bird and mammal biodiversity SW Ethiopia, Patricia, Jimma 2018

1. BIRD DIVERSITY
Patrícia Rodrigues

2. FORESTFARMLAND
What is the diversity of birds in the landscape?

3. BIRDS - SAMPLING SCHEME
Number of individuals; species
Vegetation data
- plant species richness
- abundance of coffee
- abundance of non-coffee species
- landscape context variables
SAMPLING POINT:
METHODS:
150 sampling points (83 farmland + 67 forest)
15‘ listening and watching birds
Between 06h00-10h00
Between November 2015 and February 2016

4. 129 SPECIES (13 endemics to Ethiopia and Eritrea)
FOREST
76 species
FARMLAND
113 species
Common Bulbul Robin-Chats Red-eye DoveEthiopian Boubou Grey-backed Camaroptera
Common species in the landscape
RESULTS

5. Weavers Abyssinian Ground hornbill
Variable sunbird
Whydahs
HOMEGARDENS
FARMLAND FIELDS
FARMLAND
106 species
47 species
Tacazza sunbird Yellow-bellied waxbill
Flycatchers
GRAZINGS
Groundscrapper thrush Wagtails
72 species
Abyssinian Thrush

6. GRAZINGS
Diversity of land uses contributes to the diversity of species found
Farmland has high value for biodiversity conservation
HIGHLIGHTS:
HOMEGARDENSFARMLAND FIELDS
IN PROGRESS!
How does taxonomic and functional diversity patterns of birds
change along the landscape?

7. SHADE COFFEE SYSTEMS
MIXED EFFECTS FOR BIODIVERSITY
can help to reduce deforestation, by providing a source of revenue from remnant forest, thus
creating an incentive to maintain it,
a shift towards more intensively managed coffee plots can cause the homogenization and
simplification of forest structure and diversity, with potentially negative effects on biodiversity.
FOREST

8. What are the effects of coffee management on forest birds?
MOIST EVERGREEN
FOREST
LOW MANAGEMENT
COFFEE FOREST
HIGHLY MANAGED
COFFEE FOREST
bird community composition
richness and abundance of bird groups (insectivores, frugivores, forest specialists)

9. COMMON SPECIES
Oriolus White-eyeCamaroptera Robin-Chat Ethiopian Boubou
• 76 species and 1344 individuals
• Very small change in community composition
• Coffee dominance and canopy cover explained community pattern
Lovebirds
ENDEMICS
Abyssinian
woodpecker
Yellow-fronted
parrot
Figure 3. CCA ordination diagrams of bird community along the environmental gradients: (a) representation of species; (b) representation of survey sites
(dark grey correspond to sites “without coffee management” and light grey dots correspond to sites “with coffee management”); only variables with a
significant relationship (p < 0.05) with bird community composition are represented by arrows.
BIRD COMMUNITY COMPOSITION

10. Abyssinian Ground-thrush
Trongon
Total richness and total bird abundance
Richness and abundance of forest specialists
Richness and abundance of dietary specialists
FORESTSPECIALISTSINSECTIVORES
coffee management intensity
vs forest naturalness
forest cover &
distance from edge
EFFECT 2EFFECT 1
SPECIES RICHNESS AND ABUNDANCE OF BIRD GROUPS

11. Current traditional shade coffee management practices can maintain a diverse
community of forest birds.
But natural areas free from human disturbance are important for the conservation
of sensitive and specialist bird species.
HIGHLIGHTS:

12. MAMMAL DIVERSITY

13. In general the forest is important to me, but because there are wild animals and they eat my crops, the forest
close to me is not important to me. The animals cause us loss of crops and food shortage.
Farmer in Boricho Deka kebele
Knowledge gap on the conservation potential of coffee forests for mammals
Important roles in ecosystem functioning
Sensitive to changes in forest extent and quality
Can cause serious damages to people‘s livelihoods

14. (i) assess mammal community composition – which species are present?
(ii) provide baseline information to inform future studies
Aims:
PILOT STUDY
What is the mammal diversity of forest edge?
FRONTIER
Wildlife-people contact
25 camera traps, in 4 kebeles
1075 camera days (Nov 2015 - Jan 2016)
101.435 pictures:
14% wild mammals (27 species)

15. (i) assess mammal community composition - which species are present?
(ii) How does it differ from the edge?
(iii) How do species relate with human population density and forest cover?
Aims:
What is the mammal diversity of forest interior?
MAJOR STUDY
96 camera sites, in 4 kebeles
10955 camera days (Jan 2016 – Mar 2017)
541.458 pictures:
29.3% wild mammals (33 species)
IN PROGRESS!

16. Warthog
Baboons Bushpig
Giant Forest Hog

17. Blue monkey
Grivet monkey Colobus monkey
De Brazza monkey

18. Genets Civet
Honey Badger Mongooses

19. Bushbuck Bushduiker
Hares Aardvark

20. Porcupine Jackals
Hyraxes Galago

21. TOP PREDATORS
Leopard Spotted-Hyena

22. Buffalo Caracal
Species only recorded during major study (edge + interior)

23. Carnivores
Primates
Ungulates
FOREST EDGE
HIGHLIGHTS:
Despite site location, species related with human-wildlife conflicts are always present at the forest edge.

24. 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
Sylv_grim
Papi_anub
Gene_sp.
Trag_scri
Pota_larv
Hyst_cris
Cive_cive
Chlo_aeth
Phac_afri
Hylo_mein
Colo_guer
Lepu_sp.
Gala_sene
Hete_bruc
Pant_pard
Ichn_albi
Cerc_miti
Croc_croc
0.05.010.015.020.025.0
% - Proportion of total records (n=1289) % - Proportion of total records (n=8531)
Sites = 25
FOREST EDGE
Sites = 96
FOREST EDGE & INTERIOR
Illustrations: Jonathan Kingdon Field Guide to African Mammals
541.458 pictures (29% wildlife)101.435 pictures (14% wildlife)

25. Key points for policy and practice
A diverse landscape is essential to maintain current levels
of biodiversity
Biodiversity conservation needs to look at both forest and
farmland diversity
Traditional coffee management practices benefit bird
community
Large undisturbed areas of natural forest are necessary
to conserve important keystone bird and mammal species

26. QUESTIONS?
Relevant papers:
Rodrigues et al. 2018. Coffee management and the conservation of forest bird diversity in southwestern Ethiopia. Biological
Conservation, 217: 131-139.
Rodrigues & Fischer. 2018. Bird diversity and the resilience of southwestern Ethiopian forests [A commentary]. Tropical
Conservation Science. 11
Rodrigues et al. Living on the edge: rapid assessment of the mammal community in coffee forests in southwestern Ethiopia.
Submitted to African Journal of Ecology.
patricia.asrodrigues@gmail.com