Shifting agriculture supports more tropical forest birds than oil palm or teak plantations in Mizoram, northeast India

Conversion of tropical forests and diverse multicrop agricultural land to commercial monocultures is a conservation concern worldwide. In northeast India, landscapes under shifting agriculture (or jhum) practiced by tribal communities are increasingly being replaced by monoculture plantations (e.g., teak, oil palm). We compared oil palm and teak plantations, shifting agricultural fields, and forest fallows (0–8 yr regeneration) with tropical rainforest edge and interior sites in Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mizoram, India. Twenty replicate transects were surveyed in each of the 5 study strata for vegetation structure, bird species richness and density, bird abundance, and species composition. Tree density and canopy and vertical structure were lowest in oil palm plantations, intermediate in teak plantations and jhum, and highest in rainforest sites. Tree density in jhum (4.3 stems per 100 m2) was much higher than in oil palm plantations (0.5 stems per 100 m2), but lower than in rainforest (6.8–...热带森林与多元混作农田被改造为商业化单一种植园的现象，已成为全球生物多样性保护领域备受关注的议题。在印度东北部，部落社群推行的刀耕火种轮作农业（jhum）景观正日益被单一种植园（如柚木、油棕）所取代。本研究以印度米佐拉姆邦丹帕老虎保护区内的热带雨林边缘与内部样地为对照，对油棕种植园、柚木种植园、轮作农田以及更新时长0至8年的森林休耕地开展对比调查。研究在5个研究层中各设置20条重复样线，对植被结构、鸟类物种丰富度与密度、鸟类丰度以及物种组成进行了调查。结果显示，油棕种植园的树木密度、冠层结构与垂直结构均为最低，柚木种植园与刀耕火种轮作农业区处于中等水平，热带雨林样地的相关指标则最高。其中，刀耕火种轮作农业区的树木密度（每100平方米4.3株）远高于油棕种植园（每100平方米0.5株），但低于热带雨林的每100平方米6.8–