The role of church forests in avian conservation: the case in Takussa district, Northwestern Ethiopia

Abstract

Many remnant indigenous trees and shrubs in Ethiopian Orthodox churches are known for preserving different plant species, and then used as a home for many species of birds. The main objective of the present study was to investigate the role of church forests in conserving avian species as a function of diversity analyses in three selected church forests of Takussa District, west Gondar Administrative Zone of Amhara Region. To get sufficient data on diversity and relative abundance of birds, twenty-one sampling point stations were placed in the three church forests using stratified sampling techniques. Data were collected for a total of 48 days covering both the dry and wet seasons. A total of 68 bird species were recorded, of which two were endemic to Ethiopia, seven were shared with Eritrea, while the remaining were uncommon, frequent, and common species to the study sites. The mean bird species diversity was highest in Goye Merry church forest (H'=3.5), and lowest in Arema Gebrael church forest (H'=2.9). The effect of season did not show significant difference in determining the avian diversity across the study sites (F_{1, 295} =1.416, P=0.235), whereas the effect of habitat on the three study sites showed a significant difference (F_{2, 295}=840.53, P=0.000). The highest diversity of birds is recorded in Goye Merry church forest which is relatively with structurally complex habitat. The difference in the diversity of birds is mainly attributed to the difference in plant species composition and characteristics of forests. These results suggest that structurally complex Ethiopian Orthodox church forests have the potential for conservation of different bird species.