Nesting trees used by a pest bird (Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus): a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in Southern Nigeria
The village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is a common colonial nesting bird widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. It is known to weave its nests from leaf strips from a variety of tree species (mainly coconuts trees, oil palm trees) associated with human settlement areas, grasses, and other availa...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Folia Oecologica |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2024-0008 |
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| author | Amadi Nioking Tasie Fidelia Luiselli Luca Fa Julia E. Alawa Nyimale G. Amuzie Chidinma Petrozzi Fabio Owoh Albert Wala Chimela Wodi Peace S. Battisti Corrado Akani Godfrey C. Ajuru Mercy G. |
| author_facet | Amadi Nioking Tasie Fidelia Luiselli Luca Fa Julia E. Alawa Nyimale G. Amuzie Chidinma Petrozzi Fabio Owoh Albert Wala Chimela Wodi Peace S. Battisti Corrado Akani Godfrey C. Ajuru Mercy G. |
| author_sort | Amadi Nioking |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is a common colonial nesting bird widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. It is known to weave its nests from leaf strips from a variety of tree species (mainly coconuts trees, oil palm trees) associated with human settlement areas, grasses, and other available plants. In this regard, this bird was considered a pest for its impact on different economic activities. Although extensive literature is already available on the parasitic role of village weavers, there is still a lack of analytical data that outlines which tree species are used for nesting and in what proportion, as well as the related implications in terms of economic impacts. Here, we carried out the first comprehensive arrangement of trees used by this species for nesting in Southern Nigeria (West Africa), checking for possible different impacts on stakeholders. In April 2021, we searched for village weaver nesting in 95 sites in 77 communities from 24 local government areas in Southern Nigeria, during 14 field surveys. Within each site, we collected GPS coordinates and counted the number of active nests, nesting birds and occupied trees. We recorded a total of 5,776 nests and 2,140 birds in 94 plants belonging to 23 tree species selected for nesting. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis; n = 45) was the most used tree species, as 2,990 (51.77%) nests and 873 (40.79%) birds were recorded. Our results indicate the preference for nesting on trees used by stakeholders belonging to agricultural (palm farmers), touristic (operators) and energy (gas flare stations) sectors with economic implications about the conflict with this pest species. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:02:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-032e042b093141cf88bd3c740bc67e98 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1338-7014 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T10:02:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Folia Oecologica |
| spelling | doaj.art-032e042b093141cf88bd3c740bc67e982024-01-29T08:53:29ZengSciendoFolia Oecologica1338-70142024-01-01511758210.2478/foecol-2024-0008Nesting trees used by a pest bird (Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus): a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in Southern NigeriaAmadi Nioking0Tasie Fidelia1Luiselli Luca2Fa Julia E.3Alawa Nyimale G.4Amuzie Chidinma5Petrozzi Fabio6Owoh Albert7Wala Chimela8Wodi Peace S.9Battisti Corrado10Akani Godfrey C.11Ajuru Mercy G.121Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria1Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria1Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria5Department of Natural Sciences, School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, ManchesterM1 5QA, UK1Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria1Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria7Ecolobby, via Edoardo Jenner 70, I-00151Rome, Italy1Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria1Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria1Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria8“Torre Flavia” LTER (Long Term Ecological Research) Station, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Servizio Aree protette - parchi regionali, Viale G. Ribotta 41, 00144Rome, Italy1Wildlife and Ecology unit, Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt P.M.B. 5080, Nigeria2Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, Faculty of Science, Rivers State University, Nkpolu Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt. P.M.B. 5080, NigeriaThe village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) is a common colonial nesting bird widespread throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. It is known to weave its nests from leaf strips from a variety of tree species (mainly coconuts trees, oil palm trees) associated with human settlement areas, grasses, and other available plants. In this regard, this bird was considered a pest for its impact on different economic activities. Although extensive literature is already available on the parasitic role of village weavers, there is still a lack of analytical data that outlines which tree species are used for nesting and in what proportion, as well as the related implications in terms of economic impacts. Here, we carried out the first comprehensive arrangement of trees used by this species for nesting in Southern Nigeria (West Africa), checking for possible different impacts on stakeholders. In April 2021, we searched for village weaver nesting in 95 sites in 77 communities from 24 local government areas in Southern Nigeria, during 14 field surveys. Within each site, we collected GPS coordinates and counted the number of active nests, nesting birds and occupied trees. We recorded a total of 5,776 nests and 2,140 birds in 94 plants belonging to 23 tree species selected for nesting. Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis; n = 45) was the most used tree species, as 2,990 (51.77%) nests and 873 (40.79%) birds were recorded. Our results indicate the preference for nesting on trees used by stakeholders belonging to agricultural (palm farmers), touristic (operators) and energy (gas flare stations) sectors with economic implications about the conflict with this pest species.https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2024-0008economic impactelaeis guineensispest speciestree check-liststakeholders |
| spellingShingle | Amadi Nioking Tasie Fidelia Luiselli Luca Fa Julia E. Alawa Nyimale G. Amuzie Chidinma Petrozzi Fabio Owoh Albert Wala Chimela Wodi Peace S. Battisti Corrado Akani Godfrey C. Ajuru Mercy G. Nesting trees used by a pest bird (Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus): a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in Southern Nigeria Folia Oecologica economic impact elaeis guineensis pest species tree check-list stakeholders |
| title | Nesting trees used by a pest bird (Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus): a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in Southern Nigeria |
| title_full | Nesting trees used by a pest bird (Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus): a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in Southern Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Nesting trees used by a pest bird (Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus): a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in Southern Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nesting trees used by a pest bird (Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus): a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in Southern Nigeria |
| title_short | Nesting trees used by a pest bird (Village Weaver, Ploceus cucullatus): a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in Southern Nigeria |
| title_sort | nesting trees used by a pest bird village weaver ploceus cucullatus a large field survey suggests further human conflicts with local stakeholders in southern nigeria |
| topic | economic impact elaeis guineensis pest species tree check-list stakeholders |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/foecol-2024-0008 |
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