Bird community structure and habitat association in Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary, Ashanti Region (Ghana)
Collins Ayine Nsor
A * , Nana Afua Ankomah Dei B , John Mensah Nkrumah C , Rockson Acolatse B and Emmanuel Danquah B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Forest Resources Technology, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
B Department of Wildlife & Range Management, Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, Kwame University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
C School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
Wildlife Research 50(10) 827-839 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR21148
Submitted: 15 October 2021 Accepted: 24 November 2022 Published: 4 January 2023
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing
Abstract
Context: Globally, an estimated 1.3% of the bird species have gone extinct over the past millennia, largely owing to habitat loss.
Aims: This study investigated bird–habitat associations and assemblages in the Owabi Ramsar wetland.
Methods: The study was conducted over 5 months (May–September 2019) in four habitat types (agricultural land, built-up, forest reserve, and open-water area). Data were collected in 84 plots across four habitats (i.e. built-up area = 25, forest reserve = 25, agricultural land = 25 and open-water area = 9 plots), using a point-count technique. The Gambin model, non-metric multidimensional scaling, Chao-1, and Hill numbers models were used to evaluate differences in bird diversity and composition among the habitat types.
Key results: In all, 1260 individual birds, belonging to 81 species, were encountered. Many of the species occurred in the forest habitat (n = 46, 56.8%. Species from the agricultural land (n = 37) and built-up (n = 30) were mainly habitat generalists that used these two habitats as their shared feeding station. Bird–habitat specialisation grouping equally showed the forest specialists to be the highest (n = 23, 38.4%), whereas the open water had the least number of habitat specialisation associations (e.g. white-faced whistling duck, n = 20, 24.7%). Five species were widely distributed in all four habitats (e.g. bronze-mannikins and white-throated bee-eaters), indicating their broad habitat preferences and ability to adapt to varied conditions. The forest reserve tended to be the most diverse, which was likely mediated by factors such as nesting microhabitats, varied food availability, and human-led activities.
Conclusions: This study highlighted bird dietary structure and associated habitat type and bird-habitat specialisation in four different land-use types at Owabi Ramsar wetland.
Implications: Given the increasing level of disturbance, there is the likelihood that the population of forest-dependent and open water-dependent birds will be lost or will have to change or modify their behaviour to be similar to that of open-tolerant or open-country birds if managers of the Owabi Wildlife Sanctuary fail to implement the recommended management interventions highlighted.
Keywords: bird abundance, feeding guilds, forest specialists, habitat association, habitat generalists, habitat selection, Hill numbers, land use types, Ramsar wetland.
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