Ábrahám Levente (szerk.): Válogatott tanulmányok VII. - Natura Somogyiensis 22. (Kaposvár, 2012)
Winkler D. - Erdő Á.: A comparative study of breeding bird communities in representative habitats of the Sárosfő Nature Reserve area
Natura Somogyiensis 22 213-222 Kaposvár, 2012 A comparative study of breeding bird communities in representative habitats of the Sárosfő Nature Reserve area Winkler Dániel & Erdő Ádám University of West Hungary, Institute of Wildlife Management and Vertebrate Zoology H-9400 Sopron, Ady E. u. 5., Hungary, e-mail: dwinkler@emk.nyme.hu Winkler, D. & Erdő, Á.: A comparative study of breeding bird communities in representative habitats of the Sárosfő Nature Reserve area. Abstract: This paper presents the results of breeding bird community surveys conducted in 2010 in the Sárosfő Nature Reserve area. The main goal was to determine species richness, diversity, density- and dominance structures in the bird communities of different forest, meadow and reed habitats. Bird community composition data were obtained by conducting standard transect counts carried out twice during the breeding season. The method used was suitable for recording pigeon- ( Columbiformes), woodpecker- (Piciformes) and passerine bird (Passeriformes) species. A total of 44 bird species were encountered. Diversity was the highest in the riverine ash-alder woodland habitat and the lowest in the reedbed habitat. Breeding bird community structure comparison between the different habitats was estimated using single linkage cluster analysis based on the Morisita-Hom similarity index that well emphasized the separation of three habitat groups (reed bed, open and forest habitats). The results showed that the rich mosaic habitat structure of the relatively small area provides optimal nesting and feeding grounds not only for waterfowl related to the fishponds but also for passerine bird communities. Keywords: breeding bird communities, bird diversity, mosaic habitat structure Introduction Ornithological studies related to fishponds in Hungary mostly focus on waterbird species (e.g. Kovács 1984, Musicz 1988, Kovács et al. 2011) while there are only very few reports on breeding bird communities in the oftentime diverse surrounding habitats (S chmidt 1963, Sterbetz 2002). Several researches have shown that vegetation structure, its complexity and spatial dispersion are the primary determining factors in bird community composition (MacArthur & MacArthur 1961, Wilson 1974, Blicke 1982), while other authors have pointed out that floristic composition can also play an important role (Wiens & Rotenberry 1981, Moskát 1988, Whelan 2000). The vicinity of water bodies has always a considerable impact on animal communities, including the avifauna. The aim of our study was to survey and describe species composition of breeding bird communities of different habitats surrounding the Sárosfö fishponds and to determine their species diversity, density- and dominance structures.
