WHITE-THROATED MOUNTAIN BABBLER (Kupeornis Gilberti) in the BAKOSSI NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH-WEST of CAMEROON

Home , Bakossi National Park, Turdoides

CONTRIBUTION TO UPDATING THE POPULATION STATUS AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE ENDANGERED WHITE-THROATED MOUNTAIN BABBLER (Kupeornis gilberti) IN THE BAKOSSI NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH-WEST OF CAMEROON

GUETSE FRANCIS, KENFACK ASSOUNA M. MABELLE, AND NJIKAM L. SIDIK

September 2019

UNIVERSITY OF DSCHANG, WEST CAMEROON

CONTENTS

I. SUMMARY ...... 2 II. INTRODUCTION ...... 3 II. METHODS ...... 4 II.1. Study area ...... 4 II.3. Data analysis ...... 7 Model: abundance~ vegetation variables+ altitude, family= poisson (log) ...... 8 Distribution of the WTMB ...... 8 III- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ...... 9

I. SUMMARY

The White-throated Mountain Babbler, Kupeornis gilberti, is a globally threatened forest bird species restricted to montane regions of Cameroon and Nigeria. The Cameroon population, which has never been studied, is mostly concentrated in the Bakossi Mountains and Rumpi Hills, which while protected are subject to human pressure that alter the species habitat quality and quantity. To increase our knowledge on the survival of this threatened species, as well as factor that affect its distribution, a preliminary survey was carried out in Bakossi National Park between the end of December 2017 to January 2018. Surveys were carried out using point transects previously established along the altitudinal gradient cutting across the different vegetation types. Individuals of White-throated Mountain Babbler were counted within a circular plot of radius 50 m at each census point. Vegetation structure and anthropogenic activities were assessed within the circular plots at each census station and the GPS coordinates recorded and used to establish a distribution map of the White-throated Mountain Babbler in the eastern part of Bakossi National

Park. Results obtained indicated that, the abundance of the White-throated Mountain Babbler increased significantly with altitude, number and height of big trees, the presence of epiphytic moss and number of shrubs but decreased significantly with the number and height of small trees. Consequently, forest conversion to agricultural lands and habitations, cutting down of big trees for timber/fuel wood are the main anthropogenic activities posing a threat to the species. This study also underscored the importance of undisturbed dense forest with high canopy cover and rich in epiphytic moss to the preservation of the White-throated Mountain Babbler. In order to halt the habitat loss and degradation of this, we suggest that government should clearly delimit the boundaries of the park and increase the number of rangers for patrol.

II. INTRODUCTION

The Bakossi National Park (BNP) is an important biodiversity site along the continental part of the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL). It is part of the Cameroon mountain Important Bird Area (IBA022) which has continued to be degraded, yet remains poorly studied hampering the development of conservation strategies and management of globally threatened species (Stratersfield et al., 1998; BirdLife International, 2013) including the White-throated Mountain Babbler Kupeornis gilberti. This species is restricted to a few regions in western Cameroon (Rumpi Hills, Bakossi Mountains, Banyang Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary (R. Fotso in litt. 1999), Mt Kupe, Mt Manenguba (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 1999c), Mt Nlonako, Foto near Dschang), and adjacent eastern Nigeria (Obudu Plateau). However, the two most important sites for the species are the Bakossi Mountains and Rumpi Hills where population estimates suggested several thousand individuals (Dowsett-Lemaire and Dowsett 1998d). This species overall range is very small, and its montane forest habitat is threatened and continues to decline in extent and quality at some locations owing to forest clearance for agriculture, intensive grazing, bush fires, and logging for timber. The White-throated Mountain Babbler is listed in the IUCN red list as ‘Vulnerable’ (having been downgraded from 'endangered' between 2016 and 2017; BirdLife International, 2017). The little information that is available on this bird species is from Nigeria (Imong, 2007; Danjuma et al., 2014), while Cameroon where majority of the population is found, no study has been carried out while its sites here are under human disturbances (Ebua et

3 al., 2013; Mukete et al., 2018). Information on the ecology and population status of this species is lacking. Being a species of conservation concern, there is urgent necessity to study the ecology and the factors that influence the decline of its population.

