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Assessing the Effects of Aquatic Vegetation Composition on Waterbird Distribution and Richness in Natural Freshwater Lake of Malaysia

Received: 29 June 2015     Accepted: 13 July 2015     Published: 30 July 2015
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Abstract

Aquatic vegetation structure and composition is a major driven factor which plays a significant role in waterbird foraging sites and habitat selection. Assessing the effects of aquatic vegetation composition on the distribution and richness of waterbird in a freshwater lake is a useful tool to understand the habitat requirement and preference of waterbird species for future better conservation and management. A total of 19 aquatic plants was recorded in the Paya Indah lake using 10 X 10 m quadrant method. Eleocharis variegata (13.0%), E. dulcis (12.0%), Scirpus mucronatus (11.0%), and Fimbristylis globulosa (10.0%) were the most dominant aquatic plants which cover around 46.0% of the lake area. Likewise, a total of 1492 bird individuals represnting 24 waterbird species and 8 families was recorded through direct observation using 10X50 binocular. Porphyrio porphyrio (17.02%), Amaurornis phoenicurus (15.82%), and Ardea purpurea (8.31%) were three most common waterbird species in the study area. In contrast, three waterbird species, namely Hydrophasianus chirurgus (0.8%), Tachybaptus ruficollis (0.6%), and Gallirallus striatus (0.54%) were the rarest i.e., recorded only a few individuals. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient test illustrated that aquatic vegetation species have strong positive correlationship (i.e., r = 0.9259, P > 0.05) with waterbird species distribution and richness in the lake area. This showed that higher waterbird richness could be due to the diversity of aquatic vegetation species composition. Overall, the finding of this study highlighted that Paya Indah Lake is rich in aquatic vegetation structure and composition that had attracted a wide array of waterbird to perform various activities such as food, water, habitat and reproduce.

Published in American Journal of Life Sciences (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajls.20150304.20
Page(s) 316-321
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Lake, Aquatic Vegetation, Waterbird, Richness, Distribution

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Abdoul Baset Hassen-Aboushiba. (2015). Assessing the Effects of Aquatic Vegetation Composition on Waterbird Distribution and Richness in Natural Freshwater Lake of Malaysia. American Journal of Life Sciences, 3(4), 316-321. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20150304.20

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    ACS Style

    Abdoul Baset Hassen-Aboushiba. Assessing the Effects of Aquatic Vegetation Composition on Waterbird Distribution and Richness in Natural Freshwater Lake of Malaysia. Am. J. Life Sci. 2015, 3(4), 316-321. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20150304.20

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    AMA Style

    Abdoul Baset Hassen-Aboushiba. Assessing the Effects of Aquatic Vegetation Composition on Waterbird Distribution and Richness in Natural Freshwater Lake of Malaysia. Am J Life Sci. 2015;3(4):316-321. doi: 10.11648/j.ajls.20150304.20

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajls.20150304.20,
      author = {Abdoul Baset Hassen-Aboushiba},
      title = {Assessing the Effects of Aquatic Vegetation Composition on Waterbird Distribution and Richness in Natural Freshwater Lake of Malaysia},
      journal = {American Journal of Life Sciences},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {316-321},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajls.20150304.20},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajls.20150304.20},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajls.20150304.20},
      abstract = {Aquatic vegetation structure and composition is a major driven factor which plays a significant role in waterbird foraging sites and habitat selection. Assessing the effects of aquatic vegetation composition on the distribution and richness of waterbird in a freshwater lake is a useful tool to understand the habitat requirement and preference of waterbird species for future better conservation and management. A total of 19 aquatic plants was recorded in the Paya Indah lake using 10 X 10 m quadrant method. Eleocharis variegata (13.0%), E. dulcis (12.0%), Scirpus mucronatus (11.0%), and Fimbristylis globulosa (10.0%) were the most dominant aquatic plants which cover around 46.0% of the lake area. Likewise, a total of 1492 bird individuals represnting 24 waterbird species and 8 families was recorded through direct observation using 10X50 binocular. Porphyrio porphyrio (17.02%), Amaurornis phoenicurus (15.82%), and Ardea purpurea (8.31%) were three most common waterbird species in the study area. In contrast, three waterbird species, namely Hydrophasianus chirurgus (0.8%), Tachybaptus ruficollis (0.6%), and Gallirallus striatus (0.54%) were the rarest i.e., recorded only a few individuals. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient test illustrated that aquatic vegetation species have strong positive correlationship (i.e., r = 0.9259, P > 0.05) with waterbird species distribution and richness in the lake area. This showed that higher waterbird richness could be due to the diversity of aquatic vegetation species composition. Overall, the finding of this study highlighted that Paya Indah Lake is rich in aquatic vegetation structure and composition that had attracted a wide array of waterbird to perform various activities such as food, water, habitat and reproduce.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Assessing the Effects of Aquatic Vegetation Composition on Waterbird Distribution and Richness in Natural Freshwater Lake of Malaysia
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    AB  - Aquatic vegetation structure and composition is a major driven factor which plays a significant role in waterbird foraging sites and habitat selection. Assessing the effects of aquatic vegetation composition on the distribution and richness of waterbird in a freshwater lake is a useful tool to understand the habitat requirement and preference of waterbird species for future better conservation and management. A total of 19 aquatic plants was recorded in the Paya Indah lake using 10 X 10 m quadrant method. Eleocharis variegata (13.0%), E. dulcis (12.0%), Scirpus mucronatus (11.0%), and Fimbristylis globulosa (10.0%) were the most dominant aquatic plants which cover around 46.0% of the lake area. Likewise, a total of 1492 bird individuals represnting 24 waterbird species and 8 families was recorded through direct observation using 10X50 binocular. Porphyrio porphyrio (17.02%), Amaurornis phoenicurus (15.82%), and Ardea purpurea (8.31%) were three most common waterbird species in the study area. In contrast, three waterbird species, namely Hydrophasianus chirurgus (0.8%), Tachybaptus ruficollis (0.6%), and Gallirallus striatus (0.54%) were the rarest i.e., recorded only a few individuals. Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient test illustrated that aquatic vegetation species have strong positive correlationship (i.e., r = 0.9259, P > 0.05) with waterbird species distribution and richness in the lake area. This showed that higher waterbird richness could be due to the diversity of aquatic vegetation species composition. Overall, the finding of this study highlighted that Paya Indah Lake is rich in aquatic vegetation structure and composition that had attracted a wide array of waterbird to perform various activities such as food, water, habitat and reproduce.
    VL  - 3
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Author Information
  • Zoology Department, Sebha University, Sebha, Libya

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