Environmental factors influencing bird species diversity in Kenya

Abstract

Sustainable resource management requires understanding the factors that increase or decrease species richness. Regional species richness patterns may be predicted by analysing patterns of variation in the environment. A number of studies have shown that bird species richness at a regional scale is influenced by climatic variables. We examined environmental correlates of bird species richness at a quarter degree square scale (55 × 55 km). Mean annual potential evapotranspiration accounts for 46% of the observed variation in species richness, while mean annual temperature and range annual potential evapotranspiration are significantly correlated with species richness and together account for a further 5% of the observed variation. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that environmentally available energy limits regional species richness.