Abstract:
A survey of avian species abundance and diversity was carried out in Assop Forest Reserve and surrounding farmlands in
Plateau State, Central Nigeria. A total of 57.6 kilometers transect used to survey birds and vegetation in the forest reserve
and farmlands between the wet season of May to August 2007. A total of 175 bird species belonging to 49 families were
recorded during the study. Avian species number and total count were higher in the farmlands (290.52 ± 14.122) than
Assop Forest Reserve (135.52 ± 10.557). This is only an indication that many bird species especially grainvores and
ominivores exploit landscapes transformed by human activities to expand their home ranges and therefore become
dominant in numbers. The Shannon diversity indices showed a high avian diversity in Assop Forest Reserve (3.8) and low
avian diversity in surrounding farmlands (2.4). This resulted from intensive farming activities and agricultural
encroachment as most tree species have been cut down during farming. Similarly, tree density (F1,22=4.528, P=0.041) ,
percentage canopy cover (F1,22 =4.632, P=0.043) and density of tree sapling (F1,22=4.903, P=0.037) positively affected
avian species richness and composition recorded in Assop Forest Reserve, our findings suggest that any activity that leads
to the reduction or clearing of vegetation will ultimately affect bird community structure of any given habitat.
