Seasonal distribution of Sri Lanka bush warbler (Elaphrornis palliseri) in the Horton plains national park

Abstract

Seasonal distribution of E. palliseri was investigated from January to November 2017 at the Horton Plains National Park (HPNP). In CF, three 50m additional transects were placed to cover three different forest areas as deep forest, forest middle and forest edge and surveyed using visual encounter method during morning, midday and evening time periods in each habitat for three consecutive days in each month. Abundance of Bush warblers within 10m distance from each transect were recorded in all four climate seasons in the HPNP. Three 100m line transects were placed randomly in the three major habitats of HPNP identified as Cloud forest(CF), Cloud forest die back(DB) and Grassland(GL). E. palliseri were only encountered within CF and DB habitats. Their abundance did not differ significantly among the four climate seasons (Kruskal- Wallis Test, p>0.05). Highest abundance was recorded in the First Inter Monsoon Season (15.5±4.95). SIMS was identified as the season with harshest environment conditions at HPNP in 2017. E. palliseri was not encountered within DB and CF middle during SIMS. In SIMS, lowest T (15.58±0.55 °C), highest RH (99.4±0.32%), highest WS (15.25±5.71Km/h) and highest RF (221.8±32.81mm) were recorded. A positive correlation was obtained in between average T variation and abundance (Pearson Correlation (r) =0.995, p<0.05). Negative correlation between average RH and abundance (r = -0.919, p>0.05), between average WS and abundance (r = -0.854, p>0.05) and also average RF and abundance (r = -0.520, p>0.05) were acquired. Further research should be conducted to determine how they react to harsh climatic conditions and whether they perform local migration with respect to the unfavorable conditions. Finding of the present study warrant further studies with regard to E. palliseri for their conservation.