TY - JOUR
T1 - Birds in the matrix
T2 - The role of agriculture in avian conservation in the Taita Hills, Kenya
AU - Norfolk, Olivia
AU - Jung, Martin
AU - Platts, Philip J.
AU - Malaki, Phillista
AU - Odeny, Dickens
AU - Marchant, Robert
PY - 2017/12/1
Y1 - 2017/12/1
N2 - Agricultural conversion of tropical forests is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Slowing rates of deforestation is a conservation priority, but it is also useful to consider how species diversity is retained across the agricultural matrix. Here, we assess how bird diversity varies in relation to land use in the Taita Hills, Kenya. We used point counts to survey birds along a land-use gradient that included primary forest, secondary vegetation, agroforest, timber plantation and cropland. We found that the agricultural matrix supports an abundant and diverse bird community with high levels of species turnover, but that forest specialists are confined predominantly to primary forest, with the matrix dominated by forest visitors. Ordination analyses showed that representation of forest specialists decreases with distance from primary forest. With the exception of forest generalists, bird abundance and diversity are lowest in timber plantations. Contrary to expectation, we found feeding guilds at similar abundances in all land-use types. We conclude that whilst the agricultural matrix, and agroforest in particular, makes a strong contribution to observed bird diversity at the landscape scale, intact primary forest is essential for maintaining this diversity, especially amongst species of conservation concern.
AB - Agricultural conversion of tropical forests is a major driver of biodiversity loss. Slowing rates of deforestation is a conservation priority, but it is also useful to consider how species diversity is retained across the agricultural matrix. Here, we assess how bird diversity varies in relation to land use in the Taita Hills, Kenya. We used point counts to survey birds along a land-use gradient that included primary forest, secondary vegetation, agroforest, timber plantation and cropland. We found that the agricultural matrix supports an abundant and diverse bird community with high levels of species turnover, but that forest specialists are confined predominantly to primary forest, with the matrix dominated by forest visitors. Ordination analyses showed that representation of forest specialists decreases with distance from primary forest. With the exception of forest generalists, bird abundance and diversity are lowest in timber plantations. Contrary to expectation, we found feeding guilds at similar abundances in all land-use types. We conclude that whilst the agricultural matrix, and agroforest in particular, makes a strong contribution to observed bird diversity at the landscape scale, intact primary forest is essential for maintaining this diversity, especially amongst species of conservation concern.
KW - Agroforestry
KW - Eastern Arc Mountains
KW - Forest
KW - Functional diversity
KW - Land-use change
KW - Tropical
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013633959&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/aje.12383
DO - 10.1111/aje.12383
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85013633959
SN - 0141-6707
VL - 55
SP - 530
EP - 540
JO - African Journal of Ecology
JF - African Journal of Ecology
IS - 4
ER -