Pius Kavana

By Ally K. Nkwabi, John K. Bukombe, Hamza K. Kija, Steven D. Liseki, Sood A. Ndimuligo and Pius Y. Kavana

Understanding of relative distribution of avifauna provides insights for the conservation and management of wildlife in the community managed areas. This study examined relative diversity, abundance, and distribution of avifauna in selected habitat types across five Wildlife Management Areas of the Ruvuma landscape in miombo vegetation, southern Tanzania. Five habitat types were surveyed during the study: farmland, swamps, riverine forest, dense and open woodland. Transect lines, mist-netting, and point count methods were used to document 156 species of birds in the study sites. Descriptive statistics and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare species richness and diversity across habitat types. We found differences in avifaunal species distribution in the study area whereby farmland had the highest abundance of avifauna species and lowest in the riverine forest. These results suggest that variations of avifauna species abundance, diversity, and distribution could be attributed by human activities across habitat types; due to the reason that habitats with less human encroachment had good species diversity and richness. Therefore, to improve avitourism and avoid local extinction of species, we urge for prompt action to mitigate species loss by creating awareness in the adjacent community through conservation education on the importance of protecting such biodiversity resources.

Part of the book: Birds

By Ally K. Nkwabi and Pius Y. Kavana

Agriculture is one of the factors contributing to the global depletion of natural resources. A total of 228 bird species were recorded in the savanna of Serengeti National Park and 146 bird species in agricultural areas. The richness of bird species endemic to the Serengeti ecosystem, regional and Africa-wide geographical ranges were all higher inside Serengeti National Park compared to agricultural land. However, a greater proportion of endemic bird species dropped out in agriculture compared to the proportions of species with wider geographic ranges. With respect to the trophic level in agriculture, there was a greater proportional decrease of species (compared to savanna) at the predator trophic level (vertebrate feeders) than at the insectivore and herbivore trophic levels. Therefore, higher feeding levels were less able to tolerate changes in habitat structure due to agriculture than species at lower feeding levels. These results suggest that Park managers should encourage through education and participation of local communities on the importance of improving their agricultural habitats by promoting the regeneration of patches of native vegetation so that more vulnerable species, such as endemics, and raptors can exist there.

Part of the book: Birds