This study examines the impact of forest age on bird morphology and feeding guilds within the Kibale National Park, Uganda. Bird morphology is closely linked to their environment, effecting their ability to find food, avoid predators, and attract mates. Species characteristics in bird communities could change along the forest successional gradient, as different species or guilds exhibit preferences for specific stages of forest succession. Habitat preferences, such as the availability of nesting sites, foraging opportunities, and food availability, can be directly affected by changes in forest age. Life history traits like reproductive strategies and tolerance to disturbance and ecological interactions, such as competition, predation, and mutualism, can also be influenced by forest age. Changes in forest structure and resource availability can alter these dynamics, leading to shifts in species composition and community structure. In this work data was derived from a study conducted in 2016, following the restoration of the Kibale National Park were the feeding guilds and morphological traits of birds were gathered from observed specimens in different aged forests to see if these traits change along the age gradient. Understanding the relationship between forest age and species characteristics is crucial for effective conservation and management strategies. Conservation efforts often involve maintaining or restoring habitat conditions that support key species populations, which may include managing forest age structure to meet specific ecological requirements. By examining the data and working the statistics, significance could be found in all cases regarding bird traits and total number of individuals, with an increase in variables when compared to forest of primary age. Significance was only found in insectivore/nectivorous (IN) feeding guild with significance difference between forests of younger-primary age and older-primary age, and the sallying insectivorous (SAL) feeding guilds with no significant difference between the forest ages.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-226206 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Jonsson Holmgren, Max |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för ekologi, miljö och geovetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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