Diversity and population densities of coraciiform birds in Zambezi riparian forest

Occurrence
Latest version published by Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona on Jun 6, 2024 Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona

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Description

A territory mapping method was used in 2015 to assess the population density of coraciiform species breeding in a riparian forest on the Zambezi River near Katima Mulilo, NE Namibia. The forest, c. 280 ha in surface, was partly transformed by human settlement and arable grounds. A total of 13 species and 42 breeding pairs were recorded.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 13 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

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How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Kopij, G., 2019. Diversity and population densities of coraciiform birds in Zambezi riparian forest. Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. Dataset/occurrence: https://doi.org/10.15470/s9rlud

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: a73c418e-7baa-4955-bdad-0159bcf2be2d.  Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Spain.

Keywords

Coraciiformes; Census; Riparian forest; Population density; Occurrence; Occurrence

Contacts

G. Kopij
  • Metadata Provider
  • Originator
  • Point Of Contact
  • Department of Integrated Environmental Science, Ogongo Campus
University of Namibia
  • Private Bag 5520
Oshakati
NA
Montse Ferrer
  • Publisher
  • Managing Editor AMZ
Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona
  • Ps Picasso s/n
08003 Barcelona
Barcelona
ES

Geographic Coverage

The study area was located in the Zambezi Valley near Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region, NE Namibia. The study area comprised a forest stretching between the river and the international road from Zambia through Katima Mulilo to Botswana, lying on the left bank between the Wenela Bridge (border pass) and the Zambezi River lodge

Bounding Coordinates South West [-19.643, 19.072], North East [-15.877, 26.016]

Taxonomic Coverage

Diversity and population densities of coraciiform birds in Zambezi riparian forest

Order Coraciformes
Family Alcididae, Meropidae, Coraciidae, Upupidae, Phoeniculidae

Temporal Coverage

Start Date 2016-01-01

Project Data

A territory mapping method was used in 2015 to assess the population density of coraciiform species breeding in a riparian forest on the Zambezi River near Katima Mulilo, NE Namibia. The forest, c. 280 ha in surface, was partly transformed by human settlement and arable grounds. A total of 13 species and 42 breeding pairs were recorded

Title Diversity and population densities of coraciiform birds in Zambezi riparian forest
Study Area Description The study area was located in the Zambezi Valley near Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region, NE Namibia. The study area comprised a forest stretching between the river and the international road from Zambia through Katima Mulilo to Botswana, lying on the left bank between the Wenela Bridge (border pass) and the Zambezi River lodge. This forest area is 7 km long and 200-700 m wide (mean = c. 400 m). The approximate surface area is therefore c. 280 ha. The natural vegetation is classified as Riparian Zambezi Forest (Mendelsohn et al., 2009). It is composed of large trees such as African teak Pterocarpus angolensis, albizias Albizia spp., apple leaf Lonchocarpus nelsii, baobab Adansonia digitata, Burkea Burkea africana, combretum Combretum spp., camel-thorn Acacia erioloba, corkwoods Commiphora spp., false mopane Guibourtia coleospermum, jackal berry Diospyros mespiliformis, knob-thorn Accacia nigrescens, makalani palm Hyphaene petersiana, manketti Schinziophyton rautanenii, marula Sclerocarya birrea, mopane Colophospermum mopane, pod mahogany Afzelia quanzensis, silver cluster-leaf Terminalia sericea, sausage tree Kigelia africana, sycomore fig Ficus sycomorus, white Bauhinia Bauhinia petersiana, Zambezi teak Baikiaea plurijuga. The forest is interlaced with pans covered with grass and sedges flooded almost on a yearly basis. About one quarter of the land has been converted into arable grounds and built-up areas, but large trees usually remain even in these converted areas. The annual temperature for Katima Mulilo is 21˚C. The average maximum temperature during the hottest month (September) is 3 5˚C; the average minimum temperature during the coldest month (July) is 3 °C. Humidity is 80-90 % in the most humid month (February) and only 10-20 % in the least humid month (September). The average annual rainfall is c. 700 mm, the highest in Namibia. Median annual rainfall is 550-600 mm. Most rains fall between November and March. The rainfall was below the long-term average in 2014 and in 2015
Design Description A territory mapping method (Bibby et al., 2002) was used to assess the population densities of all coraciiform species nesting in the forest. The study area was divided into six sections. Birds were counted in each of the sections in one morning.Therefore, the whole study area was covered in six mornings. Such complete coverage was achieved four times in 2015, in August, September, October and November. During each count, all coraciiform birds seen or heard were plotted on the map 1: 500. Special attention was paid to birds showing territorial behavior or breeding display. Recordings of two or three simultaneously calling males were important in interpreting the results. A bird or pair of the same species recorded at the same site in at least two out of the four months was interpreted as residential/breeding/territorial (following Bibby et al., 2002).

