Abstract:
Disturbed forest fragments comprise a substantial proportion of tropical landscapes, and these habitats along with
associated ecotones have become important to tropical biodiversity conservation in human-modified landscapes. This study
evaluated how tropical avifaunal communities respond to moderate habitat disturbances, such as shifting cultivation, selective
logging and restoration from exotic plant species, in the Yagirala Forest Reserve, a fragmented tropical lowland rainforest in
south-west Sri Lanka. Thirty circular plots with a 25-m fixed-radius, located to cover four prominent habitat types (secondary
forest, Pinus-dominated forest, abandoned paddy lands and home gardens), were studied from March to December 2014. The
results suggest that despite being fragmented and disturbed by human actions, the Yagirala Forest Reserve and associated ecotone
collectively provide an important refuge for avifauna in the landscape context. The forest-home garden interface supported
the highest avifaunal diversity. Edge habitats represented by home gardens and abandoned paddy lands generally supported
greater bird richness. However, less disturbed secondary forest and Pinus-dominated forest were be more important for endemic
and forest-specialist birds. Our results further highlight the potential value of wooded forest-home garden interfaces and forest
stands restored with exotic pines in supporting native forest bird assemblages, especially in fragmented and isolated forest
patches.
