Understorey-Nesting Bird Communities Responses to Land Use in Korup National Park, an Afrotropical Forest in South-Western Cameroon

Abstract

Biodiversity in tropical forests is highly pressured by global and local factors including climate change and intensive land use. In tropical forest, birds are a major component of species community and are involved in many ecosystem services. We investigated how species richness and abundance of understorey-nesting bird communities vary along a gradient of deforestation. In the peripheral zone of Korup National Park, Southwest Cameroon, we selected 30 sampling plots of four hectares within five habitat types along a land-use intensification gradient (near-primary forest, secondary forest, disturbed forest, cocoa/coffee plantations and annual food crop fields). Overall, 236 understorey bird nests were identified belonging to 16 species. We found that the intensity of land use significantly influences bird species richness and abundance. Primary and secondary forests supported 75% of nesting species and 41% of nests are found in the secondary forest. Bird assemblages were more abundant and richer in the most preserved habitats. Frugivore species group was the most sensitive group to deforestation. This study confirms the deleterious impact of forest destruction on birds’ communities and warns again increasing and rapid forest conversion that is currently conducted in Korup National Park. Allowing the secondary forest to regenerate and maintaining large patches of primary forest will help understorey-nesting bird community to mitigate global changes.

Keywords: Cameroon tropical forest, Korup National Park, Understorey-nesting bird, species richness, abundance, Deforestation