Analysis of Diversity and Similarity Indexes of Bird Communities in Moscow Parks in 2018-2022

The article analyses diversity and similarity indexes of bird communities in seven parks of Moscow in 2018-2022 – Zaryadye Park, Petrovsky Park, Neskuchny Garden, Vorobyovy Gory Nature Reserve, Forest Experimental Dacha (Timiryazevsky Park), Sokolniki Park of Culture and Recreation, Tsaritsyno Nature and Historical Park. The results reveal that both small parks (up to 100 ha) and large parks show similar dynamics of basic diversity indexes: Margalef index, Shannon index, Pielou index and Simpson index. The values of the last two indexes vary insignificantly during the year, while the first two fluctuate noticeably. Species richness and community diversity usually increase in the breeding season and decrease in non-breeding season. Some small parks can be comparable to the large ones in terms of averaged indexes: averaged values of the Margalef index, Shannon index, Pielou index and Simpson index in the new Zaryadye Park (Dmf = 4.78 ± 0.51; H = 2.25 ± 0.14; E = 0.74 ± 0.03; D = 0.17 ± 0.03) are very close to those of Sokolniki Park (Dmf = 5.35 ± 0.62; H = 2.38 ± 0.16; E = 0.7 ± 0.03; D = 0.15 ± 0.02), which is 50 times larger in area and 80 times older. This fact may indicate that new small parks, together with old large parks, can be promising areas for the conservation of bird community diversity. The Sørensen index values indicate relatively high isolation of bird communities throughout the year. The similarity of bird communities increases in the breeding season and decreases in non-breeding season, regardless of the minimum distance between the parks.

1. Ravkin Yu.S. On the methodology for counting birds in forest landscapes. In the book: The nature of foci of tick-borne encephalitis in Altai. Novosibirsk, 1967:66-75. (In Rus.)

2. Pesenko Yu.A. Principles and methods of quantitative analysis in faunal research: monograph. M.: Nauka, 1982:287. (In Rus.)

3. Red Book of the City of Moscow. 3rd ed., rev. and add. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the City of Moscow; Commission on Rare and Endangered Species of Animals and Plants in Moscow. M.: OOO “OST PAK novye tekhnologii”, 2022:848. (In Rus.)