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Threatened forest in Kenya home to a diversity of bird life
mongabay.com
September 15, 2008


The Tana River forest in coastal Kenya is home to a diverse array of bird species but is increasingly under threat from logging, agricultural expansion, and unsustainable harvesting of some bird species, reports a new study published in the open-access journal Tropical Conservation Science.

Surveying the lowland evergreen riverine tropical forest — a forest type that is rare in Kenya and probably in Africa — to establish a baseline for the ecosystem, Alfred O. Owino and colleagues recorded 155 bird species of 43 families in 14 forest patches. They report that "overall bird species composition did not differ significantly across these forest patches, but similarities in species composition of different strengths were evident across the sites."

Bird species recorded from the Tana River Primate National Reserve include the Lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudate) and the (b) Grey-headed kingfisher (Halcyon leucocephala). Photos by the Ornithology Section, National Museums of Kenya.

The study will help researchers monitor the impacts of land use change and forest degradation on birds in the Tana River Primate National Reserve. A section of the Tana river delta has recently come under threat from a plan to convert 20,000 hectares of wetland for a sugar cane plantation to produce ethanol.

To counter potential declines in bird diversity in the region, the authors recommend establishing corridors of habitat between forest patches as well as improving the protection status of all Lower Tana River forest areas.

Authors included researchers from Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Airports Authority, the National Museums of Kenya, and Wright College.

Forest patch structures and bird species composition of a lowland riverine tropical forest in Kenya. Tropical Conservation Science Vol. 1(3):242-264, September 2008