Avian community patterns in the Lesser Caucasus (Northeastern Turkey)

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Fen Edebiyat Fakültesi, Biyolojik Bilimler Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2007

Öğrenci: GÜLDEN ATKIN GENÇOĞLU

Danışman: CEMAL CAN BİLGİN

Özet:

Species composition, diversity and species-habitat relations are widely used to describe communities. This study aimed to document diversity, composition and habitat relations of avian communities of the Turkish Lesser Caucasus by using point counts and multivariate analyses. 2845 individuals of 101 bird species were observed at 215 stations located in the study area. Point counts were revealed to be a useful method for terrestrial birds, especially passerines. Species richness and diversity changed significantly within parts of the study area and one particular sub-region was found to be considerably more diverse than the other three. Division of the Lesser Caucasus region into sub-ecoregions may not be justified using bird assemblages since habitat parameters, especially the presence of woody vegetation, seemed to be a better predictor of species composition than geographical proximity. Documented bird and habitat associations provide valuable information on the factors which affect bird occurrence or abundance. Baseline data provided by this study will help detect and understand changes in bird populations in the future. Keywords: avian community, species composition, species diversity, point count method, bird-habitat relationship