Spatio-temporal analysis of threatened bird species in Perak Malaysia using citizen science data.

Abstract

Birds are recognized as important indicators of the current state of the environment, mainly as they are sensitive to habitat change. There is little research that spatially analyses the threatened bird hotspots and their relationship with land use and land cover changes, particularly in Malaysia. This study aims to spatially analyze the pattern of threatened birds in Perak, Malaysia using seven years of temporal data from the Citizen Science database. Spatial analysis tools, such as the Average Nearest neighbour analysis and high/low clustering (Getis-Ord General G), were used to analyze the distribution and spatial concentration of the data, followed by the Pearson correlation to determine the relationship between bird occurrence with land-use types. The results showed that the hotspot location of threatened birds for seven years was in Taiping City, while the coldspot was in the mangrove area of Kuala Gula. The study discovered a pattern of water birds commonly spotted in mangrove areas (i.e., Milky Stork and Lesser Adjutant) within the Taiping Lake Garden. The correlation analysis results indicated that shorter distances to green areas and longer distances to urban areas can influence the number of threatened birds spotted. Such findings can assist relevant authorities in the effort to protect and preserve threatened and endangered bird species by promoting a green landscape design and wildlife conservation within a city.