First comprehensive avifaunal survey of PK32-Ranobe, a new protected area in south-western Madagascar

We conducted the first comprehensive bird survey of PK32-Ranobe (Atsimo Andrefana Region), a proposed new protected area within the Madagascar Protected Area System. Our cross-seasonal surveys of four sites revealed the presence of 124 bird species, including 56 Malagasy endemics and 8 species endemic to the southern ecoregion. Bird diversity at each site ranges from 53 to 99, these differences being largely explained by differences in wetland bird diversity. Rates of national and regional (Madagascar and the western Indian Ocean islands) endemism are highest among forest-dependent species (77.7/98.1%), and lowest among wetland species (9.8/12.2%). 50 of our records represent new records for the site, and 17 represent range extensions, of which 9 are of wetland species. Literature reviews reveal records of a further six species, giving PK32-Ranobe the most diverse avifauna of any site in the south-west of Madagascar. Based on our survey results, we strongly support the establishment of a protected area that encompasses the full range of vegetation types within the site, and recommend that the wetlands of Ranobe and Belalanda, the gallery forests of the Fiherenana and Manombo river systems and the transitional forest at Ranobe receive the highest priority in protected area zoning and management planning.