Breeding Bird Communities in a Deciduous Broad-leaved Wood and a Larch Plantation

Abstract

Bird communities were studied in relation to vegetation in a natural deciduous broad-leaved wood and a young larch plantation in Obihiro (42°39′N, 143°01′E), Hokkaido from late April to early May 1983 and from late April to mild-June 1984. The deciduous study area (6.5ha) is a mixture of Phellodendron amurense, Sophora japonica and other deciduous broad-leaved trees with a dense undergrowth of shrubs and Sasa paniculata, tree density being 1, 145/ha. The young larch plantation (6.0ha) consists of Larix leptolepis of about 7 m high with a dense undergrowth of Sasa paniculata, tree density being 2, 800/ha. A total of 25 species of birds was recorded throughout the present study, of which 21 were observed in the deciduous wood and 12 in the larch plantation. Eighteen species had stationary home ranges in the study area; 15 species and 14.8 pairs in the deciduous wood, and 7 species and 11 pairs in the larch plantation. Emberiza spodocephala was the most dominant species both in the deciduous wood and larch plantation, whereas Parus palustris and Cettia squameiceps were common in the deciduous wood. Emberiza cioides and Cettia diphone, on the other hand, were common in the larch plantation. In the deciduous wood birds feeding and nesting on trees and shrubs were abundant but in the larch planatation birds feeding andnesting on shrubs and the ground dominated. The species diversity index (H') was 3.300 in the deciduous wood and 2.084 in the larch planatation. The similarity index betweenthe birds community of both plots was 0.42.