Community Structure and Diversity of Birds in Desert Steppe at the Eastern Foothills of Helan Mountain,Ningxia in Spring

In order to protect the bird resources of desert steppe at the eastern foothills of Helan mountain,the bird community and diversity of the area from the eastern foothills of Helan mountain to the Xigan ditch were investigated in the first half year of 2010.There are 143 species of birds recorded,belonging to 39 families,17 orders.Among them,the Palearctic realm is 78.3% of the total species.According to the distribution,the summer migratory and the resident bird are in the dominant position,accounting for 70.6% of the total species.Based on their habitat and environment type,the whole species was divided into 5 communities,among them,the community diversity index in marsh is the highest(3.47),the wild jujube shrub in proluvial fan is taken second place,the farmland(vineyard) is the lowest(1.17).The homogeneity index of the wild jujube shrub in proluvial fan is the highest(0.89),while the farmland(vineyard) is the lowest.All the results underlie the species conservation and development of National Nature Reserve of Helan mountain.