Influence of Land-Use Type on Forest Bird Community Composition in Mount Kenya Forest

Remnant natural forests play a critical role in supporting forest biodiversity, particularly for specialist bird species, compared to plantation forests and farmlands. A study assessing avian community composition in the Nanyuki Forest Block of Mount Kenya found that natural forests had the highest overall species richness, while plantation forests exhibited the lowest relative richness across most habitat and foraging guilds. Notably, granivorous birds and non-forest species were more prevalent in farmlands. The research used point counts during wet and dry seasons to compare bird communities across land-use types, highlighting the risks of replacing natural forests with plantations or agricultural lands for biodiversity persistence.

Mahiga, S. N., Webala, P., Mware, M. J., & Ndang’ang’a, P. K. (2019). Influence of Land-Use Type on Forest Bird Community Composition in Mount Kenya Forest. International Journal of Ecology, 2019, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/8248270