Avian guild assemblages in forest fragments around Budongo Forest Reserve, western Uganda
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Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ostrich
Abstract
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.
Description
Keywords
Forest specialist, Fragment size, Frugivore, Insectivore, Isolation, Land use, Matrix, Species richness
Citation
Moreen Uwimbabazi, Amy E Eycott, Fred Babweteera, Eric Sande, Richard J Telford & Vigdis Vandvik (2017): Avian guild assemblages in forest fragments around Budongo Forest Reserve, western Uganda, Ostrich, DOI: 10.2989/00306525.2017.1318186. http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/00306525.2017.1318186