This study was designed to update the population status and distribution of the White- throated Mountain Babbler (hence forth abbreviated as WTMB) in the Bakossi National Park and more specifically: (i) to determine the population status and distribution of the WTMB (ii) compare abundance along an elevation gradient iii) to assess different vegetation type and structures along this gradient, and (iv) to assess local attitudes towards the White-throated Mountain-babbler and its habitat, and raise local community awareness on its conservation needs and build local capacity to monitor population trends.

II. METHODS

II.1. Study area The study was done in the Bakossi National park (figure 1) whose boundaries up to date are not yet established and uncontrolled hunting as well as uncontrolled clearing and conversion of forest to farmlands (especially cocoa and coffee) is ongoing. The Bakossi National Park is located in Kupe-Manenguba division in the South-West Region of Cameroon at 4.917-5.500˚N and 9.517-9.733 E at an elevation range of ~1895 m above sea level and survey was carried out between 600-1800 m. This park covers a surface area of approximately 29,320 ha (293.2 km2) with sub-montane to montane forest types. It contains a large area of montane forest. A striking feature of these forests is the abundance of epiphytic moss (Letouzey, 1968, 1985; Gartlan, 1989 and Cheek et al., 2004). The climate is tropical, with rainfall throughout the year. The drier season lasts from November to March, with cold nights and hot days. The rainy season starts in April and peaks between late August and the end of October. The mountains are home to many rare species of plants, animals and birds (Stattersfields et al., 1998; Fotso et al., 2007). It is also the home to the Bakossi people where they practice hunting, logging on a small scale, with the wood used for construction of homes and for making furniture, harvest forest plants and hunt animal, their main source of proteins. These activities impact on the environment and affect the restricted range endemic species such as WTMB and Mount Kupe Bush shrike Telophorus kupeensis. Encroachment on wildlife habitats is a concern. Most of the people hunt for bushmeat, which is an important source of protein (WWF, 2012; Ebua et al., 2013). The study site is within the BNP in

Cameroon with a project under the management of a multilateral co-operation between the Cameroonian government represented by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). It is important to mention that due to the nation’s Anglophone crisis the western side of BNP was inaccessible and surveys were carried out only on the Eastern side before the crisis spread to the whole area.

Figure1. Map of Bakossi National Park

II.2. Study design

The team was made up of Guetse Francis (project leader); two masters’ students, Kenfack Assouna and Njikam Sidik; and Mr Esame Claude (field guide); trained at the occasion of this project.

The project began in 2017 December 22-31 with introductory meetings at the conservator’s office of the national park and local traditional authorities to explain the project goal, and gain local support. From 2018 January 2-25, field surveys were carried out along established transects between 600 to 1800 m above sea level). Figure 2 presents the layout of stations along transects in the study area.

Figure 2: Layout of survey stations along transects on the Eastern part of BNP that were surveyed.

Bird sampling and habitat characteristic

A total of 106 stations were distributed along 20 transects of 1km each established following the altitudinal gradient across different vegetation types. Data (on the bird and habitat characteristics) were collected at each station, separated by 100m of intervals. Bird presence (song heard, direct observation) was recorded during a period of 3 min in each station. When it was through vocal calls, the number was estimated through the intensity of call knowing that the group size was estimated to 4 to 12 individuals according to the literature (Manu and Imong, 2006; Imong, 2007; Manu et al., 2010; HBW Alive, 2016; BirdLife International, 2017).

Habitat characteristics were investigated within 50m radius at each bird survey point and variables pertaining to habitat structure and anthropogenic activities were recorded. Habitat measurements were made in four 5 x 5m quadrats set up within 50m radius following the cardinal points and the observer stands at the centre of quadrat to estimate each variable. The habitat survey took place on the same day, but after bird sampling had been completed.

