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Effects of landscape attribute towards bird assemblages in urban areas of Peninsular Malaysia

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Abstract

Urbanisation is the transformation of a natural ecosystem into more artificial habitat to give way for development and is occurring at an unprecedented rate globally. The urban expansion involves alterations of urban landscapes, resulting in habitat loss and threatening biodiversity. Landscape attributes of urban areas are known to influence urban bird composition, but to what extent is still poorly understood. Thus, several urban areas in west Peninsular Malaysia with varying intensity of urbanisation were chosen to determine the effect of landscape attributes on bird communities. A total of 4936 individual birds from 20 species representing 14 families, were recorded throughout the observations, dominated by Corvidae (crows). Based on the functional groups, only garden birds and omnivory feeding guild showed a significant difference in their abundance among different urban sites. Omnivory was the most abundant feeding guild (80%), dominated by House crow (Corvus splendens). This study shows that species composition is not influenced by level of urban intensity, but by the landscape attributes of each urban area. Multiple Regression analysis indicated that water bodies and roads significantly predicted species richness of birds, whereas high vegetation cover, road, and open area significantly predicted bird abundance. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) ordination indicated that urban birds are not selective of landscape attributes, unlike other bird groups. This study revealed that heterogeneity of landscape attributes is essential to enhance bird composition and ultimately biodiversity in urban areas, thus key factors in designing ecocentric cities.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the respective municipal councils involved in this study, namely Kepong, Cheras, Kajang (Bangi), Klang and Seremban for providing us with the assistance and support during the samplings. Special thanks also go to the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Peninsular Malaysia (PERHILITAN) for the permission to conduct this research. This study is funded by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, under grant code GUP-2018-152.

Funding

This study was funded by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia through grant GUP-2018–152.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

    Farah Shafawati Mohd-Taib, Wardah Mohd-Saleh & Siti Noor Radiah Ismail

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  1. Farah Shafawati Mohd-Taib
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  2. Wardah Mohd-Saleh
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  3. Siti Noor Radiah Ismail
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection was performed by Wardah Mohd-Saleh and Siti Noor Radiah Ismail. Material preparation and data analysis were performed by Farah Shafawati Mohd-Taib and Wardah Mohd-Saleh, and all authors approved of the final version of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Farah Shafawati Mohd-Taib.

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Mohd-Taib, F.S., Mohd-Saleh, W. & Ismail, S.N.R. Effects of landscape attribute towards bird assemblages in urban areas of Peninsular Malaysia. Urban Ecosyst 25, 241–251 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-021-01151-1

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