The personnel involved in the project:

G. Kopij

Sampling Methods

A territory mapping method (Bibby et al., 2002) was used to assess the population densities of all coraciiform species nesting in the forest.

Study Extent The study area was located in the Zambezi Valley near Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region, NE Namibia. The study area comprised a forest stretching between the river and the international road from Zambia through Katima Mulilo to Botswana, lying on the left bank between the Wenela Bridge (border pass) and the Zambezi River lodge. This forest area is 7 km long and 200-700 m wide (mean = c. 400 m). The approximate surface area is therefore c. 280 ha. The natural vegetation is classified as Riparian Zambezi Forest (Mendelsohn et al., 2009). It is composed of large trees such as African teak Pterocarpus angolensis, albizias Albizia spp., apple leaf Lonchocarpus nelsii, baobab Adansonia digitata, Burkea Burkea africana, combretum Combretum spp., camel-thorn Acacia erioloba, corkwoods Commiphora spp., false mopane Guibourtia coleospermum, jackal berry Diospyros mespiliformis, knob-thorn Accacia nigrescens, makalani palm Hyphaene petersiana, manketti Schinziophyton rautanenii, marula Sclerocarya birrea, mopane Colophospermum mopane, pod mahogany Afzelia quanzensis, silver cluster-leaf Terminalia sericea, sausage tree Kigelia africana, sycomore fig Ficus sycomorus, white Bauhinia Bauhinia petersiana, Zambezi teak Baikiaea plurijuga. The forest is interlaced with pans covered with grass and sedges flooded almost on a yearly basis. About one quarter of the land has been converted into arable grounds and built-up areas, but large trees usually remain even in these converted areas. The annual temperature for Katima Mulilo is 21˚C. The average maximum temperature during the hottest month (September) is 3 5˚C; the average minimum temperature during the coldest month (July) is 3 °C. Humidity is 80-90 % in the most humid month (February) and only 10-20 % in the least humid month (September). The average annual rainfall is c. 700 mm, the highest in Namibia. Median annual rainfall is 550-600 mm. Most rains fall between November and March. The rainfall was below the long-term average in 2014 and in 2015.
Quality Control Special attention was paid to birds showing territorial behavior or breeding display. Recordings of two or three simultaneously calling males were important in interpreting the results. A bird or pair of the same species recorded at the same site in at least two out of the four months was interpreted as residential/breeding/territorial (following Bibby et al., 2002).

Method step description:

  1. The study area was divided into six sections. Birds were counted in each of the sections in one morning.Therefore, the whole study area was covered in six mornings. Such complete coverage was achieved four times in 2015, in August, September, October and November. During each count, all coraciiform birds seen or heard were plotted on the map 1: 500.

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Kopij, G., 2019. Diversity and population densities of coraciiform birds in Zambezi riparian forest. Arxius de Miscel·lània Zoològica, 17: 179-186, Doi: https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2019.17.0179 https://doi.org/10.32800/amz.2019.17.0179

Additional Metadata

Alternative Identifiers 10.15470/s9rlud
a73c418e-7baa-4955-bdad-0159bcf2be2d
https://ipt.gbif.es/resource?r=coraciiform_birds_zambezi