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Abstract

Studies on water-associated bird communities within seagrass and mangrove habitats, especially in arid environments, are limited. Here, we studied a pristine mangrove forest with associated seagrass meadows in the Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries (JCPDI) on the southern Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. Our objectives were to (1) determine the differences in the diversity and distribution of water-associated bird communities between three sampling stations—S1 (a mixture of mangroves and seagrass beds), S2 (an open coast adjacent to mangroves), and S3 (an open coast without vegetation)—and across three seasons (March for spring, July for summer, and November for fall), and (2) identify the key climatological variables influencing variations in waterbird community composition. Point count surveys detected 29 water-associated bird species from 14 families. The Common Gull Larus canus and the Kentish Plover Anarhynchus alexandrinus were the most commonly observed waterbird species. Station S1 exhibited higher species richness, diversity, and dominance compared to stations S2 and S3, with a downward trend from S1 to S3, except in summer. The non-metric multidimensional scale (nMDS) and the analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) showed that seasonality was a major factor in avifaunal composition. A distance-based linear model (DISTLM) revealed that air temperature was the most influential factor affecting species composition. We concluded that the synergistic effects of a partially enclosed embayment, dominated by seagrass meadows and mangrove forests, support greater bird diversity than exposed, less vegetated coastal habitats.

DOI

http://doi.org/10.5038/2074-1235.53.1.1621

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