Comparison of composition and bird fauna distribution on grazed and non-grazed grasslands in lowland and pseudoalpine areas in Menikio Mountain

Species diversity, abundance and distribution of the bird fauna were studied on grazed and nongrazed grasslands of various topographic characteristics at Mount Menikio, located between Central and East Macedonia, Greece, during spring and summer of 2003. Records of bird fauna were made with the point count method and were recorded on the map using the Global Positioning System (GPS). A total of 56 bird species were observed in 433 point counts. Findings show that bird diversity and abundance were affected by altitude, orientation (with the south, east and west-oriented patches supporting the highest diversity and abundance) and the patch size of the grazed land. Of the latter, the smallest patches supported the highest bird abundance, whereas the largest ones supported the highest species diversity. Grazing also played an important role in the distribution of birds.