Richness and conservation status ‎of birds of Touran National Park, ‎Semnan province

Yousefi, Masoud; Nezami, Bagher; Abdoos, Amir; Zaheri, Bahramali; Radman, Ahmad; Najafi Siavashan, Negar

doi:10.30473/eab.2021.57661.1816

Document Type : Article

Authors

¹ Ph. D., Department of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of ‎Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran

² Associate Professor, Research Group of Biodiversity and ‎Biosafety, Research Center for Environment and Sustainable ‎Development, Department of the Environment, Tehran, Iran ‎

³ General Manager, Semnan Provincial Office of the Department ‎of the Environment, Semnan, Iran‎

⁴ Deputy, Semnan Provincial Office of the Department of the ‎Environment, Semnan, Iran

⁵ Head of Turan Biosphere Reserve, Semnan Provincial Office ‎of the Department of the Environment, Semnan, Iran

⁶ M.A. of Land Use Planning, Faculty of Fisheries and ‎Environmental Sciences, Gorgan University of Agricultural ‎Sciences and Natural resources, Gorgan, Iran

https://doi.org/10.30473/eab.2021.57661.1816

Abstract

Birds provide important ecosystem services, but they face several threats like climate change, land-use change, and illegal hunting. Protected areas are important tools for the conservation of avian diversity however their avian diversity and distribution poorly studied in Iran. In this study, we present the result of our field observations of avifauna and breeding birds of Touran National Park, Semnan province between 2019 and 2021. We recorded 92 bird species in the national park and confirmed the breeding status of 33 species, some of which, namely Eastern Imperial Eagle, Asian Houbara Bustard, and European roller are threatened. Eastern Imperial Eagle and Asian Houbara Bustard are listed on Annex I of CITES and Eurasian Kestrel and Merlin are listed on Annex I of CITES. Diversity of bird of prey, breeding of the Persian Ground Jay and Houbara Bustard in the desert and semi-arid steppe ecosystems are some of the remarkable values of the Touran National Park. According to the field surveys, the presence of large numbers of domestic animals around the Park and the trampling of bird nests, the high number of domestic camels, and successive droughts are the most important avian threats in the Touran National Park.

Keywords

20.1001.1.23222387.1400.10.1.5.5

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Experimental animal Biology

Richness and conservation status ‎of birds of Touran National Park, ‎Semnan province

References

References

Volume 10, Issue 1 - Serial Number 37
No.1
August 2021
Pages 51-61

Richness and conservation status ‎of birds of Touran National Park, ‎Semnan province

References

References

Volume 10, Issue 1 - Serial Number 37 No.1August 2021Pages 51-61

Volume 10, Issue 1 - Serial Number 37
No.1
August 2021
Pages 51-61