Journal of Environmental Biology

Avian diversity in Marudu Bay mangrove forest, Sabah, Malaysia

 ????????????????????

M.N. Rajpar¹, S. G?cel², S. Ullah¹, A. Ullah³, M. Saad⁴, A.B.H. Aboushiba⁵, C.O. Martin⁶ and M. Zakaria⁶*?  

¹Department of Forestry, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal Dir (Upper), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 18050, Pakistan

²Near East University, Environmental Research Center, Nicosia, 99138, Northern Cyprus

³Department of Agricultural Extension Education and Communication, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, 25120, Pakistan

⁴Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, The University of Haripur, 22620, Pakistan

⁵Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Sebha,? 18758, Libya

⁶Faculty of Forestry, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, 43400, Malaysia

*Corresponding Author Email : mzakaria@upm.edu.my

Paper received: 10.04.2019 ?????? ???????????????????????????????????????Revised received: 10.09.2019 ???????????? ???????????????????????????????Accepted: 05.12.2019

Abstract

Aim: Avian species diversity along the rivers of Sungai Bungon Mati (SBM), Sungai Supitan (SSU) and Sungai Sat (SSA) in the Marudu Bay Mangrove Forest, Sabah, Malaysia was investigated.

Methodology : Transect survey method was used to study avian species diversity from March to May, 2009 and February, 2010.

Results : From 800 bird observations, a total of 69 species belonging to 28 families were recorded. SBM was heavily crowded by 44 avian species from 25 families (41.0% of all detections). In SSU, 43 species from 25 families (29.3%) and in SSA 32 species from 19 families (29.6%) were recorded.

Interpretation : Diversity analysis indicated that SBM was more diverse and evenly distributed than the other two river systems. The occurrence of mudflats, shallow water, richness of food and dense vegetation were important factors affecting the richness and diversity of water birds as well as terrestrial or open country birds.

Key words : Avian diversity, Mangrove, Sabah, Species richness, Transect survey     

Copyright ? 2020 Triveni Enterprises. All rights reserved. No part of the Journal can be reproduced in any form without prior permission. Responsibility regarding the authenticity of the data, and the acceptability of the conclusions enforced or derived, rest completely with the author(s).