Habitat Losses and Conservation of Mutualisms

New, Tim R.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-58292-4_10

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…It has been reported the cracking effect of teeth on seed coats during the grinding action of food to improve their germination (Lowry, 1996 ; Samuels and Levey, 2005 ). This finding points out to the need for integrated conservation of mutualists instead of individual species as way of protecting the whole habitat (New, 2017 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…The whole‐habitat conservation strategy has seen increasing attention in the face of global change as opposed to the traditional species‐based approaches (New, 2017; Panitsa et al, 2011; Watson et al, 2019). Pertinent to this approach, is the understanding of species' mutual interactions and their level of dependencies since it helps to identify and protect the keystone species in different environmental settings (Bond, 1994; Bronstein et al, 2004; Winfree et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Determining the critical recruitment needs for the declining population of Olea europaea subsp. africana (Mill.) P.S. Green in Free State, South Africa

Vukeya

Mokotjomela

Powrie

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Olea europaea subsp. africana (Mill.) P.S. Green (medium-sized tree species known as "African wild olive"), provides important ecological goods and services for sustaining frugivores in the grassland biome in South Africa. We speculate that O. europaea subsp. africana's population has been declining due to habitat loss and exploitation for domestic benefits suggesting an unrecognized conservation threat. Therefore, the study aimed to investigate the anthropogenic conservation threats for O. europaea subsp. africana in the Free State, South Africa and to determine the potential importance of seed dispersal effectiveness in the restoration of the species in the study area. Overall, the results showed that 39% of the natural habitat range has been transformed by human-mediated activities. Agricultural activities accounted for 27%, while mining activities and human settlement accounted for 12%, of natural habitat loss. In support of the study predictions, seeds of O. europaea subsp. africana had significantly higher germination and germinated faster after passing through the mammal gut (i.e., 28% and 1.49 per week), compared to other seed treatments (i.e., over 39 weeks). However, there were no statistically significant differences between seed germination of the bird-ingested seeds, with intact fruits as the experimental control, although both were significantly greater than the de-pulped seeds. Potential seed dispersal distances by birds were relatively larger, ranging from 9.4 km to 53 km, than those of mammals (1.5 km-4.5 km). We propose that the O. europaea subsp. africana's habitat range may have been declining, and since it is a keystone plant species, we recommend that the complementary seed dispersal services by birds and mammals could be important for its recruitment and restoration in the degraded habitat.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining the critical recruitment needs for the declining population of Olea europaea subsp. africana (Mill.) P.S. Green in Free State, South Africa

Vukeya

Mokotjomela

Powrie

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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“…However, there has been limited attention to the documentation of local bird species for this purpose, possibly because of a high focus on game‐viewing in the province, particularly on rare large mammals (Mossaz et al, 2015). This knowledge gap undermines the importance of the role that birds play in habitat maintenance and thus may retard the inclusion of birds in whole‐habitat conservation efforts (Mossaz et al, 2015; New, 2017), with a specific focus on bird species suffering from home range decline (Mulvaney, 2021). Indeed, Cooper (2015) reported that half of South Africa's forest‐dependent bird species have declining ranges, with the loss of these species most prominent in the Eastern Cape Province.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The critical role of coastal protected areas in buffering impacts of extreme climatic conditions on bird diversity and their ecosystem services' provisioning in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Mokotjomela,

Vukeya,

Pamla

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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In this study, we documented the diversity of bird species in the Eastern Cape coastal nature reserves (i.e., Hluleka, Dwesa, Silaka and Mkhambati nature reserves), and determined the potential role of each bird species in habitat maintenance using two functional traits (i.e., body mass and feeding mode) as the function's proxy. We applied the timed species count approach during bird observations, coupled with drive‐by surveys to maximise spatial coverage of each nature reserve over four years. To evaluate functional diversity, bird species were classified based on functional traits such as the adult body, and their potential ecological role derived from their feeding mode and habitat associations. Over 864 h, we accumulated 818 bird records containing 178 different bird species that were classified into 58 families with 32 species occurring in all nature reserves. Shannon–Wiener Diversity Indices showed very high overall species diversity across the nature reserves (H > 3.5) with no differences detected across sites. Although no significant correlations between vegetation changes measured through Normalised Difference vegetation Index (NDVI) in each nature reserve and the number of bird records, forest bird species were dominant (42.1%; N = 178) throughout years of observation and diversity remained high (H > 3.5). Bird species abundance only increased significantly across all nature reserves during 2018–2019. All four nature reserves had a similar distribution of bird functional traits with both high functional richness (FRic = 1), and divergence (FDiv = 0.8) and moderate evenness (FEve = 0.4). Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) demonstrated a positive correlation between bird sizes and functions with large birds mainly associated with predators and carrion. Small birds and medium birds had a similar composition of species in terms of functionality being seed dispersers across the nature reserves. A significant effect that insectivores and carrions displayed in MCA plots, suggest the availability of indirect pollination services. Despite extreme drought conditions across the country in 2019, NDVI levels remained largely consistent over time in these four reserves; and thus, they offer important refuge for birds during extreme climatic conditions such as drought.

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Habitat Losses and Conservation of Mutualisms

Cited by 2 publications

References 73 publications

Determining the critical recruitment needs for the declining population of Olea europaea subsp. africana (Mill.) P.S. Green in Free State, South Africa

Determining the critical recruitment needs for the declining population of Olea europaea subsp. africana (Mill.) P.S. Green in Free State, South Africa

The critical role of coastal protected areas in buffering impacts of extreme climatic conditions on bird diversity and their ecosystem services' provisioning in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

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