Bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central Kenyan highlands

Land conversion represents a serious threat to terrestrial biodiversity and effective conservation in human-dominated landscapes requires an understanding of the relationship between spatial heterogeneity and biodiversity. Coffee is the most valuable tropical export in the world with the capacity to...

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Main Authors: C. Smith, M.C. Milligan, M.D. Johnson, P. Njoroge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2018-01-01
Series:Global Ecology and Conservation
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989417302445
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author C. Smith
M.C. Milligan
M.D. Johnson
P. Njoroge
author_facet C. Smith
M.C. Milligan
M.D. Johnson
P. Njoroge
author_sort C. Smith
collection DOAJ
description Land conversion represents a serious threat to terrestrial biodiversity and effective conservation in human-dominated landscapes requires an understanding of the relationship between spatial heterogeneity and biodiversity. Coffee is the most valuable tropical export in the world with the capacity to affect biodiversity on a large scale, and much of the world's coffee is grown in open plantations (sun coffee), where little research has documented how landscape structure or food availability affect bird diversity. We examined the effects of both landscape characteristics and foliage arthropod abundance on bird species richness, total bird abundance and the abundance of foraging guilds in sun coffee plantations of central Kenyan highlands. Variation in the local landscape appeared to have little effect on bird abundance, while the foliage arthropod community, particularly number of arthropod orders, may have a strong impact on omnivore and insectivore abundance in sun coffee. These results do not mean small scale fragments or landscape composition is unimportant to bird communities in our region for several reasons, including the high model uncertainty that may indicate an important missing variable, the habitat complexity and presence of large forest reserves around our study sites, and the single scale at which our variables were tested. Our results indicate that farm managers wanting to increase bird abundance, especially omnivores and insectivores, should consider balancing the need to eradicate coffee pests and leaving an intact arthropod community that likely increases these guilds. Further study is needed to validate these patterns, which may have strong implications for bird biodiversity in agricultural settings across other areas in eastern Africa. Keywords: Abundance, Species richness, Fragmentation, Landcover, Guild
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spelling doaj.art-e1d477b86dc0464e9017d76cb80b7e992022-12-22T02:29:15ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942018-01-0113Bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central Kenyan highlandsC. Smith0M.C. Milligan1M.D. Johnson2P. Njoroge3Humboldt State University, Department of Wildlife, 1 Harpst St, Arcata, CA 95521, USAHumboldt State University, Department of Wildlife, 1 Harpst St, Arcata, CA 95521, USAHumboldt State University, Department of Wildlife, 1 Harpst St, Arcata, CA 95521, USA; Corresponding author.National Museums of Kenya, Ornithology Section, P.O. Box 78420-00500, Museum Hill Road, Nairobi, KenyaLand conversion represents a serious threat to terrestrial biodiversity and effective conservation in human-dominated landscapes requires an understanding of the relationship between spatial heterogeneity and biodiversity. Coffee is the most valuable tropical export in the world with the capacity to affect biodiversity on a large scale, and much of the world's coffee is grown in open plantations (sun coffee), where little research has documented how landscape structure or food availability affect bird diversity. We examined the effects of both landscape characteristics and foliage arthropod abundance on bird species richness, total bird abundance and the abundance of foraging guilds in sun coffee plantations of central Kenyan highlands. Variation in the local landscape appeared to have little effect on bird abundance, while the foliage arthropod community, particularly number of arthropod orders, may have a strong impact on omnivore and insectivore abundance in sun coffee. These results do not mean small scale fragments or landscape composition is unimportant to bird communities in our region for several reasons, including the high model uncertainty that may indicate an important missing variable, the habitat complexity and presence of large forest reserves around our study sites, and the single scale at which our variables were tested. Our results indicate that farm managers wanting to increase bird abundance, especially omnivores and insectivores, should consider balancing the need to eradicate coffee pests and leaving an intact arthropod community that likely increases these guilds. Further study is needed to validate these patterns, which may have strong implications for bird biodiversity in agricultural settings across other areas in eastern Africa. Keywords: Abundance, Species richness, Fragmentation, Landcover, Guildhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989417302445
spellingShingle C. Smith
M.C. Milligan
M.D. Johnson
P. Njoroge
Bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central Kenyan highlands
Global Ecology and Conservation
title Bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central Kenyan highlands
title_full Bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central Kenyan highlands
title_fullStr Bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central Kenyan highlands
title_full_unstemmed Bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central Kenyan highlands
title_short Bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central Kenyan highlands
title_sort bird community response to landscape and foliage arthropod variables in sun coffee of central kenyan highlands
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989417302445
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