Journal ArticleDOI
Spatial variability in the vegetation structure and composition of an East African rain forest
TLDR
Floristic differences between Buyangu and Isecheno appear to be at least partly responsible for the substantial dietary differences between redtail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius Audebert) at these sites.Abstract:
We conducted a study of spatial variation in tree community structure and composition in the Kakamega Forest of western Kenya. We compared the tree communities at two sites, Buyangu and Isecheno, separated by approximately 11 km of contiguous forest. All trees ‡15 cm d.b.h. were censused along transects covering 4.95 ha at Buyangu and 4.15 ha at Isecheno. The structure of the forest at the two sites was similar as mean d.b.h. was comparable and stem size class distribution did not differ significantly. However, species richness and stem density were both much higher at Buyangu. The disparity in stem density may be because of the greater abundance at Isecheno of a semi-woody undergrowth species, Brillantaisia nitens Lindau, believed to inhibit the establishment of tree seedlings. Floristic composition varied strikingly between sites, with 52% of the species occurring only at one site. Densities of those species present at both sites often differed markedly between sites. Potential sources of these intersite differences in floristic composition include small disparities in rainfall, soil composition, elevation, and temperature as well as past differences in anthropogenic disturbance and in large mammal distribution and abundance. Floristic differences between Buyangu and Isecheno appear to be at least partly responsible for the substantial dietary differences between redtail monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius Audebert) at these sites.read more
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Harvesting of non-timber forest products and implications for conservation in two montane forests of East Africa
TL;DR: In this article, the extraction of plant products from two montane forest ecosystems, Uzungwa Scarp Forest Reserve (USFR) and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP), was assessed.
Book ChapterDOI
Assessment of Threat Status and Management Effectiveness in Kakamega Forest, Kenya
TL;DR: In this article, the authors quantified the current threats in the heavily fragmented and degraded tropical rainforest of Kakamega, western Kenya, and recorded seven disturbance parameters at 22 sites in different managed and protected areas of the forest.
Journal ArticleDOI
Activity and Ranging Patterns of Colobus angolensis ruwenzorii in Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda: Possible Costs of Large Group Size
Peter J. Fashing,Peter J. Fashing,Felix Mulindahabi,Jean-Baptiste Gakima,Michel Masozera,Ian Mununura,Andrew J. Plumptre,Nga Nguyen,Nga Nguyen +8 more
TL;DR: The results suggest that intragroup scramble competition may be more intense than originally believed within the large Colobus groups at Nyungwe and that long periods of resource renewal may be necessary after a large colobus group passes through an area, thereby potentially helping to explain their wide ranging patterns.
Journal ArticleDOI
Population structure and regeneration of multiple-use tree species in a semi-deciduous African tropical rainforest: Implications for primate conservation
TL;DR: Examination of the population structures and regeneration patterns of 15 tree species that are both timber and primate food sources in Budongo Forest Reserve, NW Uganda, finds a discontinuous regeneration pattern for some, reflects unsustainable harvesting, that potentially eliminates seed sources for future generations.
Journal ArticleDOI
Ecological Flexibility in Boutourlini’s Blue Monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis boutourlinii) in Jibat Forest, Ethiopia: A Comparison of Habitat Use, Ranging Behavior, and Diet in Intact and Fragmented Forest
TL;DR: It is revealed that, like most other blue monkey subspecies, Boutourlini’s blue monkeys are quite flexible in the habitats they occupy as well as in their foraging habits, though both groups exploited a small number of plant species relative to other subspecies of blue monkeys.
References
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
Changes in plant community diversity and floristic composition on environmental and geographical gradients
TL;DR: The predictability of the fioristic compositions and diversities of tropical forest plant communities eems strong, albeit circumstantial, evidence that these communities are at ecological and perhaps evolutionary equilibrium, despite indications that certain aspects of their diversity are generated and maintained stochastically.
Book
The Tropical Rain Forest: An Ecological Study
TL;DR: Baillie and Walsh as mentioned in this paper described the structure and physicognomy of the primary forest and its relationship with the ground herbs and the dependent synusiae in the tropical rain forest.
Journal ArticleDOI
Dominance and distribution of tree species in upper amazonian terra firme forests
Nigel C. A. Pitman,John Terborgh,Miles R. Silman,V Percy Núñez,David A. Neill,Carlos Cerón,Walter A. Palacios,Milton Aulestia +7 more
TL;DR: In this article, the distribution and abundance of tropical tree species in lowland terra firme forests in western Amazonia is investigated. But the results show that most species show landscape-scale densities of <1 individual/ha, and most trees in both forests belong to a small set of ubiquitous common species.
Journal ArticleDOI
Tree species richness of upper Amazonian forests
TL;DR: Very high tree species richness seems to be a general property of mature lowland evergreen forests on fertile to moderately infertile soils on all three continents.
Journal ArticleDOI
Time Lag between Deforestation and Bird Extinction in Tropical Forest Fragments
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used data on birds in five tropical forest frag- fents in Kakamega Forest, Kenya, of known date of isolation to predict the original and eventual species richness of these fragments and, from this difference, the eventual species losses.
Related Papers (5)
Assessing fragmentation and disturbance of west Kenyan rainforests by means of remotely sensed time series data and landscape metrics
Tobias Lung,Gertrud Schaab +1 more