RIQUEZA Y DIVERSIDAD DE ESPECIES DE AVES EN UNA SELVA MEDIANA SUBPERENNIFOLIA EN EL CENTRO DE VERACRUZ, MÉXICO.

We report the richness and diversity of bird species in three different areas (pasture, regenerating forest and mature forest) in Semievergreen forest from central Veracruz, Mexico. Out of the 171 bird species observed, 45% are abundant, 35% are scarce, and 35% rare; 112 species are permanent residents and 59 migratory species. In the regenerating forest 126 species were observed, as well as 99 were observed in the pasture area, and 45 in the mature forest. The study showed that 51 species prefer regenerating forest area, 40 prefers the pasture area, and only 4 the mature forest. Statistically significant differences were detected among the abundance of species of the three different areas. The diversity of species was estimated by the Shannon-Wiener index and measured 4.24 in the regenerating forest, 4.16 in the pasture, and 3.44 in mature forest; a Hutcheson t test indicates that no significant differences between the study sites exist among the regenerating forest area and pasture, however, differences exist among mature forest area and regenerating forest area and pasture. The analysis for estimating the species richness indicates that up to 18 other species can be potentially found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]