A DISSERTATION FOR THE MASTER DEGREE OF FOREST SCIENCES Characteristics of Wintering Bird Communities in Different Habitat Types in the Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar

Understanding the bird communities in different habitat types is essential for the conservation of important habitats. Wetlands possess different types of habitats, are important for wintering waterbird community. However, there is only a handful of studies, dealing habitat-bird relationship, done in the wetlands of tropical Southeast Asia. The aim of this study is to compare bird community characteristics at different habitat types and find the relationships between bird community composition and environment characters at different habitat types at Moeyungyi wetlands, and conduct species analysis to identify indicator species for each representative habitat types in Moeyungyi wetland. Bird and habitat data collection was made among five representative habitat types (short grasslands, tall grasslands, lotus fields, open water areas, and rice fields) during December, January, and the first week of February of 2014-15, at the Moeyungyi Wetland Wildlife Sanctuary, Myanmar. A total of 52 different bird species belonging to 11971 total individuals were encountered during the survey season with 50 point count stations of 7 minutes observation per plot. Natural wetlands hosted high species richness, abundances and diversity of birds while rice fields showed lowest species richness, abundances and diversity of birds. The canonical correspondence analysis revealed the habitat preferences of each bird species.Marsh Sandpipers (Tringa stagnatilis) and Oriental Darters (Anhinga melanogaster) were strongly related to short grasslands. Purple Herons (Ardea purpurea) and Purple Swamphens (Porphyrio porphyrio) preferred tall grasslands while i Bronze-winged Jacanas (Metopidius indicus) and Garganeys (Anas querquedula) tend to occur at lotus fields. Little Terns (Sternula albifrons) and White-winged Terns (Chlidonias leucopterus) were widely distributed in open water areas, and Pacific Golden Plovers (Pluvialis fulva) and Pintail Snipes (Gallinago stenura) belonged rice fields. Among the 52 bird species observed during the survey, 35 species were recognized as indicator species for each five habitat types, which was in accordance with canonical correspondence analysis results that supported with the relationships between each representative habitat types. In conclusion, The composition of bird communities was different between five habitats and more importantly, that the rice fields had lower indices for bird communities than any other natural habitat types. Natural marshes were more beneficial in maintaining of high species richness, abundances and diversity of waterbirds than in rice fields during the wintering period. Thus, the further management strategies should target the conservation of natural marshes, as an important habitat for the conservation of wintering waterbird communities at Moeyungyi Wetland. Also. indicator species found in this study can be a useful measure for the management of Moyungyi wetland, and even can be applied to broader geographic region including tropical South and Southeast Asia which holds similar wetland habitats and waterbird communities during winter.