Interviews: 63 questionnaires were administrated within communities in the BNP (Nyalle, Muahumzum) and around the park (Kodmin, Deck, Mbajoh, Zimbe) to assess local attitude towards the WTMB and its habitat. A laminated picture of WTMB has been used to guide our interviews in order to ensure that they effectively know the bird. Habitat loss assessment Two Landsat images (landsat 7 and 8, see in Appendix) of the years 2006 and 2018 respectively were downloaded from Earth Explorer to assess the level of WTMB habitats loss in the BNP. The GPS coordinates of the WTMB surveys points were used (as ground truthing data) for the supervised classification of images.

II.3. Data analysis Statistical analysis

The data was typed and stored in Microsoft Excel 2013 and was later on imported in to R software (R Core Team, 2018) for the different statistical analysis. Graphs and tables were used for the descriptive analysis of the data and they were established using excel 2013.

Influence of vegetation structure and altitude on the abundance of the WTMB

A Generalized Linear Mixed-effect Model (GLMM) was used to determine the effect of vegetation structure and altitude on the abundance of the WTMB.

This model was used because it corrects certain biases linked to the repetition of data collection at a point or the non-proportionality of points per site per vegetation type.

The logistic regression model built from the formula below took into consideration the abundance of the WTMB as the response variable (Y), vegetation variables and altitude or elevation as explanatory variables (X).

Model: abundance~ vegetation variables+ altitude, family= poisson (log)

The fixed effects in this model were elevation, the presence or absence of moss and epiphytes, the number of big trees, the number of small trees, the height of big trees, the height of small trees, and number of shrubs.

Site was included in the model as a random effect. For canopy cover and grass cover, descriptive statistics was used to explain how they vary with abundance

Distribution of the WTMB

The distribution map of the WTMB was realized by the Arc Gis software. After importing the data from excel to Arc Gis 10, the different coordinates of the presence of the WTMB was projected in the area of study and the distribution map was obtained. The projection system was UTM WGS 84 zone 32 north.

Land cover and land use change

- The formulate 4 of Rouse et al. (1974) was used to calculate the different Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). - IU followed Otukei (2006) to calculate the land cover change between 2006 and 2018 per cover type in BNP. The percentage area of a cover class is, with AT the total surface area of all cover classes; hence, the change in percentage area of a cover class is ΔC= current ‒ past (Otukei, 2006).

III- RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

We surveyed a total of 106 stations and the bird was observed at 30 (28%) of them. This study also permitted us to realize that this bird species is always in groups and their flock size varies across the forest. During the study, different flock size 2-12 were observed with an average of 5 individuals. This corroborate with the range observed by others researchers (Manu and Imong, 2006; Imong, 2007; Manu et al., 2010; BirdLife International, 2000; HBW Alive, 2016). These differences in flock sizes could possibly be linked to the vegetation structure at which this bird was recorded. Since their abundance as observed was found to significantly increase in the dense forest areas with increasing number and height of big trees, number of shrubs and the presence of epiphytic moss.

Abundance of WTMB in the different vegetation types

The highest number of WTMB was observed in the dense forest where 114 individuals were recorded (81.43% of total observations) compared to the secondary forest where 26 individuals were recorded (18.57%) while in the other vegetation types (agroforestry plantations, farmlands and grassland) no individuals were recorded (figure 2&3). These results document that the abundance of this bird population is influenced by vegetation types and that it prefers dense forest. These findings corroborate what Collar and Stuart (1995) reported that the WTMB occurs mainly in mature primary forest and occasionally in older secondary forest. Similar results were obtained by Imong (2007) on the Sankwala Mountains, Nigeria. It may be concluded that the WTMB is forest dependent and will turn to be adversely affected by its modification.

120 114

100

26 Abundance 20 0 0 0 0

Vegetation types

Figure 3: Abundance of WTMB in the different vegetation types

Distribution

Figure 4 presents the distribution of the WTMB in the eastern part of the BNP with respect to the vegetation types. Here, we can see that the abundance of the WTMB occurs to be more concentrated in the dense forest compared to the other vegetation types.

