Avian conservation and ecology in northern Vietnam
Date
2009
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Abstract
Due to the rapid rate of biodiversity loss in Vietnam conserving the avian biodiversity is a contemporary issue of concern and my dissertation was aimed at several issues focused on avian conservation. Recently, the number of non-native tree plantations has increased but the conservation potential of such plantations remains unknown. In Chapter 1, I estimated bird species richness to be highest in mature natural forest, lower in second-growth natural forest, and lowest in pine plantation. I suggest that natural forest types should receive priority for conservation in Vietnam. In Chapter 2, I compared bird movement over a paved road (6-8m wide) and within forest interior plots. The probabilities of approaching the playback for ground species at the road site were lower than those in the forest interior. The road seems to moderately affect the ability for ground-feeding bird species to cross gaps. Roads in the natural reserves should be designed to be as narrow as possible. In Chapter 3, to investigate the effects of logging on biodiversity, I modeled the recovery of avian communities following a variety of potential logging schemes. I found that, to conserve 80% of the species pool, logging schemes with either cycle length > 40 years or wood volume left after harvest > 55% should be implemented. Wildlife diseases are raising concerns with respect to human and domestic animal health, as well as the persistence of wildlife populations. Chapter 4 was aimed at characterizing the sample prevalence of avian malaria in wild land birds. The prevalence of avian malaria was 45.85%. However, higher parasite prevalence was observed in flocking species compared to solitary species and higher parasite prevalence was observed in adult birds compared to juvenile birds. In Chapter 5, I focused on surveillance for the presence of avian influenza virus nucleic acids and antibodies in wild land birds. Serum samples from four birds out of 197 birds sampled were antibody positive for the H5 subtype. Sample prevalence for avian influenza virus nucleic acids was 7.25%. This result suggests that attention should be given to land birds in AI surveillance and monitoring programs.
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Subject
avian conservation
avian influenza
biodiversity
pine plantations
ecology
conservation
conservation biology