Bird Communities Vary under Different Urbanization Types—A Case Study in Mountain Parks of Fuzhou, China

Abstract

Bird habitats are becoming increasingly fragmented as a result of rapid urbanization. As one of the essential refuges for urban bird communities, mountain parks are of practical significance for studying the spatial changes of birds, which can inform the future planning of mountain park planning. In this study, we assessed the α, β, and functional diversity of bird communities in mountain parks in Fuzhou, China, at three levels of urbanization (urban, peri-urban, suburban) and explored how diversity (abundance, richness, α-diversity, Chao1) varies along the urbanization gradient. A three-month bird survey was conducted using the transect method to examine the impact of urbanization on bird community structures in mountain parks. In addition, we evaluated the functional diversity of bird guilds in order to identify potential indicator species for monitoring different urbanization gradients in mountain parks. The results showed that: (1) During the three bird surveys from December 2021 to February 2022, 96 bird species and 2429 individuals of 9 orders, 34 families, and 63 genera were identified. (2) Urbanization had a significant impact on the overall bird α-diversity (p = 0.040) and richness (p = 0.024) but not on the overall bird abundance (p = 0.056). (3) The results of non-metric multidimensional scaling showed significant variations among overall birds in mountain parks along with three urbanization levels (stress = 0.155, p = 0.027). Similarly, significant differences were observed in the upper-stratum guild (stress = 0.183, p = 0.049) but not in other diet and vertical foraging stratum guilds. (4) Five species were identified as potential candidates for monitoring the trends of urban gradients. Moreover, compared to insectivorous or omnivorous guilds, most carnivorous and herbivorous guilds may not be suitable for monitoring the negative effects of urbanization in mountain parks. Our findings can help inform urban mountain park management or restoration strategies intended to mitigate the adverse impacts of urbanization.

Contrasted avian communities between two protected areas in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

“…Contrary to our initial expectations based on published evidence on the composition of tropical avian assemblages along urbanization gradients (Sanz and ), species richness and diversity did not differ between the urban and the suburban protected site. Overall bird abundance tended to be higher at the urban protected site compared to the suburban one, in accordance with most previous studies (Batáry et al 2018;Xu et al 2022). However, the difference in abundance was to some extent due the fact that the Palmchat, a common Haitian avian species, was rare at WFER, whereas it was largely predominant at UNPM.…”

Relationship between Vegetation Habitats and Bird Communities in Urban Mountain Parks

“…Erdelen (1984) [ 58 ] found that bird species richness and diversity were often related to vegetation structure rather than just woody species richness. The planning and design of urban mountain parks needs to provide for not only the recreational needs of tourists but also issues such as providing habitats for wildlife [ 22 ]. Therefore, various types of vegetation structures have emerged in urban mountain parks, such as dense forests, sparse forests, shrubs, grasslands, and waterfronts as five typical vegetation habitat types, which represent an increase in structural complexity.…”

“…Fuzhou has a richness of bird resources, with 455 species recorded in the China Birding Record Center ( , accessed on 13 August 2022) as of August 2022. Therefore, the conservation of wild bird resources in Fuzhou is significant not only for the improvement of local biodiversity but also for the protection of all wild bird species along their migratory routes through Fuzhou [ 22 ]. Unlike ordinary urban parks, urban mountain parks are usually built on the unique environment of special topography and natural ecology and are a major part of the urban green space system [ 23 ].…”

Effects of Landscape Features on Bird Community in Winter Urban Parks

“…For example, the sample size of the selected urban parks (n = 9) was quite small, the study was conducted only during a single winter and only in one city. Additionally, some other factors, such as noise level [ 77 ], artificial light [ 78 ], recreational activities [ 63 ], other guilds of birds [ 79 ], and vegetation habitats [ 80 ], may influence winter bird assemblage structure in urban parks.…”