Figure 4: The distribution of the WTMB in the eastern part of the BNP

Effect of vegetation structure and altitude on abundance of the WTMB Table 3 presents results obtained from the generalized linear mixed-effect model (GLMM) after analysis of the influence of vegetation structure and altitude on the abundance of the WTMB.

Table 3: Results of the GLMM analysis on the influence of habitat characteristics on the abundance of the WTMB

Estimate Standared error Z value

(interce - 0.0023 - pt) 5.0741 2174.6***

Altitude 0.0019 0.0002 7.9***

Height of - 0.0023 -61.6*** small trees 0.1551

Height of big trees 0.0798 0.0023 34***

Number of small - 0.0017 -3.9*** trees 0.0067

Number of big trees 0.0136 0.0021 6.6***

Number of shrubs 0.0061 0.0022 2.8**

Presence of epiphytic 2.6276 0.0023 1126.9*** moss

Codes: ‘*** ‘**’ ‘*’ P value respectively significant at 0.1%, 1%, 5%

Altitude

WTMB was observed within an altitudinal range of 1001 to 1601 m (figure 4). Below this range (600-1000 m) and above it (1601-1800 m), no individuals were recorded. The GLMM above shows that the abundance of the WTMB significantly increased with altitude (coefficient of regression estimate = 0.0019±0.0002, P<0.001). These results confirmed earlier observations, (Collar and Stuart, 1985).

70 60 50 40 30

Abundance 20 10 0 600-800 801-1000 1001-1200 1201-1400 1401-1600 1601-1800 Altitude(m)

Figure 5: Abundance of the WTMB at the different elevations

Generally, the abundance montane avifauna have been shown to vary along the altitudinal gradients by decreasing with increasing altitude (Medin et al., 2000; Aubry et al., 2005; Bell, 2006). As altitude increases, the availability of resources for birds diminishes reflecting the difference in forest structure and site productivity (Waterhouse et al., 2002). Pan et al. (2016) showed that species diversity along altitudinal gradient showed a hump-shaped pattern along a central Himalaya gradient, China. These authors also suggested that abundance will increase from low altitudes to mid altitudes and then declines towards the summit (Joshi and Rautela, 2014; Kim et al., 2018). The abundance of the WTMB follows this pattern.

The preference of this altitude by the WTMB may be explained by the modification of its habitat at lower altitude by anthropogenic activities, since forest specialist bird are very sensitive to disturbance (Bobo, 2004; Walter et al., 2005; Fotso et al., 2007). And at higher altitudes, there is a change in vegetation structure. These changes at higher elevations included:

- A more spaced vegetation with less shrubs, abundant of small trees with few big trees; - The absence of moss and epiphytes which characterize the preferred vegetation of the WTMB; - The canopy was open, about 45% with sun light reaching the ground stratum.

With regards to the above information, an urgent study is required to understand the sensitivity of this bird to environmental changes within its preferred range.

Vegetation variables

Results obtained from the GLMM indicated that, the abundance of the WTMB increased significantly (P<0.001) with altitude (z=0.0019±0.0002), number and height of big trees (z=0.0136 ± 0.0021 and 0.0798±0.0023 respectively), the presence of epiphytic moss (z=2.6276±0.0023), number of shrubs (z=0.0061±0.0022, P<0.01) but decreased significantly with the number and height of small trees (z=-0.0067 ± 0.0017 and -0.1551±0.0023 respectively). The decreased in the abundance of the WTMB with the number and height of small trees corroborate with that obtained elsewhere (Manu and Imong, 2006). An important number of small trees in a habitat indicates that it is either a young or secondary forest which is contrary to the dense forest characterized by big trees with great heights that this bird preferred.

My results are in accordance with the observations of other authors (Imong, 2007; Danjuma et al., 2014). A high density of trees in general and large trees in particular was found to be particularly important for the abundance of threatened and range restricted insectivorous species like the WTMB (Bobo, 2004; Walter et al., 2005; Manu and Imong, 2006; Bobo, 2007; Dahal et al., 2015). Diaz (2005) also found that mature forests characterized by older trees with higher tree height, average diameter of the thickest trunks and number of trees of thick or medium trunks favored bird species richness and abundance.

