Biodiversity in Eucalyptus plantations versus native oak forests in Galicia: plants and birds

Species richness of plants and birds, and the abundances of birds, were estimated in four Eucalyptus plantations and four Oak forests in an area of 455 km(2) in NW Spain. The number of plant species was higher in the Oak forests than in the Eucalyptus plantations (98 vs 53 spp.). The Oak forest with less species of plants (52 spp.) was much richer than the most diverse Eucalyptus plantation (33 spp.). Overall, in the Eucalyptus plantations 17 bird species were found, while 30 bird spp. were found in the Oak forests. Bird abundance was amongst 4 and 10 times lower in the Eucalyptus plantations than in the Oak forests across the different seasons, with average values of 20 birds/10 ha in plantations and over 100 birds/10 ha in the Oak forests. Forest with higher plant diversity also showed higher bird diversity.