Browsing by Author "Uwimbabazi, Moreen"

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    Avian guild assemblages in forest fragments around Budongo Forest Reserve, western Uganda
    (Ostrich, 2017) Uwimbabazi, Moreen; Eycott, Amy E.; Babweteera, Fred; Sande, Eric; Telford, Richard J.; Vandvik, Vigdis
    Remnant forest fragments provide an opportunity for conservation in fragmented landscapes but some patches are more useful than others. Forest fragments around Budongo Forest Reserve, an Important Bird Area in western Uganda, were surveyed to explore the effects of different aspects of habitat fragmentation on bird guild composition. We recorded 1 128 individuals of 75 bird species over 7 056 net hours. The greatest number of birds and species were recorded in the forest fragments that were large, near to the continuous forest and surrounded by subsistence farmland. However, rarefied species richness was not affected by distance, size or matrix type; instead, forest specialist species were replaced by generalists and visitors with increasing fragmentation. The proportion of forest specialists and of terrestrial insectivores decreased with distance from the main forest, canopy openness and matrix intensity but not with fragment area. The findings show that bird assemblages vary in their response to habitat fragmentation but within guilds the response to fragmentation can be consistent, and can make ecological sense. Forest bird conservation can therefore benefit from information on species ecology when deciding which bird species and which parts of the landscape are to be prioritised for conservation or monitoring purposes.
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    Nutritional Geometry of Female Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes)
    (American Journal of Primatology, 2021) Uwimbabazi, Moreen; Raubenheimer, David; Tweheyo, Mnason; Basuta, Gilbert I.; Conklin-Brittain, Nancy L.; Wrangham, Richard W.; Rothman, Jessica M.
    Primate foraging is influenced by the spatial and temporal distribution of foods, which may facilitate or constrain optimal nutrient intakes. Chimpanzees are frugivorous primates that mainly subsist on ripe fruit that is typically low in available protein (AP) and high in easily digestible carbohydrates. Because chimpanzees prefer ripe fruit and often eat it in large quantities compared to other foods, we hypothesized that protein intake would be tightly regulated while non-protein energy (NPE) would vary with fruit intake. To test this hypothesis, we conducted all day follows on female chimpanzees, recorded all types of food consumed (i.e., drupes, figs and non-fruit foods), estimated the nutritional contributions of these foods to daily NPE and AP intake and investigated how the ratio of NPE to AP varied due to changes in the types of foods consumed. Although the proportions of drupes, figs and non-fruit foods varied in their diets, female chimpanzees maintained a relatively stable intake of AP while intake of NPE varied depending on the daily diet, demonstrating that like other frugivorous primates studied to date, chimpanzees prioritize protein. The mean daily ratio of NPE to AP was 7:1, which is similar to that of other frugivorous primates studied. Our results support the hypothesis that frugivorous animals may generally prioritize AP, while maximizing NPE intake within that constraint, and could shed light on aspects of human dietary evolution.