The Amphibians and Reptiles of Kibale Forest, Uganda: herpetofaunal survey and ecological study of the forest floor litter community (original) (raw)
Related papers
Conservation of Biodiversity in the East African tropical Forest
2004
Abstract Kakamega forest is one of the remnants of the equatorial guineo rainforest in the Eastern fringes of Africa. It was perhaps cut-off from the Congo region in the early volcanic era when the Great Rift Valley was formed. The forest is known for its diversity of biotic species, and it is home to some of the rare plants in the East African region. It has some of the rare species of, birds, snakes, insects and primates.
The anuran fauna in a protected West African rainforest and surrounding agricultural systems
The conversion of tropical rain forests to agricultural systems is a major threat to tropical biodiversity. In West Africa, studies investigating the effects of this habitat conversion on biodiversity are scarce. In this study, we investigated which forest amphibians survive in the agroforestry systems surrounding West Africa's largest area of protected rainforest, the Taï National Park (TNP) in southwestern Côte d'Ivoire. Species richness was assessed in different habitats types, i.e., a mosaic of coffee and cocoa plantations, rubber plantations, and rice fields, and compared to data from primary and degraded forests in TNP. The anuran assemblage composition differed considerably between forest and agroforestry systems, with the latter comprising only a small subset of generalist forest species and species which usually occur in highly degraded forest habitats or even savanna. Thus, the agroforestry systems in western Côte d'Ivoire seem to be unsuitable for the maintenance of the rich local and regional diversity of forest amphibians.
Effects of selective timber harvest on amphibian species diversity in Budongo forest Reserve, Uganda
Forest Ecology and Management, 2020
We studied the effects of forest management on amphibian communities in the Budongo Central Forest Reserve, Uganda. We sampled amphibians from May to August of 2012 in four compartments with different logging and arboricide-treatment histories. We used pitfall traps with drift fences combined with visual encounter surveys to sample amphibians from 36 plots in four 1-km long transects along the Sonso River. From 126 encounters across plots, we recorded 25 frog species belonging to six families and eight genera. Arthroleptidae was the most diverse family represented by 10 species within two genera. Arthroleptis had the highest number of species (six), Ptychadena the second most (five), followed by Leptopelis (four) and Sclerophrys (four). Species composition differed across transects. The unlogged study site possessed the highest species richness, diversity, and evenness, and had the greatest frequency of species encounters. The most heavily logged site had the lowest species diversity and fewest amount of species encounters. This site also had the most dissimilar species composition among sites and was significantly different in species richness compared to the unlogged site. The two moderately logged sites had the second and third most species, and had the most similar species composition to each other. Our study provides data on the amphibian species of a protected site in the Albertine Rift, part of the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot, and results suggest that the forest management regimes in Budongo have exerted an influence over the amphibian communities after more than 50 years of forest recovery.
2012
Making generalizations about the impact of commercial selective logging on biodiversity has so far remained elusive. Species responses to logging depend on a number of factors, many of which have not been studied in detail. These factors may include the natural forest conditions (forest types) under which logging impacts are investigated; but this question has so far remained unexamined. In a largescale replicate study we aimed at clarifying the relationship between logging and forest types on leaf litter frogs. We contrast three distinct and naturally occurring forest types, including wet evergreen, moist evergreen and semi-deciduous forests. Selectively logged sites were compared with primary forest sites for each forest type. We found that the response of frog communities to logging varies in different forest types. In the wet evergreen forest, richness was higher in logged forest than primary forest, while diversity measures were not different between logged and primary forest habitats. In the moist evergreen, richness and diversity were higher in selectively logged areas compared with primary forest habitats. In the semi-deciduous, logged forests were characterized by drastic loss of forest specialists, reduced richness, and diversity. These results indicate that the net effect of logging varies with respect to forest type. Forest types that are characterized by adverse climatic conditions (i.e., low rainfall and protracted dry seasons) are more likely to produce negative effects on leaf litter anuran communities. For comparisons of the impact of logging on species to be effective, future research must endeavor to include details of forest type.
Forests as promoters of terrestrial life-history strategies in East African amphibians
Many amphibian lineages show terrestrialization of their reproductive strategy and breeding is partially or completely independent of water. A number of causal factors have been proposed for the evolution of terrestrialized breeding. While predation has received repeated attention as a potential factor, the influence of other factors such as habitat has never been tested using appropriate data or methods. Using a dataset that comprises 180 amphibian species from various East African habitats, we tested whether species occurring in different habitats show different patterns of terrestrialization in their breeding strategy. We recovered a significant association between terrestrialized breeding strategies and forest habitats. In general, forest seems to act as a facilitator, providing a permissive environment for the evolution of terrestrialized breeding strategies. However, while terrestrial oviposition is strongly correlated with lowland and montane forest habitat, complete terrestrial development is significantly correlated with montane forest only, indicating different selective pressures acting at different steps towards complete terrestrial development.
Herpetological Conservation and Biology
We report here the findings of a faunal survey of amphibians and reptiles included in an environmental impact assessment carried out in a heavily anthropogenically degraded area near the city of Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo. Specifically, we use these results as an opportunity to investigate the effects of habitat destruction and fragmentation on herpetofauna, an increasingly widespread yet rarely studied phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa, in one of the most poorly surveyed countries in the world. Among the 37 identified species (12 amphibians and 25 reptiles), we report here for the first time in the Republic of Congo, three species: the frog Hemisus perreti, the skink Afroablepharus tancredi, and the tortoise Kinixys homeana. Résumé.—Nous rapportons dans cet article les résultats d'un inventaire sure les populations d'amphibiens et de reptiles réalisé dans le cadre d'une évaluation de l'impact environnemental sur les populations d'amphibiens et de reptiles da...