The recent avifauna of the central and eastern Civilian Control Zone near the Demilitarized Zone in Republic of Korea

Our survey of the avifauna in the eastern and central parts of the Civilian Control Zone (CCZ) in 2012 and 2013 found a total of 14,390 individuals of 159 species belonging to 17 orders, 44 families and 88 genera. The 159 species of birds found in the central and eastern CCZ constitute 29.4% of the 540 bird species recorded in the Korean Peninsula, showing considerable biodiversity in the bird species that inhabit the surveyed regions. In the central CCZ, we found 9,916 individuals of 117 bird species. And in the eastern CCZ, 4,474 individuals of 127 species were found. There were a particularly large number of Gruiformes and Anseriformes because much of the CCZ, with the exception of mountain land, has been developed as reservoirs and arable farmland. Species diversity appeared high in mountain regions, while regions that included the coast and farmlands showed low diversity.