Birds of the dump: A study on diversity, abundance and threats in landfills of Tigray region, Ethiopia
Abstract
Birds inhabit all habitats, including dumpsites. Most bird research has mainly focused on protected areas, while landfills have been much less studied. Our study was conducted to collect baseline data on the diversity, abundance and threats of avifauna in waste landfills of the Tigray region, Ethiopia, from November 2019 to March 2020. Seven landfill sites in towns with different geographical settings (Maychew, Adwa, Axum, Shire, Sheraro, Humera and Wolkayt) were selected. The point count technique was used to survey the birds. Moreover, interviews and field observations were also conducted to identify threats to birds. Diversity indices and Two-way ANOVA were used to analyze the data. A total of 2,985 individual birds belonging to 96 species, 32 families and 11 orders were recorded. Family Accipitridae was the most dominant (24 species), followed by Muscicapidae (8 species) and Columbidae (7 species). Hooded Vulture (17.17%) was the most abundant species, followed by Tawny Eagle (8.32%) and Pied Crow (5.46%). The Humera landfill site had the highest bird abundance, while the Maychew landfill had the lowest. A higher abundance of birds was recorded during the morning than in the afternoon. Humera landfill had the highest species diversity index (H′ = 3.56), followed by Wolkayt (H′ = 3.51) and Maychew landfills (H′ = 3.49). Maychew landfill had the highest species evenness (E = 0.778), whereas Shire landfill had the lowest species diversity and species evenness (H′ = 2.89; E = 0.439). Activities of waste collectors, free-ranging domestic animals and waste burning were considered disturbing factors; at the same time, electrocution, hunting and disposal of pollutant wastes were identified as threats to birds. Waste landfills of the region support a diversity of birds. Therefore, bird conservation action is required, such as proper management of landfills. The impact of discarded waste on the long-term survival of birds, especially threatened species, should also be investigated.
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