The role of farm structure on bird assemblages around a Kenyan tropical rainforest

Otieno, Nickson Erick; Gichuki, Nathan; Farwig, Nina; Kiboi, Samuel

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2011.01273.x

Cited by 22 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…One approach is to understand how functional groups, such as diet guilds, respond to land management (Otieno et al. ) and how these shifts in diet guilds or individual species impact ecosystem service provisioning, but there are limitations to broad classification approaches. For example, insectivorous birds can increase crop yields through consumption of pest insects (Karp et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Understanding net effects of birds in agroecosystems is crucial for developing and promoting management practices to create win-win scenarios for biodiversity and farmers (Pejchar et al 2018). One approach is to understand how functional groups, such as diet guilds, respond to land management (Otieno et al 2011) and how these shifts in diet guilds or individual species impact ecosystem service provisioning, but there are limitations to broad classification approaches. For example, insectivorous birds can increase crop yields through consumption of pest insects (Karp et al 2013, Garfinkel and Johnson 2015, Kross et al 2016) but are intraguild predators that have also been found to negatively impact crop yields through consumption of arthropod natural enemies (Martin et al 2013).…”

Section: Ecosystem Service and Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Highly diversified crop–livestock farming systems reshape wild bird communities

Smith

Kennedy

Owen

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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Agricultural intensification is a leading threat to bird conservation. Highly diversified farming systems that integrate livestock and crop production might promote a diversity of habitats useful to native birds foraging across otherwise‐simplified landscapes. At the same time, these features might be attractive to nonnative birds linked to a broad range of disservices to both crop and livestock production. We evaluated the influence of crop–livestock integration on wild bird richness and density along a north‐south transect spanning the U.S. West Coast. We surveyed birds on 52 farms that grew primarily mixed vegetables and fruits alone or integrated livestock into production. Crop–livestock systems harbored higher native bird density and richness relative to crop‐only farms, a benefit more pronounced on farms embedded in nonnatural landscapes. Crop–livestock systems bolstered native insectivores linked to the suppression of agricultural pest insects but did not bolster native granivores that may be more likely to damage crops. Crop–livestock systems also significantly increased the density of nonnative birds, primarily European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) that may compete with native birds for resources. Models supported a small, positive correlation between nonnative density and overall native bird density as well as between nonnative density and native granivore density. Relative to crop‐only farms, on average, crop–livestock systems exhibited 1.5 times higher patch richness, 2.4 times higher density of farm structures, 7.3 times smaller field sizes, 2.4 times greater integration of woody crops, and 5.3 times greater integration of pasture/hay habitat on farm. Wild birds may have responded to this habitat diversity and/or associated food resources. Individual farm factors had significantly lower predictive power than farming system alone (change in C statistic information criterion (ΔCIC) = 80.2), suggesting crop–livestock systems may impact wild birds through a suite of factors that change with system conversion. Collectively, our findings suggest that farms that integrate livestock and crop production can attract robust native bird communities, especially within landscapes devoted to intensified food production. However, additional work is needed to demonstrate persistent farm bird communities through time, ecophysiological benefits to birds foraging on these farms, and net effects of both native and nonnative wild birds in agroecosystems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ecosystem Service and Conservation Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly diversified crop–livestock farming systems reshape wild bird communities

Smith

Kennedy

Owen

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…, but see Otieno et al . ), we tested whether or not the estimates of community‐wide densities obtained from DISTANCE were consistent with the estimates of bird density without applying a detection function. We found that the differences in bird densities between habitats were qualitatively the same irrespective of the method, i.e., with fixed radii of 20 m, 50 m and with the respective detection function.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given our data set, it was not feasible to fit individual detection functions for every single species because species diversity was very high and many species were rare. As DISTANCE has typically been used to assess the density of individual species (Buckland et al 2001, but see Otieno et al 2011), we tested whether or not the estimates of community-wide densities obtained from DISTANCE were consistent with the estimates of bird density without applying a detection function. We found that the differences in bird densities between habitats were qualitatively the same irrespective of the method, i.e., with fixed radii of 20 m, 50 m and with the respective detection function.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High Bird Species Diversity in Structurally Heterogeneous Farmland in Western Kenya

2012

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Tropical ecosystems are globally important for bird diversity. In many tropical regions, land‐use intensification has caused conversion of natural forests into human‐modified habitats, such as secondary forests and heterogeneous agricultural landscapes. Despite previous research, the distribution of bird communities in these forest‐farmland mosaics is not well understood. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of bird diversity and community turnover in a human‐modified Kenyan landscape, we recorded bird communities at 20 sites covering the complete habitat gradient from forest (near natural forest, secondary forest) to farmland (subsistence farmland, sugarcane plantation) using point counts and distance sampling. Bird density and species richness were on average higher in farmland than in forest habitats. Within forest and farmland, bird density and species richness increased with vegetation structural diversity, i.e., were higher in near natural than in secondary forest and in subsistence farmland than in sugarcane plantations. Bird communities in forest and farmland habitats were very distinct and very few forest specialists occurred in farmland habitats. Moreover, insectivorous bird species declined in farmland habitats whereas carnivores and herbivores increased. Our study confirms that tropical farmlands can hardly accommodate forest specialist species. Contrary to most previous studies, our findings show that structurally rich tropical farmlands hold a surprisingly rich and distinct bird community that is threatened by conversion of subsistence farmland into sugarcane plantations. We conclude that conservation strategies in the tropics must go beyond rain forest protection and should integrate structurally heterogeneous agroecosystems into conservation plans that aim at maintaining the diverse bird communities of tropical forest‐farmland mosaics.

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“…Study area: Kakamega forest lies in western Kenya between 00°08′30.5′′ – 00°23′12.5′′ N and 34°18′ 08′′ – 34°57′26.5′′ E from 1520–1680 m above sea level 6, 7 . The mean annual rainfall is 2000 mm, with long rains in April/May and short rains in September/October 6 while mean annual temperature is 20°C.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants in and around Kakamega forest in western Kenya

Otieno

Analo²

2012

F1000Res

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Kakamega forest is Kenya’s only rainforest and is distinguishably rich in biodiversity but threatened by agricultural encroachment and other forms of human activity. It is also one of Kenya’s Important Bird Areas and a significant source of natural products to neighboring rural communities, such as medicinal plants, food, wood and other fibers. By using structured questionnaires for direct interviews, local indigenous knowledge was tapped through involvement of a focal group of elderly key informants in three blocks of the forest. Forty key species of medicinal plants used by local people were identified and recorded. Fifty-five percent of these were shrubs, thirty-two percent trees, seven-and-a-half percent lower plants such as herbs or forbs while five percent were climbers. About seventy percent of the medicinal plants occurred inside the forest itself and thirty percent around the edge and the immediate surroundings outside the forest. Thirty-eight (95%) of the plants were indigenous to Kenya and two (5%) exotic. Such extensive indigenous knowledge of the medicinal uses of the plants, including their distribution trends in the forest, may be tapped for decision support in rural health service planning, policy formulation for conserving the forest, tracking and mitigation of climate change impacts.

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The role of farm structure on bird assemblages around a Kenyan tropical rainforest

Cited by 22 publications

References 21 publications

Highly diversified crop–livestock farming systems reshape wild bird communities

Highly diversified crop–livestock farming systems reshape wild bird communities

High Bird Species Diversity in Structurally Heterogeneous Farmland in Western Kenya

Local indigenous knowledge about medicinal plants in and around Kakamega forest in western Kenya

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