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S.G. Plexida & A.I. Sfougaris 2010. Conservation of priority bird species in a protected area of central Greece
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Conservation of priority bird species in a protected area of central
Greece using geographical location and GIS
Sofia G. Plexida 1* & Athanassios I. Sfougaris 2
Laboratory of Ecosystem and Biodiversity Management, Department of Agriculture,
Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly,
Fytokou str., Ν. Ionia, 384 46 Volos, Greece
Abstract
The effects of habitat structure and spatial variation on bird community composition were
studied in the protected area “Antichasia-Meteora mountains” (GR1440003), 82.635 km 2 . The
census of bird diversity was conducted from late April until mid June, and in October 2008. In
185 randomly selected sampling plots, the following parameters were recorded: (i) habitat type;
(ii) habitat cover variables and (iii) spatial variables. Stepwise regression analysis was used to
investigate the relationships between bird species richness and vegetation. Geostatistics were
used to examine the spatial distribution of priority species by semivariography followed by
kriging interpolation. The results showed that bird species richness is correlated significantly
with fallow land (β=0.15, P50cm tall) (P