Bibosoop: A Unique Korean Biotope for Cavity Nesting Birds

Abstract

In Korea, a bibosoop is a type of village grove fostered to complement a weak part of the village from a Feng-Shui perspective. We examined the characteristics of bird communities in remaining bibosoops in two regions, Gyeonggi-do Province and Jeollanam-do Province. We surveyed patch preferences of birds at two landscapes in Gyeonggi-do Province. One contains a bibosoop with other rural landscape elements, and the other does not have a bibosoop. The two landscapes of Gyeonggi-do Province were similar to each other in the distribution of landscape elements. We observed that species richness was significantly higher at the site with a bibosoop, and that tits, Mandarian ducks, starlings, Eurasian scops owls, and woodpeckers utilized the bibosoop as a nesting site. Birds preferred the landscape with the bibosoop, and the internal movement of birds was significantly higher at the landscape with the bibosoop than at the other. The results suggest that bibosoops serve as a unique biotope that provides nest sites for cavity nesters, especially near nest-insufficient forests, and enhance the internal movements of birds among patches in the landscape.