A study on the contribution of plants in urban parks as habitat for selective bird community / PM Suria Sulaiman and Dr Nik Hanita Nik Mohamad

Urban drift and human population growth lead to a maximum impact in human daily activities that entirely changes rural landscape into urban style. It causes an extreme force towards environmental resource. Not only that, it also led to an invasion of exotic species (environmental stress) into the living environment, increasing living costs (economic aspect), and stress (social aspect). These aspects are able to affect a long-term environmental sustainability and further jeopardize the quality of life especially urban dwellers. Therefore, it is important to really understand about our natural setting and to reduce more unpleasant or inept development that able to impairment permanently our physical environment. The opportunity to have various types of park contributes to develop strong ecology yet pleasing human being. The ability of bird community to mingle with human and urban resources, sometimes bring nuisance to urban dwellers. This research is to study the contribution and effectiveness of ornamental plant species in urban park as bird habitat. The objectives are line up as i) to investigate the perception of professionals on the contribution of urban parks, bird habitats and ornamental plants, ii) to understand the contribution and effectiveness of native and exotic plants as food plants and shelter, and iii) to recommend guidelines on the selection of ornamental plants species as food plants and shelter in urban parks for urban birds towards improving the quality of natural environment as an approach to a better life style. This research involved questionnaire survey, a case study and site observation. The significance of this research is to offer a better urban life style while improving natural environment. Besides, it‘s hope that landscape practitioners especially landscape architects in Malaysia able to have ideas and design a space towards providing an opportunity for both, human pleasing and birds‘ needs.