Gregory et al., 2009). Viduidaeand Psittacidae) followed with three (3) and (2) Birds contribute substantially to the overall species richness species respectively. Seventeen (17) families were each of West African forests, currently recognized as biodiversity represented by a single species. hotspots of global importance (Orme et al., 2005). Jaccard/Tanimoto Coefficient revealed that species Species diversity is a community attribute that is directly composition differed between the two habitats with a related to ecosystem productivity and vegetation structure similarity coefficient of 66.7 %, while Shannon Weiner (Tilman, 1996). Research has shown that species diversity is Diversity Index was 1.56 and 1.67 for human inhabited (HI) directly linked with habitat structure(James and Warner, and degraded savannah (DS) habitats respectively. The 1982) as well as patterns of distribution of resources within a proximity to a natural savannah habitat albeit degraded has given ecological setting (Pringle et al., 2010). positive implications for avian diversity in the study area. We The pattern and distribution of species has serious recommend more exclusion of human activities such as fuel implication for community productivity. For instance, wood harvesting and land grab for farming as this has grave Pringle et al. (2010) proved that the regular (even spacing) consequences for the thriving population of species that are spatial pattern of termite mounds found in a homogeneous sensitive to human presence and urbanization. African savannah provided a guide for parallel spatial Keywords— Avian species, Diversity, Habitat utilization, patterning in tree-dwelling, termite-eating animal Disturbance. Abundance. communities. Their findings, which also confirm that the uniformity of these patterns at small spatial scales boosted productivity of the whole landscape; provide support for www.ijeab.com Page | 1527 International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB) Vol-3, Issue -4, Jul-Aug- 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijeab/3.4.50 ISSN: 2456-1878 models linking spatial patterns with ecosystem processes and iii. Determine whether species composition (diversity) functioning (Memmott et al, 2004; Bakam et al., 2018). will differ between the two sites. In the same manner, we explored how habitat structure and resource availability in a human modified habitat will affect II. MATERIALS AND METHODS avian distribution, abundance and diversity (Odewumi et al., 2.1. Study Area 2017). We tested whether species will partition resource use The study was conducted in The Federal College of along a gradient of disturbance in the study area (Agbo et al., Education (Technical Gombe), established in 1977. The 2018). This was possible considering the fact that the campus college operated elsewhere for 17 years before moving to the is contiguous to a natural but patchy and degraded savannah present campus (permanent site)in 1996. The College is landscape made of some remnant native tree species. Our located along Ashaka road (Latitude 10˚ 18'.30'' N, experimental approach was guided by the fact that vegetation Longitude 11˚ 9'.30'' E.) in Akko Local Government Area, structure is the most proximate factor that determines the Gombe. spatial distribution of species (James and Warner, 1982); and The annual rainfall ranges from 850 to 1000 mm, with two more specifically bird diversity, enhanced by the plant distinct seasons; rainy and dry seasons. The rainy season species composition (Manu et al., 2007; Manu et al., 2010). starts from May to October and dry season from November The goal of this study was therefore to determine how well to April. Average daily temperatures are 34o C in April and birds utilize human modified habitats as well as the factors 27 o C in August. The relative humidity ranges from 70 to 80 that may be crucial for their persistence in this degraded % in August and decreases to about 15 to 20 % in December. landscape. Specific objectives were to; i. Develop a comprehensive checklist of the area. ii. Identify the most abundant species in the study area Fig.1: Map of study Area showing the two habitat types (human inhabited and degraded savannah). The college lies within the Sudano–Sahelian Savannah species. Regrettably, as is typical with most human modified vegetation typified by shrubs and sparsely distributed tree habitats, the campus flora is now dominated by exotic and www.ijeab.com Page | 1528 International Journal of Environment, Agriculture and Biotechnology (IJEAB) Vol-3, Issue -4, Jul-Aug- 2018 http://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijeab/3.4.50 ISSN: 2456-1878 introduced tree species interspersed with a few remnant natives, the most prominent being Parkia biglobosa and Tamarindus indica. The college is divided into two unique Equation 1 habitats; the campus area hereinafter referred to as the human where; inhabited (HI) contiguous to a degraded savannah (DS) (Fig - number of element in set A 1). The most common native tree species in the degraded - number of elements in set B savannah habitat was Parkia biglobosa while Azadaricta indica (Neem) was the most common tree species in the - number of elements in intersecting set human occupied habitat. Shannon Wiener Diversity Index was used to estimate avian 2.2 Experimental Design diversity of the study area. Effective number of species (Jost, Line transect method (Bibly et al, 2000) was used to estimate 2006) was used to determine the pattern of distribution (even and record bird species seen or heard within the study area. or uneven) of avian species. The closer the value of Effective The campus was divided into two major habitat types; number of species to the species richness (actual species Degraded Savannah (DS) and Human inhabited (HI), with count), the more even the distribution of the species and vice- each habitat comprising of three transects. Each transect was versa. located at a horizontal distance of 250 m apart to ensure that Shannon Wiener Diversity Index was calculated using the the same bird species was not recorded repeatedly in a given formular below: 푠 transect. Each transect covered a total distance of 2000 Hʹ − ∑푖=1 푝푖 푙표푔푒 푝푖 meters. Equation 2 Transects were monitored twice each day in the morning and Where H' = Shannon Wiener Index later in the evening. The morning session commenced at 6:30 Pi = the proportion of individuals of species “i” in relation to am and lasted till about 9:30 am, while the evening sessions the total population of all species. were conducted between the hours of 3:30 pm – 6:30 pm. Loge = Natural logarithm of base e. To get the effective During each transect survey we walked slowly along each number of species, (the true value of diversity), we used the transect and recorded bird species seen at least 50 m on either equation 푠 side of the transect or heard (Bibly et al, 2000). With the help exp (Hʹ)표푟 exp (− ∑푖=1 푝푖 푙표푔푒 푝푖 ) of a pair of (Nikon sporter ® 8 x 42) binoculars we recorded Equation 3 the number seen and estimated the distance away from the transect. Each transect was repeated twice to optimize the III. RESULTS record. The survey was conducted in 2016 during the end of A total of 1035 individuals of 69 avian species from 53 the dry season and towards the onset of the rains. genera and 32families were recorded at the end of a four day Data generated from the survey was entered in excel transect survey with two days dedicated to each of the habitat spreadsheet version 2013 and explored before exporting types (Table 2). The most diverse avian family was the same to SPSS. The statistical Package for Social Science Estrildidae family with nine (9) avian species, followed by (SPSS version 19.0 was used to analyze the data. Descriptive Columbidae with six (6), while Falconidae, Nectriniidae, and statistics was used to determine the frequency and numerical Turdidae families had a record of four (4) species each.
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