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Land use factors determining occurrence of Red-necked Spurfowl (Pternistis afer) in the Drakensberg Midlands, South Africa

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Abstract

Conservation of forest associated birds depends on appropriate prediction of habitat change effects on their distribution patterns. We investigated a variety of land use gradients in an attempt to determine which factors influence site occupancy and detection of Red-necked Spurfowl (Pternistis afer) on farmland in the Drakensberg Midlands, South Africa. We used presence/absence data from 44 camera traps to estimate proportion of area occupied by the study species during October 2012–January 2013. Average occupancy rate of Red-necked Spurfowl was 0.42 ± 0.10 with a low detection probability 0.29 ± 0.04. Commercial forestry plantation influenced their presence positively while the index of human abundance negatively influenced the proportion of area occupied. Model selection indicated that cropland cultivation area had a strong negative effect on the detection probability of Red-necked Spurfowl while availability of indigenous forest patch and natural grassland influenced their detection positively. In the absence less presence of natural forest, commercial plantation forestry might have provided the next best possible habitat for this forest associated species where indigenous forest patches covering a small part of the landscape have extensively fragmented. These findings detailed the influence of land use variables as fragmentation and conversion of indigenous forest and grassland ecosystems into agricultural and human dominated areas affect the distribution of species that are highly selective towards forested habitats.

Zusammenfassung

Wie verschiedene Arten der Landnutzung das Vorkommen von Rotkehlfrankolinen ( Pternistis afer ) im Mittelland der Drakensberge in Südafrika beeinflussen

Die Erhaltung waldlebender Vögel beruht auf einer realistischen Einschätzung davon, wie Veränderungen im Lebensraum die Verteilung der Arten beeinflusst. Wir untersuchten verschiedene Formen der Landnutzung, um festzustellen, wie sie das Vorkommen und die Entdeckungsrate von Rotkehlfrankolinen (Pternistis afer) auf landwirtschaftlichen Nutzflächen im Mittelland der Drakensberge in Südafrika beeinflussten. Anhand von Anwesenheitsdaten aus 44 Kamerafallen erfassten wir das Gebiet, das unsere Studienart zwischen Oktober 2012 und Januar 2013 nutzte. Durchschnittliche Aufenthaltswahrscheinlichkeit der Rotkehlfrankoline war 0.42 ± 0.10, wobei die Entdeckungsrate mit 0.29 ± 0.04 gering war. Kommerzielle Forstwirtschaft beeinflusste das Vorkommen der Zielart positiv, während die Anwesenheit von Menschen sich negativ auf ihre Gebietsausdehnung auswirkte. Landwirtschaftlich genutzte Flächen hatten einen stark negativen Einfluss auf die Entdeckungsrate der Rotkehlfrankoline, während Waldgebiete mit einheimischen Pflanzen und naturbelassene Wiesen ihre Entdeckung wahrscheinlicher machten. Da ursprüngliche Waldgebiete auf sehr kleine und verstreute Landstücke reduziert wurden, scheinen gewerblich genutzte Waldflächen das nächstbeste Habitat für diese waldlebende Art darzustellen. Diese Ergebnisse verdeutlichen den Einfluss der Habitatfragmentierung und Umwandlung von ursprünglichen Wäldern und Wiesen in landwirtschaftlich genutzte und von Menschen dominierte Gebiete auf die Verteilung von Arten, die sehr an Waldgebiete gebunden sind.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the farming communities for their encouragement and support in our research activities. The College of Agriculture, Science and Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal provided financial support for the Post Doctoral Research Programme. We thank K. Riddhika for her comments on the manuscript. We are grateful to C. Brown and K. O’Conner for logistic support during the course of field work.

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  1. School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, 3209, South Africa

    Tharmalingam Ramesh & Colleen T. Downs

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  1. Tharmalingam Ramesh
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  2. Colleen T. Downs
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Correspondence to Colleen T. Downs.

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Communicated by T. Gottschalk.

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Ramesh, T., Downs, C.T. Land use factors determining occurrence of Red-necked Spurfowl (Pternistis afer) in the Drakensberg Midlands, South Africa. J Ornithol 155, 471–480 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10336-013-1028-2

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