CONSERVATION IMPLICATIONS OF DECIDUOUS FRUIT FARMING ON BIRDS IN THE ELGIN DISTRICT, WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE, SOUTH AFRICA

SUMMARY

The effects of various land use practices on the diversity of natural biota in southern Africa are understood poorly, and have rarely been quantified. We investigated the effects of deciduous fruit farming on bird diversity in the Elgin district, Western Cape Province, South Africa. A total of 116 bird species was recorded in the district, of which 110 were recorded on the fruit farms and 30 in a nearby protected area within untransformed Mountain Fynbos. Six species were recorded only in the protected area. Fourteen species were recorded during surveys undertaken within orchards. More species, especially those favouring scrub habitats, were recorded in orchards with <0.5 ha fragments of natural biotopes than in orchards lacking such biotopes. Population densities in orchards under traditional (= heavy and routine) insecticide and fungicide spraying programmes and those in which lower intensity spraying is targeted at specific pests were similar. We suggest that the placement, size and connectedness of fragmented natural biotopes (even those infested by alien plants) within deciduous fruit farms, the addition of new biotopes (e.g. farm dams), and the presence of large (>20 ha) protected areas within the matrix of transformed habitats have complemented the pre-farming avian diversity in the Elgin district as a result of district-wide land use practices.