The Importance of Forest Elephants for Vegetation Structure Modification and Its Influence on the Bird Community of a Mid-Elevation Forest on Mount Cameroon, West-Central Africa

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F22%3A10452155" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/22:10452155 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60076658:12310/22:43904632

Result on the web

<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=CSSvgu9VYo" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=CSSvgu9VYo</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/d14030227" target="_blank" >10.3390/d14030227</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The Importance of Forest Elephants for Vegetation Structure Modification and Its Influence on the Bird Community of a Mid-Elevation Forest on Mount Cameroon, West-Central Africa

Original language description

Most of the tropical rainforests are subject to both anthropogenic and natural disturbances. Forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) cause forest clearings within the tropics. This study was conducted at mid-elevations (1100-1700 m a.s.l.) in Mount Cameroon National Park. We assessed the difference in the structure of bird communities in the forest and areas located nearby affected by elephant activities. We used the point-count method; 22 points were established within each habitat. The vegetation was visually estimated within a 50 m radius surrounding each counting point. In total, 1603 birds from 85 species were recorded. The vegetation cover from 3 to 5 m at points with elephant activity was significantly lower compared to points without elephant activity. Bird species richness was significantly higher around points in pasture compared to points in intact forest. Habitat type and the percentage of vegetation layer from 3 to 5 m significantly impacted the bird community structure. The points in the pasture were especially characterized by the increased abundance of some open habitat species (e.g., Chubb&apos;s Cisticola chubbi). Few studies have documented the effects of elephant activity on other species, although the effects are widely stated as important drivers of habitat diversity in tropical forests. In conclusion, disturbance caused by elephants leads to increased bird community diversity due to the increased heterogeneity of the environment, which documents the high importance of elephants as ecosystem engineers.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA21-17125S" target="_blank" >GA21-17125S: A hazy barrier: Mid-elevation exchange of avian communities on Mt. Cameroon</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Diversity [online]

ISSN

1424-2818

e-ISSN

1424-2818

Volume of the periodical

14

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

227

UT code for WoS article

000775397000001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85127542047