Avifaunal Biodiversity and Land Use on Indonesia's Palau Penida Archipelago

Abstract

Understanding anthropogenic alterations to land use and their effects can inform conservation efforts in tropical biodiversity hotspots. In 2004 the Indonesian Palau Penida Archipelago, off the coast of Bali, was established as an unofficial bird reserve; however, studies of the islands’ land use and avian biodiversity were never conducted and have not been monitored. I surveyed birds across 32 transects in land use categories designated: agriculture, deforested, developed, and forest. Forest transects presented the greatest endemic species richness, but overall Shannon diversity different significantly among land use categories, particularly forested and deforested. ANOVA indicated exotic bird density was significantly higher than endemic bird density across all transects. Birds serve as a common biodiversity barometer and this study can serve to inform land use management decisions on the Archipelago and throughout reserves and protected areas throughout the tropics.