Biotic Relationships between Plants and Birds at Damietta Coastal Area, Egypt

Document Type : Original articles

Authors

1 Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, Egypt

2 Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Damietta University, Egypt

Abstract

The present study aimed to explain the relationships between plants and birds in the different habitats at Damietta coastal area. Field study indicated that one hundred and one plant species were recorded, belonging to 49 families, of these 51 species were wild and 43 species were cultivated. On the other hand, sixty six species of birds were censused belonged to 12 orders and 28 families. Results showed that birds are an essential part of the plant-animal association as they play an essential role in keeping our environment clean and disease-free. Many biotic relationships were found in the present study that conserve ecological balance as birds provide plants with many benefits such as 1) Seed dispersal which play an essential role for the propagation of many plants. 2) Protection as cattle egret, Egyptian barn swallow, black-winged kite, hooded crow, red breasted flycatcher and hoopoe protect plants from insects and earth worm. 3) Pollination as many species of plants, most commonly with red flowers, are pollinated by birds. Furthermore plants provide birds with a number of resources, including food, shelter and protection, nesting material and nest sites. Plants provide food for birds both directly and indirectly. Directly as many species of plant provide a nectar, fruit, seeds and grains to birds for example house sparrow mostly feeds on the seeds of weeds and grasses. It prefers oats and wheat. Indirectly as plants provide habitat for insects which in turn are eaten by birds (e.g. Egyptian barn swallow, Red breasted flycatcher, European barn swallow and European bee-eater). The study showed that vegetation was often densest in the shrub layer, and so thickets of understorey vegetation e.g. Eucalyptus citroidora and Casurina stritica were important habitat elements for many bird species e.g. house sparrow, cattle egret.

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