Effects of selective timber harvest on amphibian species diversity in Budongo forest Reserve, Uganda
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Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Forest Ecology and Management
Abstract
We studied the effects of forest management on amphibian communities in the Budongo Central Forest Reserve,
Uganda. We sampled amphibians from May to August of 2012 in four compartments with different logging and
arboricide-treatment histories. We used pitfall traps with drift fences combined with visual encounter surveys to
sample amphibians from 36 plots in four 1-km long transects along the Sonso River. From 126 encounters across
plots, we recorded 25 frog species belonging to six families and eight genera. Arthroleptidae was the most
diverse family represented by 10 species within two genera. Arthroleptis had the highest number of species (six),
Ptychadena the second most (five), followed by Leptopelis (four) and Sclerophrys (four). Species composition
differed across transects. The unlogged study site possessed the highest species richness, diversity, and evenness,
and had the greatest frequency of species encounters. The most heavily logged site had the lowest species
diversity and fewest amount of species encounters. This site also had the most dissimilar species composition
among sites and was significantly different in species richness compared to the unlogged site. The two moderately
logged sites had the second and third most species, and had the most similar species composition to each
other. Our study provides data on the amphibian species of a protected site in the Albertine Rift, part of the
Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot, and results suggest that the forest management regimes in Budongo
have exerted an influence over the amphibian communities after more than 50 years of forest recovery.
Description
Keywords
Africa, Conservation, Composition, Diversity, Frogs, Logging
Citation
Lukwago, W., Behangana, M., Mwavu, E. N., & Hughes, D. F. (2020). Effects of selective timber harvest on amphibian species diversity in Budongo forest Reserve, Uganda. Forest Ecology and Management, 458, 117809. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2019.117809