![]() Niche dynamics of invasive alien plants (IAPs) play pivotal roles in biological invasion. Therefore, this study suggests that the understanding of foraging decisions can be a veritable method for assessing habitat quality as perceived by animals. Conclusion The differences in GUDs were very indicative of differences in foraging behavior and perception of resource availability in response to perceived predation risk. Birds had a preference for rice, millet, and groundnut respectively. Higher GUDs were recorded in open than cover microhabitats both in the morning and the afternoon. They foraged more in the morning than afternoon across all three habitats except for the gallery forest where birds foraged less in the morning. Time of day influenced foraging behavior in the birds. Higher food remnants were recorded in the open than in cover microhabitats, as birds exploited food patches in the cover more. However, there was a significant difference in GUDs between microhabitats. ![]() Results There was no significant difference in GUDs across habitats. Model selection was done based on the Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC). General linear mixed-effect models (GLMMs) were fitted to investigate the differences in GUD with respect to the aforementioned variables. Methods For 3 months, we conducted field experiments to measure giving-up densities (GUD, the amount of food left behind in artificial patches after birds cease to forage in it) and how it differs with habitat types, microhabitats, times of day, and food types. The objectives of this study were to investigate how predation risk is perceived by granivorous bird species with respect to different habitat and microhabitat types, time of day and food types in Amurum Forest Reserve, Nigeria, with a view to direct future conservation planning. Due to the direct effect resource acquisition has on an individual’s fitness and species’ survival, predation risk is considered widely to be a major driver of foraging decision. DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.Abstract Background Understanding the factors that influence the foraging behavior and perception of habitat quality by animals has long been the focus in ecology. Mitchell et al, Riparian reserves help protect forest bird communities in oil palm dominated landscapes, Journal of Applied Ecology (2018). Stricter environmental policies in tropical producer countries could also help improve the protection of riparian reserves. The researchers hope their findings will lead to oil palm companies increasing the width of riparian reserves protected in new plantations, or restoring more vegetation in old ones. This could be really important if we are to find better ways of maintaining biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.’ ‘We show that even small increases to the width could lead to big improvements for birds. Lead author Simon Mitchell said the findings underlined the potential to protect some bird species within landscapes affected by palm oil cultivation However, to ensure all the forest-dependent bird species were represented, the width of this protected riparian area would need to be at least 100m on each bank. Overall, the researchers found that a single river site might support around a third of all the bird species found in adjacent forests.įurthermore, the authors were able to show that the best rivers for protecting bird populations in oil palm areas had more than 40m of forest vegetation protected on each bank, which helped provide shelter and resources for the birds. The study showed that large riparian reserves tend to support more bird species, with the largest ones hosting similar number as nearby forests. ![]() The team counted birds across 28 rivers at a site in Malaysia and were able to examine their findings in relation to the width of the protected forest alongside the rivers. However, a new study, led by the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology in the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the University of Kent, in partnership with Universiti Malaysia Sabah, demonstrates that riparian areas can help to lessen the negative impacts of oil palm cultivation on bird communities. But so far there has been little research on the value natural vegetation in river areas in plantations has for nature, although these are often preserved for water management as ‘riparian reserves’. Converting rainforests to oil palm plantations has well documented impacts on tropical wildlife, including birds.
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