Comparison of bird species diversity between 4thages burnt and unburnt land in PT Waimusi Agroindah, South Sumatera

Abstract

Nowadays, one of the most highlighted issues in oil palm plantations is land fire. The fire event is thought to have a negative impact on biodiversity, including birds. One of the major fires ever occurred in Indonesia in 2015. The fire also struck on PT Waimusi Agroindah, South Sumatra. The high accusation that the fire only caused a negative impact triggered a lawsuit against oil palm companies that experienced fires to pay the cost of environmental damage fines. The small number of studies conducted to determine the impact of fires on bird species diversity requires further research to determine the condition of bird species diversity after the fire, especially on oil palm plantations. The method for estimating impacts of fire is to compare species diversity between unburnt and post-burn land. While the observation method used is the line transect in the morning and afternoon with three repetitions. The results showed that there were 39 species of birds on burnt land and 36 species of birds on unburnt land. The highest type of Margalef index is shown by burnt land which is equal to 6.37 and the Evenness index is 0.90. Overall there was an increase in bird species diversity on post-burnt land because there were gains of 5 species and loss of 2 species. Changes in the composition of bird species in both land types are caused because post-burnt land has a higher feed potential. The majority of birds at the study site are insectivorous. There are 13 species of bird which is included into protected species according to the Permen LHK No. P 106 of 2018 and also CITES and IUCN status.