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Savanna-specialist Bird Richness Fell from 6.3 to 1.4 Species in Tree Plantations in Western Maharashtra

Rufous-tailed lark standing on open stony ground in Bhigwan, Maharashtra, India
Research · Ecology

Tree plantations in western Maharashtra, India supported a very different bird community from the old-growth savannas they had replaced, according to a study published in April 2026. Researchers compared 15 paired sites, each consisting of an old-growth savanna and a nearby plantation, and recorded 1,079 birds of 69 species during 180 point counts.

A point count is a survey in which observers remain at a fixed location for a set period and record birds seen or heard, allowing sites to be compared in a standardised way.

Savanna specialists declined sharply in plantations

Total bird species richness and abundance showed no clear overall difference between the two habitat types. The composition of the community, however, changed sharply. Mean richness of savanna-specialist birds fell from 6.3 species in old-growth savanna to 1.4 in plantations, while their mean abundance fell from 1.5 to 0.27 birds per count. Woodland specialists showed the opposite pattern and became more common in plantations. Among the four dietary guilds analysed — groups of birds that use similar types of food — nectarivores also increased with afforestation, while the other three guilds did not show the same response.

Rufous-tailed lark (Ammomanes phoenicura) and long-tailed shrike (Lanius schach) were among the savanna-associated species recorded in the old-growth sites but not in the plantation point counts.

Rainfall changed the broader richness pattern

Rainfall modified total species-richness patterns across the landscape. Old-growth savannas tended to support more species in the intermediate rainfall zone, roughly 560–920 mm annually, while plantations could support higher total richness at the driest and wettest ends of the gradient. Across all rainfall levels, however, plantation bird communities remained compositionally different from those in paired old-growth savannas.

The authors conclude that judging afforestation only by total bird numbers can conceal losses of habitat specialists. They argue that large-scale tree planting on remaining savannas should be avoided where conserving native savanna biodiversity is the goal, while noting that some plantations can still provide supplementary habitat for woodland and other native species.

Sources and image credit

  1. Mhetre, S., Benara, P., Gaikwad, Y., Deore, A. S., Munje, A., & Nerlekar, A. N. (2026). Afforestation of tropical savannas has mixed consequences for bird communities. Conservation Science and Practice, 8(5), e70267. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70267Primary open-access study first published 7 April 2026. Researchers surveyed 15 paired old-growth savanna and tree-plantation sites in western Maharashtra using 180 point counts, recording 1,079 birds of 69 species. Total richness and abundance did not differ significantly overall, but savanna-specialist richness fell from a mean 6.3 species to 1.4 and abundance from 1.5 to 0.27 birds per count in plantations. Rufous-tailed lark and long-tailed shrike were recorded in old-growth savanna and absent from plantation point counts.

Image: Tisha Mukherjee / Wikimedia Commons — wild rufous-tailed lark photographed in Bhigwan, Maharashtra, India, 6 August 2025; representative image of a savanna-associated species discussed in the study · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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Rufous-tailed Lark Ammomanes phoenicura Explore species Long-tailed Shrike Lanius schach Explore species

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