Effects of forest composition and structure on breeding bird communities in Mount Edough (north-eastern Algeria)

This study examines the effects of forest vegetation structure on the richness, abundance and composition of bird communities in four different Mediterranean habitats in north-eastern Algeria. Thirty bird species were recorded in the four sampled habitats, belonging to six orders and 14 families. The order Passeriformes is the most represented, with 21 species. Results indicate that cork oak (<i>Quercus suber</i>) and zeen oak (<i>Quercus faginea</i>) forests, characterised by a complex vertical structure and a closed canopy, support a rich and typically forest-dwelling bird community. In contrast, pine (<i>Pinus pinaster</i>) forests exhibit lower species richness and are dominated by generalist species, tolerant to habitat disturbance. Vegetation parameters such as tree height (r = 0.56), shrub cover (r = 0.49) and ecological vegetation volume (r = 0.58) were positively correlated with avian richness. With average species richness values of 18.5 and 16.3 species per plot, respectively, zeen oak forests and mixed forests had the highest levels of avian diversity, while pine forests had the lowest (average = 9.7 species).