Malaysian Journal of Science 23 : 7-13 (2004) Green Areas and Avian Species Richness in University of Malaya Campus, Peninsular Malaysia Rosli Ramli Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. ABSTRACT A survey was conducted within University of Malaya campus in Peninsular Malaysia to determine the relationship between bird species richness and forest patches. Two standard procedures (direct observation and mist-netting) were used in the survey. A total of 87 species of birds was recorded in the study area. Although most of the species observed in this area are resident species and with no conservation implication, 22 species have been classified as globally threatened. The presence of these species indicates that University of Malaya campus can play an important role in wildlife management and conservation particularly urban birds. ABSTRAK Kajian untuk menentukan perhubungan di antara kekayaan species dan tompokan hutan di kampus Universiti Malaya telah dijalankan. Dua kaedah piawai iaitu pemerhatian langsung dan pemerangkapan menggunakan jaring kabus telah digunakan di dalam kajian ini. Sebanyak 87 species burung berjaya direkodkan di kawasan kajian. Walaupun kebanyakan spesies yang direkodkan adalah spesies berstatus residen dan tidak mempunyai kepentingan dari segi pemuliharaan, 22 daripadanya adalah spesies yang dikelaskan sebagai terancam di peringkat global. Kehadiran spesies terancam ini menunjukkan bahawa kampus Universiti Malaya berupaya memainkan peranan penting di dalam pengurusan dan pemuliharaan hidupan liar terutamanya burung-burung di kawasan bandar. (bird check-list, bird diversity, urban birds, wildlife habitat, forest patch) INTRODUCTION Species richness or the number of species is currently the most widely used method for measuring diversity [1]. Other indices that can be used to determine species diversity include relative species abundance and proportional abundance. Although the latter index weight rare species differently, both are influenced by species richness and evenness [2]. Therefore, any changes in evenness will eventually affect proportional diversity even though species richness remains unchanged. It has been shown that any changes in key ecological processes (such as competition, predation, and succession) have the capability to change proportional diversity [1]. Due to this circumstance, it is fair to treat species richness and evenness separately. Species richness alone, therefore, can be used as a sole method in measuring diversity due to its common cause of variation in relative abundance and diversity [1]. The University of Malaya campus has various patches of green areas (in addition to Rimba Ilmu Botanical Garden) which can be considered as fragmented forests. These green areas are important to urban birds for shelter and feeding resources. The importance of these areas to urban wildlife is amplified by various environmental pressures from surrounding human population. The forest fragments play a very important role in avian conservation. This is evident from studies on various regions or on different types of habitats such as on peatland [3], boreal forest [4], desert [5], pine forest [6], redwood [7], tropical forest [8] [9] and urban woodland [10]. All these studies have concluded that small patch of isolated or fragmented forest within urbanized areas can play an important role in the survival of wildlife especially birds. The aim of this paper is to determine avian species richness within green areas of the University of Malaya campus. These green areas are isolated or fragmented and are surrounded by urbanization or highly populated areas. 7