Bird diversity in Gunung Tebu Forest Reserve: Biological data of environmentally sensitive area in east coast Peninsular Malaysia

¹ Zoology Branch, Forest Biodiversity Division, Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM), 52109, Kepong, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
² Environmental Management and Conservation Research Unit (eNCORe), Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (Pagoh Campus), 84000, Muar, Johor Darul Ta’zim, Malaysia

^* Corresponding author: kaviarasu@frim.gov.my

Abstract

Malaysia had developed guidelines to develop and conserve environmentally sensitive areas (ESAs), which mainly based on physical attributes, disregarding the biological elements. A recent study has identified ten potential biological parameters to be integrated into the ESA classification, especially for permanent forest reserve. However, the information on biological parameters is still scarce and inadequate, requiring extensive research on species diversity and its distribution especially on bird assemblages. Hence, a study on bird diversity was conducted over five sampling sessions from April to July 2023 in one of ESA permanent forest reserve, Gunung Tebu Forest Reserve, located in east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 76 species from 32 families were documented based on observation which is 51 species of the total species recorded, 31 species by mist-netting and 12 species with bird calling. The diversity (Simpson Index = 0.952 to 0.974, Shannon Index = 3.045 to 3.638) between sessions was compared. Based on Chao 2 estimator, the total species richness in the study area was estimated to be between 77 and 80 species. This comprehensive documentation highlights the previously underreported bird diversity in the forest reserve, emphasizing the need for including biological parameters as a classification attribute for environmentally sensitive area in Malaysia.