Birds and biogeography of Mount Mecula in Mozambique’s Niassa National Reserve

The montane forests of northern Mozambique’s isolated massifs are inhabited by numerous range-restricted and threatened bird species, but until recently were extremely little-known. We report on a first avifaunal survey of the isolated montane habitats of Mt Mecula (1 442 m), Niassa National Reserve, notable as the only currently protected montane area in northern Mozambique. Mount Mecula’s moist forest is small (approximately 136 ha in total) and patchy, and although known botanically to have some montane affinities, was found to support an avifauna more typical of riparian forests of medium to low altitude. The only montane forest species recorded was Lemon Dove <i>Aplopelia larvata</i>. Other montane elements included Vincent’s Bunting <i>Emberiza</i> (<i>capensis</i>) <i>vincenti</i>, one of six species recorded new to the Niassa National Reserve list. Overall, it appears that despite its intermediate location, Mt Mecula does not represent a biogeographical ‘stepping stone’ for montane forest bird species. This probably owes to its remoteness from the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania to the north and the massifs of other parts of northern Mozambique, to the south and west.

莫桑比克北部孤立山地地块的森林中栖息着大量狭域分布且受胁的鸟类类群，但直至近年仍极少为人所知。本研究报道了尼亚萨国家保护区内梅库拉山（海拔1442米）孤立山地生境的首次鸟类区系调查结果，该区域是目前莫桑比克北部唯一受保护的山地片区。梅库拉山的湿润森林总面积狭小（约136公顷）且呈斑块状分布；尽管植物学研究显示其具有一定山地生态属性，但调查发现其鸟类区系更接近于中低海拔河岸林的典型类群。本次调查记录到的唯一山地森林鸟类为柠檬鸽（*Aplopelia larvata*）。其他山地类群包括文森特鹀（*Emberiza capensis vincenti*），该物种为尼亚萨国家保护区鸟类名录新增的6个记录物种之一。总体而言，尽管地处过渡区位，梅库拉山并未成为山地森林鸟类的生物地理学"踏脚石"。这一现象或与其距离北部坦桑尼亚东弧山脉、南部及西部莫桑比克北部其他山地地块均较为偏远有关。