0000000000594272
AUTHOR
Nixon Sajita
High seedling recruitment of indigenous tree species in forest plantations in Kakamega Forest, western Kenya
Tree plantations are often used to compensate for the destruction and conversion of natural forests in the tropics. An important question is whether these plantations allow for the regeneration of indigenous tree species and are expected to transform into more natural forests in the future. To evaluate the potential of differently managed forest types for seedling recruitment of indigenous tree species we studied structural characteristics as well as tree and seedling communities in stands of natural forest, different types of tree plantations and secondary forest in Kakamega Forest, western Kenya. Forest types differed considerably in structural characteristics and tree composition with st…
Human impact diminishes seedling species richness in Kakamega Forest, Kenya
Summary Anthropogenic forest fragmentation and other kinds of human disturbance, such as selective logging, can reduce the diversity of plant and animal species. To evaluate the impact of fragmentation and small-scale disturbance on forest regeneration, we assessed species richness and total abundance of adult trees in comparison with seedlings in the heavily fragmented and disturbed Kakamega Forest, western Kenya. In nine differently disturbed 1-ha study blocks distributed across the main forest and fragments, we mapped all trees >10 cm in diameter at breast height. Additionally, we established ninety 1-m 2 seedling plots within these 1-ha study blocks which were monitored over 2.5 years. …
Conservation value of forest plantations for bird communities in western Kenya
Tree plantations of native and exotic species are frequently used to compensate for forest loss in the tropics. However, these plantations may support lower species diversity and different communities than natural forest. We therefore investigated bird communities in stands of natural forest, different types of tree plantations and secondary forest in Kakamega Forest, western Kenya. We compared birds differing in habitat specialisation, i.e. forest specialists, generalists, and visitors. We recorded significant differences in mean species richness and number of individuals among the different forest types. Stands of natural forest and plantations of indigenous tree species comprised more sp…
Corrigendum to “Conservation value of forest plantations for bird communities in western Kenya” [Forest Ecol. Manag. 255 (2008) 3885–3892]
A re-analysis of the bird data revealed a mistake within the database query. Only bird individuals that were heard were integrated in the results leading to lower total richness and number of individuals. In total 115 species and 13,331 individuals were detected of which 41 were forest specialists (43% of all individuals), 40 forest generalists (41%) and 34 forest visitors (16%). The statistical analyses remain very similar. We recorded significant differences in mean bird species richness, number of individuals and relative species richness among the five forest types (Table 1). Multiple pairwise comparisons showed significantly higher numbers of species in natural forest, mixed indigenous…