Recovery of bird communities following the construction of a large-scale hydroelectric dam

Abstract

Background Habitat degradation is known to have a major impact on the composition of bird communities, yet how these communities recover following such disturbance is less understood. This study examined bird community changes from pre-logging to recovery over the course of habitat disturbance caused by the development of the Hulu Terengganu Hydroelectric Dam Project in Peninsular Malaysia, between 2007 and 2018. Bird surveys were conducted using point count observations and mist netting in the dam area from the pre-logging phase until the operation phase. Results It was observed that while bird species significantly declined after large-scale habitat clearance between the pre-logging and construction phases, they showed positive signs of recovery from the inundation to operation phases. These findings indicate that the bird community is still recovering, and the permanent loss of habitat required by most of the original species has not occurred, as evidenced by recolonisation. Bird species composition differed across phases due to varying habitat conditions. The turnover rate and immigration rate (recolonisation and newly recorded species) were higher between the construction and operation phases. It was also observed that insectivorous birds were more heavily affected than others by changes to the landscape, which highlights the versatility, survivability and tolerance of certain species to extreme disturbance and habitat modification. Conclusion Although the operation phase showed an incremental change in bird species richness due to recolonisation and newly recorded species, this value remains far from that of the pre-logging phase. We predict that bird species recovery will continue to increase for some time before reaching a plateau among the newly created islands, reservoir and catchment area of the dam.

Composition and feeding guilds bird community in tropical peatland of Orang Kayo Hitam Forest Park buffer area, Jambi, Indonesia

“…The granivore bird group prefers open areas with low vegetation density (Rofiq et al 2021). In addition, it is observed that the granivore group has a response to increasing the number of groups after logging or loss of trees in a habitat and decreases while there is regrowth during the recovery period to a more complex forest (Burivalova et al 2015;Nasruddin-Roshidi et al 2021). Therefore, the presence of high G guilds in a specific area can indicate that the area has a low density of high-level vegetation.…”

Distribution of Six Urban Bird Species in Urban Agglomeration of Central Region of Peninsular Malaysia Using Ebird Database

“…Birds are the ideal subjects to study the effects of habitat fragmentation and landscape change as they are easily identified, clearly visible and sensitive to land-use changes (Hensley, 2018;Mansor et al, 2011;Nasruddin-Roshidi et al, 2021). Birds are also often clearly visible to the public in the city, and their presence is highly anticipated by most visitors to urban parks (Jasmani et al, 2017).…”