Elevational patterns of species richness and community structure of understorey birds in an East African montane forest

Abstract

Mt. Kasigau is the northeastern most of the Eastern Arc Mountains global hotspot and harbours some endemic and threatened species, but little is known about bird community changes along its elevational gradient. We assessed the relationship between bird biodiversity metrics, season, human disturbance, elevation and temperature using mist-netting data collected bi-annually over a 10-year period. Birds were sampled along the mountain's elevational gradient at four elevation levels (858, 1104, 1321 and 1547 m). Bird richness, diversity and evenness decreased with increasing altitude in both dry and wet seasons. Bird abundance declined with increasing elevation for the lower three elevation levels but peaked at the highest elevation. All diversity metrics were higher in the wet season compared to the dry season across all the years. Elevation had a greater effect on species assemblages than season, disturbance and temperature. Temperature had significant effects on abundance, diversity and richness, while disturbance had significant effects on diversity, evenness and richness. We conclude that bird assemblages in Mt. Kasigau are strongly shaped by elevational changes, while temperature and disturbance constitute important factors influencing bird conservation in the face of global warming. Our study highlights that elevation, disturbance and temperature influence bird assemblages along tropical elevational gradients.