On the relationship between bird and woody plant species diversity in the Uttara Kannada district of south India

Daniels, R. J. ; Joshi, N. V. ; Gadgil, M. (1992) On the relationship between bird and woody plant species diversity in the Uttara Kannada district of south India Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 89 (12). pp. 5311-5315. ISSN 0027-8424

[img]
Preview
PDF - Publisher Version
917kB

Official URL: http://www.pnas.org/content/89/12/5311.short

Abstract

Bird species richness is inversely related to woody plant species diversity and vertical stratification in the natural vegetation of Uttara Kannada, the district with the largest contiguous tract of humid tropical forest in peninsular India. This inverse relationship may be explained by the fact that although the peninsular Indian evergreen forests are rich in woody plant species when compared with the drier vegetation, they harbor an impoverished bird fauna due to their smaller overall extent and greater isolation. Much of this impoverishment is accounted for by the absence of many species of understory timaliids characteristic of the humid evergreen forests of the Eastern Himalayas and Southeast Asia. The plantations of Uttara Kannada largely derive their bird fauna from the drier vegetation and exhibit the commoner trend of a positive correlation between bird species richness and vertical stratification of the vegetation.

Item Type:Article
Source:Copyright of this article belongs to National Academy of Sciences, USA.
ID Code:10340
Deposited On:04 Nov 2010 05:59
Last Modified:16 May 2016 19:59

Repository Staff Only: item control page