Our results also showed that the abundance of the WTMB is strongly correlated with the presence of moss and epiphyte as well as the abundance of shrubs. These vegetation variables dominated the forest areas where the bird was mostly encountered. This correlation between the abundance of the WTMB and epiphytes can be explained by the fact that they feed on insects they catch by probing through epiphytic moss growing on mature trees. They also used it to build their nests (BirdLife International, 2017). According to literature, the Bakossi Mountains holds continuous forest dominated by epiphytic moss thus the importance of its protection for the conservation of this species (Fotso et al., 2001).

The dense forest is very thick due to the presence of shrubs which has been shown to be important to birds. Kang et al., (2015) and Dahal et al., (2015) found out that the percentage cover of shrub had a positive effect on total species abundance of birds and increased the

14 probability of occupation by forest-nesting birds; they also positively influenced abundance of insectivores. Shrubs not only promote structural heterogeneity, increasing the diversity of different breeding sites and refuges, but also increase food diversity and availability during the breeding season through the associated arthropod fauna (Golet et al., 2001; Bonham et al., 2002). The shrub layer is an important determinant of forest species abundance (Diaz, 2005) and also appears to have influence into the canopies in these regions.

Grass and canopy cover

The abundance of WTMB was observed to decrease with increasing grass cover in the different vegetation types (Figure 6). The highest number of observations (114 individuals) of WTMB was made in the dense forest where the grass cover was lowest (1-24%) while no WTMB was recorded in the grasslands with the highest grass cover (85%).

80 70 60 50 40

30 Abundance 20 10 0 5 25 45 65 85 Grass cover (%)

Figure 6: Variation of the abundance of WTMB with percentage grass cover

The abundance of the WTMB was observed to correlate positively with canopy cover. The dense forest with the highest canopy cover (65-85%) had the highest number of WTMB (132 individuals) while in the farm and grass lands with the lowest canopy cover (5%) no individual was recorded (Figure 7).

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 5 25 45 65 85 Canopy cover (%)

Figure 7. Variation of the abundance of WTMB with respect to canopy cover

An increase in canopy cover means the absence of tree removal and an increase in grass cover means the presence of trees removal which has been found to affect the abundance of forest specialist like the WTMB. This result is contradictory to the one obtained by Imong, (2007) which says that an increase in ground vegetation cover leads to an increase in the abundance and diversity of some bird species. This increase could be due to the abundance of edge or visiting species.

Anthropogenic activities and threat to the biodiversity

In study, the different anthropogenic activities that were identified as threat to the WTMB in particular and the biodiversity in general included:

 Hunting by the means of guns (photo 7A) to kill animals like the duikers and monkeys, unselective traps made with aluminum wires and sticks (photo 7C and 7D). The target species of these traps is not our species, but since the traps used are unselective and can trap both mammals and birds, it then constitutes a great danger to the WTMB.

 Illegal logging by the villagers was a threat to the habitat (photo 7E and 7F). The villagers enter the forest at their will since very few rangers are appointed to the surveillance of the park. They cut down trees for construction of houses (photo 7G) and to collect wood for fuel.

 After the meeting with the villagers in each village, we learned that agriculture was the primary activity of almost all the villagers in this area. The forest is highly disturbed by agricultural activities especially in the area near Deck village where they cleared the forest for cash crop plantations such as cocoa and coffee (photo 7H). We also have the planting of crops like beans, coco yams, maize and cassava in some villages that still subsist inside the park at villagers including Nyalle and Muahumzum. Photo 7 shows images of some anthropogenic activities recorded on the field.

photo 7: Anthropogenic activities assessed in the field

Photo 7A= Animal killed by guns, 7B= Unselective trap with bird feathers, 7C= Gray Cuckooshrike (Coracina ceasia) caught by unselective trap, 7D= Animal caught by unselective trap, 7E and 7F= illegal logging, 7G= settlement, 7H= Agroforestry plantation

The discussions we had the villagers we were told that the WTMB was not their target for hunting, and that the main threat to the population of this bird species is habitat degradation but occasionally they are caught in unselective traps. In areas where the degree of disturbance like farming, agroforestry plantations and settlement was high, the WTMB was not encountered. This corroborates with the observations of Imong (2007) in Nigeria. The work of Danjuma et al. (2014) in Obudu plateau showed that when forest patch size decreases, the number of individuals of WTMB per patch size decreases. This confirms that the WTMB is vulnerable to deforestation and land use.

