Conservation ecology of birds in Mt. Hilong-hilong, a Key Biodiversity Area on Mindanao Island, the Philippines

Abstract

The identification of key areas for conservation and protection according to science-based evidence is an important component to circumvent the negative impacts of environmental changes within geopolitical territories and across the globe. Priority areas for biodiversity played an important role to ensure the protection of many species particularly those that are unique and threatened. There are more than 200 Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in the Philippines, yet many important research and biodiversity data are either unpublished or unconsolidated. Birds are commonly studied indicators for KBA identification due to their high species richness, diversity, and sensitivity to forest ecosystems. By combining data from past and present surveys, we accounted for a total of 148 bird species of 51 families, with 20 new records from recent field surveys. Our analysis showed a high level of endemism within Mt. Hilong-hilong with 36% Philippine endemic, 14% restricted to Mindanao faunal region and 11% migrant. In terms of conservation, 8% of the species were considered in threatened categories. The species richness and endemism were higher in lowland to mid-elevation areas compared to higher elevation areas of the KBA. Endemism (i.e., Mindanao endemic) and increasing body mass were important determinants of binary extinction risk for bird species in Mt. Hilong-hilong. The high biodiversity in Mt. Hilong-hilong indicates an example of the vital role of KBAs in preserving nationally and globally important bird species. Lastly, we emphasise the importance of collaboration and integrating past and present information to synthesise relevant information to complement ongoing conservation efforts in Mt. Hilong-hilong and other key habitats in the Philippines.

Avifaunal diversity in urban greenspaces within Cotabato city, Mindanao Island, Philippines

“…PC Hill has less vegetation and more residential buildings compared to NDU, however, results showed that it has the highest bird diversity among the urban green spaces surveyed. The results differ to the study conducted in southern Mindanao that reports the positive association of vegetation to avifaunal diversity (see Tanalgo et al 2015;Gracia et al 2021). Such observation might be due to limitations of the study such as the time of the day the bird surveys were conducted (0500-0900 h) and the limited number of study sites.…”