Science Letters

Species Richness and Abundance of Birds in and Around Nimule National Park, South Sudan

Gift Sarafadin Simon 1*, Elijah Oyoo Okoth 2

1 Department of Wildlife, University of Juba, Juba, South Sudan

2 School of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, Karatina University, Karatina, Kenya

Abstract

Nimule National Park is one of the important bird areas situated in Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan. In this study, the current bird species checklist of the area was documented and bird species richness and abundance in the different sites of the park was compared. The point counts, mist-netting and direct opportunistic observation methods were used to collect the data. A total of 4946 birds, consisting of 211 species belong to 64 families were recorded in this study. The statistical analysis showed that the species diversity index differed significantly between the six selected study sites, namely Apalla, Paanzala, Commando, Onyama, Ray and Isumo, which provided good baseline information for future conservation and research on birds at the Nimule National Park.

Keywords: Abundance, bird diversity, Nimule National Park, species richness.

Received November 26, 2015 Accepted January 5, 2016 Abstract Published January 20, 2016 Manuscript Published April 15, 2016

*Corresponding author Gift Sarafadin Simon E-mail gftsimon@yahoo.co.uk