Abstract
Our current understanding of the vertebrate communities of a newly gazetted Tanzanian coastal national park is limited and strongly taxonomically biased towards large mammals. We conducted bird assessments in three sites in Saadani National Park using species lists to analyze some parameters to inform biodiversity conservation in the area. We recorded 3112 individuals in 268 species falling in 66 families, including 2 endangered, 2 vulnerable, and 6 near threatened species. Both species richness and species diversity varied between sites. Species relative abundances were not different between the sites although some functional groups, especially granivores, were more abundant than others. Bird assemblages included 21 forest specialists (FF-species), 35 forest generalists (F-species), and 68 forest visitors (f-species) overlapping among bushland, wooded grassland, grassland, and thickets suggesting presence of important microhabitats for the forest-associated species in this ecosystem. Bird species richness in a feeding guild also showed marked overlap between habitats suggesting availability of rich food resources for the birds. This paper highlights the importance of maintaining a structurally heterogeneous landscape to sustain diverse bird communities in the area.
Highlights
The coastal habitats of Eastern Tanzania are known for their high biological diversity and endemism [1, 2] but are increasingly threatened due to illegal anthropogenic resource extraction, for example, [3, 4]
An example of the increased recent conservation efforts in coastal Tanzania is the incorporation of Saadani Game Reserve, Mkwaja Ranch, and Zaraninge forest into a national park
There was a significant difference in species relative abundance between the sites (Kruskal-Wallis χ2 = 27.016; df = 2; P = 0.001; median index of relative abundance (IRA) = 0.224)
Summary
The coastal habitats of Eastern Tanzania are known for their high biological diversity and endemism [1, 2] but are increasingly threatened due to illegal anthropogenic resource extraction, for example, [3, 4] These areas face potentially imminent local species extinctions. Increased understanding of the other biodiversity present in this recently gazetted protected area is important for predicting future population trends and assessing the required level of habitat management [9] This is especially important as the area had experienced large scale decrease in the cover of bushland and a significant encroachment of bushes in some parts due to cattle grazing that persisted for nearly 50 years [12, 13].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
