Life Sciences Commons^™

Bird Communities In African Cocoa Agroforestry Are Diverse But Lack Specialized Insectivores, Crinan Jarrett, Thomas B. Smith, Tabe T.R. Claire, Diogo F. Ferreira, Melanie Tchoumbou, Malange N.F. Elikwo, Jared D. Wolfe, Kristin Brzeski, Andreanna J. Welch, Rachid Hanna, Luke L. Powell

Michigan Tech Publications

Forests are being converted to agriculture throughout the Afrotropics, driving declines in sensitive rainforest taxa such as understorey birds. The ongoing expansion of cocoa agriculture, a common small-scale farming commodity, has contributed to the loss of 80% rainforest cover in some African countries. African cocoa farms may provide habitat for biodiversity, yet little is known about their suitability for vertebrate fauna, or the effect of farm management on animal communities. Here, we report the first in-depth investigation into avian diversity and community composition in African cocoa, by assembling a dataset of 9,566 individual birds caught across 83 sites over 30 …