Habitat degradation is known to have a major impact on the composition of bird communities, yet how these communities recover following such disturbance is less understood. This study examined bird community changes from pre-logging to recovery over the course of habitat disturbance caused by the development of the Hulu Terengganu Hydroelectric Dam Project in Peninsular Malaysia, between 2007 and 2018. Bird surveys were conducted using point count observations and mist netting in the dam area from the pre-logging phase until the operation phase. It was observed that while bird species significantly declined after large-scale habitat clearance between the pre-logging and construction phases, they showed positive signs of recovery from the inundation to operation phases. These findings indicate that the bird community is still recovering, and the permanent loss of habitat required by most of the original species has not occurred, as evidenced by recolonisation. Bird species composition differed across phases due to varying habitat conditions. The turnover rate and immigration rate (recolonisation and newly recorded species) were higher between the construction and operation phases. It was also observed that insectivorous birds were more heavily affected than others by changes to the landscape, which highlights the versatility, survivability and tolerance of certain species to extreme disturbance and habitat modification. Although the operation phase showed an incremental change in bird species richness due to recolonisation and newly recorded species, this value remains far from that of the pre-logging phase. We predict that bird species recovery will continue to increase for some time before reaching a plateau among the newly created islands, reservoir and catchment area of the dam.

中文翻译：

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大型水电大坝建设后恢复鸟类群落

栖息地的退化对鸟类群落的组成有重大影响，但人们对这种群落在这种干扰后如何恢复的了解还很少。这项研究调查了马来西亚半岛Hulu Terengganu水电大坝项目在2007年至2018年期间因栖息地扰动而造成的鸟类从采伐前到恢复的变化。从预录井阶段到运营阶段的坝区。观察到，虽然在伐木前和施工阶段之间大规模栖息地清除后，鸟类物种显着减少，但它们显示出从淹没阶段恢复到运营阶段的积极迹象。这些发现表明，鸟类群落仍在恢复中，重新定殖证明，并没有发生大多数原始物种所需的永久性生境丧失。由于生境条件的变化，鸟类的组成在各个阶段都不同。在施工和运营阶段之间，周转率和移民率（重新定殖和新记录的物种）较高。还观察到，食虫性鸟类受到景观变化的影响比其他物种严重，这突出了某些物种对极端干扰和栖息地改造的多功能性，生存能力和耐受性。尽管由于重新定殖和新记录的物种，操作阶段显示了鸟类物种丰富度的增量变化，但该值与采伐前阶段的值仍然相去甚远。