Effects of habitat enhancement on bird diversity in Kaeng Khoi district, Saraburi province

Abstract

Various techniques of habitat enhancement have been used to increase the habitat quality, consequently enriching biodiversity and maintaining ecosystem services. This study aims to assess the effects of habitat enhancement on bird diversity, guild composition and bird usage pattern by conducting bird censuses and observations as well as arthropod samplings in the landscape-scale (LS) experiment plots and in the teak reforestation (TR) enhanced with sunflower and sunn hemp species over dry and wet seasons of 2015-2016. Sunflower treatment attracted more bird species (LS: 28, TR: 19) than sunn hemp treatment (LS: 25, TR: 15), but bird occurrence was varied based on resources. Insectivorous were the dominant guild across all treatments with higher occurrence in sunn hemp treatment. Otherwise, sunflower treatment likely supports the granivorous birds. Overall, bird responded differently based on the plot size or because of resource availability, creating different guild composition. While insectivores and granivores dominantly occurred in landscape-scale, omnivores substituted granivores in teak reforestation. Foraging was the major activity in all treatments followed by perching. This explained the high occurrence of insectivorous birds in the sunn hemp treatment, corresponding with the high abundance of herbivorous insects which could be potential prey for insectivorous birds, so these birds are offering pest control services. Besides providing food for granivores, sunflower also attracts diversed groups of mesopredators. In conclusion, both non-crop plants provide differential benefits for bird and conservation of beneficial arthropods and biological control in the agricultural landscape.