Abstract
We carried out a survey of Nahan’s Partridge Ptilopachus nahani in the Ugandan forests of Mabira, Bugoma, and Budongo from December 2016 to December 2017, using a point count method employing a call playback technique. The aim was to establish the population status of this globally threatened species, which was last surveyed in 2003. Separate analyses of the number of groups per point and those involving use of the Distance Program yielded the same density estimates, indicating that either method reliably estimates the density of the species. The density estimates for the three reserves were 31.6, 25.2, and 13.3 groups per km2 for Bugoma, Budongo, and Mabira forest reserves, respectively. In the last 14 years, it appears that the density of the species for Uganda has increased from 16.3 to 23.4 groups per km2, which when extrapolated translates to 16,000 and 23,000 groups, respectively. This represents a 44% increase in density, or a group growth rate of 450 per year. The lowest density and population increment was registered in Mabira and we attribute this to the apparently high incidence of disturbance and degradation of this forest compared to the other two. Since Mabira, Bugoma, and Budongo are the only remaining large tropical rainforest reserves in Uganda, strengthening their conservation or upgrading their conservation status to national parks is required to save the species.
Highlights
Nahan’s Partridge Ptilopachus nahani is categorized as a globally Vulnerable species (BirdLife International 2019a), between 2000 and 2018 it was categorized as Endangered
Budongo, b—understorey growth in the Cynometra (Bugoma), and Mabira forests are recognized as Important Bird Areas in Uganda (Byaruhanga et al 2001) and are legally protected forest reserves, Mabira is under severe pressure from disturbance including logging and hunting
The density estimates using the number of groups per point and that using Distance sampling in each of the three forest reserves didn’t differ (Z0.05, Table 1)
Summary
Nahan’s Partridge Ptilopachus nahani is categorized as a globally Vulnerable species (BirdLife International 2019a), between 2000 and 2018 it was categorized as Endangered. It is an enigmatic galliform known from a few localities in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from Yangambi eastwards, and in central and western Uganda (Dranzoa et al 1999; McGowan 1994). Nahan’s Partridge was previously wrongly classified as a francolin It is classified as a partridge, a sister species to another African endemic, the Stone Partridge Ptilopachus petrosus. The species was downgraded from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2019, its population in some parts of its range remains unknown and its global population size is believed to be decreasing (BirdLife International 2019a)
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