The result from Landsat images analysis indicated a loss of dense forest of 13% to the profit of secondary forest in the BNP between 2006 and 2018 (see Table 2). Whereas Muketé et al. (2018) in the Rumpi Hills (a second important population WTMB in Cameroon) showed that between 2000 to 2014, dense forest dropped to 90.2% while settlements increased from 744.6 to 2148.8 hectares. Also, farmlands increased by 18.25% representing a change from 9400.4 to 11117.16 hectares.

Table 2: Changes in surface area of cover types in BNP between 2006 and 2018

Land cover type A1 2006 (ha) % A1 A2 2018(ha) % A2 ∆A (%) TC (ha) TVA Dense Forest 23283.36 79.41 19472.31 66.41 -13 -16.37 -1.083 Secondary Forest 5244.12 17.89 9138.78 31.17 13.28 74.27 1.106 Grassland 329.58 1.12 227.16 0.77 -0.35 -31.07 -0.029 Bare Soil 338.85 1.16 240.66 0.83 -0.33 -28.98 -0.027 Human activity 124.38 0.42 241.38 0.82 0.40 0.0094 0.033 Total 29320.29 100 29320.29 100

A change in the vegetation types on which the WTMB depends (that is from dense forest to agroforestry plantations and farmlands) represents a grave threat for the conservation of this species. The effect of anthropogenic disturbance on avian communities has been highlighted in many studies (e.g., Lee et al., 2005; Bobo, 2007). The Bakossi people mostly depend on this forest for survival, they take advantage of the fertile soils for agriculture and also hunt

19 animals for protein (Ebua et al., 2013). This dependence on the land and natural resources constitute a danger to the population of the WTMB and demands that the authority should wake up for the eminent threats facing by this species before it is too late. Insectivorous birds decrease with an increase in the modification of habitats (Walter et al., 2005b). This is the situation facing the WTMB (Danjuma et al., 2014; Mukete et al., 2018).

Recommendations and research perspectives

The creation of the BNP (in 2008) slowed down the deforestation rate in the region, but greater protections are needed. We suggest that: (i) the boundaries of the park should be well delimited to inhibit the villagers from entering the forest for farming as it is one of the threats to the habitat of the WTMB, (ii) villagers who still subsist in the park should be relocated as they destroy the dense forest where this bird was highly concentrated with their farming activities. If relocation is not possible, they should be sensitized about and engaged in promoting the importance of protecting threatened species, their habitats and biodiversity as a whole, (iii) as the abundance of the WTMB was found to increase with increasing number and height of big trees, villagers should avoid entering the park at their will and cutting down large trees for whatever reason as the WTMB depends on forest with increasing number and height of big trees, (iv) farming remains one of the major activities carried out by the villagers which converts the dense forest vegetation type harboring the highest abundance of WTMB in to farmlands and agroforestry plantations where the species was not recorded. Farmers should therefore be sensitized and called upon to take active part in the conservation of the bird through the protection of its habitat.

Giving the limited knowledge on the WTMB the following research priorities are suggested: (i) a robust survey should be carried out along the distribution range of the species to update its population status. (ii) carry out more detailed and repeated surveys at the different seasons of the year in other to determine the pattern of distribution of WTMB family groups to better understand from one season to the other (and year to year) how groups use the landscape, (iii) extend our study to cover the entire surface of the park in other to determine the abundance of the WTMB across all of Bakossi National Park.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We are thankful to Esame Claude for assistance on the field and Dr Taku Awa II for his multiple support. The Bakossi National Park authorities made this fieldwork possible. The field work was supported by African Bird Club.

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