Avian Community Structure as a Function of Season, Habitat Type, and Disturbance, in Mole National Park, Northern Region (Ghana)

Hindawi International Journal of Ecology Volume 2018, Article ID 2045629, 14 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/2045629 Research Article Avian Community Structure as a Function of Season, Habitat Type, and Disturbance, in Mole National Park, Northern Region (Ghana) Collins Ayine Nsor ,1 Emmanuel Acquah,1 Grace Mensah,1 Vincent Kusi-Kyei,1 and Samuel Boadi2 1 2 Department of Ecotourism and Forest Recreation, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Department of Social Forestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana Correspondence should be addressed to Collins Ayine Nsor; Received 12 February 2018; Accepted 8 May 2018; Published 19 June 2018 Academic Editor: Ram Chander Sihag Copyright © 2018 Collins Ayine Nsor et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The study assessed factors that influenced bird-habitat preference, diversity, and spatial distribution in Mole National Park. Birds were identified using point count sampling method, while ordination techniques were performed to determine the influence of environmental factors on bird-habitat preference. A total of 4951 individuals belonging to 131 species were identified across the four habitat types in the wet (n = 3033) and dry (n = 1648) seasons. Despite the high abundance and richness of birds in the woodland and shrubland habitats, grassland habitat was the most diverse, due to the high spatial evenness distribution of the birds. Bushfire, patchiness, and animal trampling were the key environmental determinants in bird assemblages and habitat preferences and accounted for 62.02% and 81.82% variations in the two seasons. Rarer birds like White-Backed Vulture (NT) and White-Headed Vulture (CR), Bateleur Eagle (NT), and Woolly-Necked Stork (VU), with high conservation concern, suggest intensification of conservation effort, while the dominance of Sahel Bush-sparrow was probably due to their broad range habitat preferences and ability to adapt to environmental conditions across these habitats. These species could be used as indicators of habitat quality, if future scenarios restrict their movement or distribution in narrow range habitats. 1. Introduction The study of bird-habitat selection and use has long been established as a functional field of study in bird ecology [1–4]. Early habitat-selection theory was characterized by correlative models of habitat characteristics and species abundance [5, 6], which subsequently evolved into models that involved density dependence (i.e., the “ideal-free distribution” and “ideal-despotic distribution” models) [7, 8]. More recently, habitat-selection studies have shown that many factors, such as landscape structure [9–11], nest predation [12], competition [11], intraspecific attraction [13], food availability, variable climate, diseases, and human activities [14], can influence exactly how “ideal” and “free” animals are while moving through a landscape and selecting habitats. Habitatselection studies have assumed a new urgency, partially as a result of the importance of incorporating both habitat and demographic information into conservation planning [15], given recent report about global bird population decline [16], largely linked to habitat transformation [17, 18]. But Pulliam [19] and Caughley [15] argue that there is no guarantee that the presence of individuals in a given habitat is positively related to habitat quality. This is so because, in the absence of behavioral or life-history information, there is no way to know if detected differences have any bearing on choices of individuals [12, 20]. Pulliam and Danielson [10] and Martin [20] therefore conclude that habitat preferences are rather assumed to be adaptive without demonstration of increased fitness in preferred habitats. Notwithstanding these views about bird-habitat relationship, studies have shown particular birds to be associated with particular habitats [21, 22] and therefore they respond 2 quickly to changing habitats [23–25]. Birds have been used as surrogates for assessing the impact of habitat changes [26] and considered as good predictors of habitat quality as they relate to changes that are associated with their habitats [27–29]. Other habitat quality indicators, such as hemeroby, have widely been used in plant ecology to indicate the level of disturbance of the optimal habitat for a species [30]. Hemeroby is scaled on a range of ten- or five-point scores, higher scores of hemeroby meaning higher level of disturbance [30]. Vegetation structure (a typical floristic habitat type) is important in structuring avian communities [31, 32] and, thus, their relative abundance is often associated with vegetation community [33]. Vegetative structure is frequently assumed to be the primary proximate factor determining where and how species use resources. For example, Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is strongly associated with sagebrush (Artemesia tridentata), Chukar (Alectoris chukar) is associated with cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), and Chestnut-backed Chickadees (Parus rufescens) appears to follow the distribution of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) in California [34]. In the Sudan-Guinea Savannah biome of Ghana, where continued habitat loss in protected and unprotected areas is thought to threaten bird survival [25], maintenance of vegetation structure is crucial in sustaining bird population. Skowno and Bond [35] observed a strong influence of vegetation structure (i.e., mosaic of trees, shrubs, and open grassland in mesic African savannas) on birdhabitat use compared to floristic composition. However, MacNally [36] suggested that floristic habitat relationships of birds are often influenced by the scale of observation. MacNally [36] concluded that it is important to consider different observational scales, to determine the relative significance of structural and floristic attributes of the habitat. Although tourists have expressed satisfaction at the wildlife attraction (i.e., large mammals) and the environment [37], bird watching was among the least attractive, possibly due to scanty information about their preferred habitats, borne out habitat transformation. Given their important role in enhancing biodiversity and as bioindicators to ecosystem change [16, 27], birds are among wildlife attractions to MNP and other game reserves, across African landscapes. Thus, understanding bird-floristic habitat preference and the factors that influence their spatial distribution is key in developing right conservation measures that will sustain bird watching, as part of ecotourism drive. Though previous studies have established the presence of diverse avifauna in MNP [38] and are found to be of biogeographical importance, the study did not investigate the habitat preferences (...truncated)