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Bird Diversity in the Angolan Scarp Forest

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Bird Diversity in the Angolan Scarp Forest Effects of deforestation and forest degradation on the endemism rich bird communities of the Angolan Scarp Forest Aimy Cáceres Pinedo Doutoramento em Biodiversidade, Genética e Evolução Departamento de Biologia 2016 Advisor Martim Melo, Post-doctoral researcher CIBIO, Universidade do Porto Co-advisor Jos Barlow, Professor Lancaster University, UK Nota prévia Na elaboração desta dissertação, e nos termos do número 2 do Artigo 4º do Regulamento Geral dos Terceiros Ciclos de Estudos da Universidade do Porto e do Artigo 31º do D.L. 74/2006, de 24 de Março, com a nova redação introduzida pelo D.L. 230/2009, de 14 de Setembro, foi efectuado o aproveitamento total de um conjunto coerente de trabalhos de investigação já publicados ou submetidos para publicação em revistas internacionais indexadas e com arbitragem científica, os quais integram alguns dos capítulos da presente tese. Tendo em conta que os referidos trabalhos foram realizados com a colaboração de outros autores, o candidato esclarece que, em todos eles, participou ativamente na sua concepção, na obtenção, análise e discussão de resultados, bem como na elaboração da sua forma publicada. This research was supported by the ‘Programa Operacional Potencial Humano - Quadro de Referência Estratégico Nacional’ with funds from the European Social fund and the Portuguese Ministério de Educação e Ciência through a PhD fellowship (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, FCT - SFRH/BD/78778/2011). This work was developed at: This thesis should be cited as: Cáceres, A. 2016. Effects of deforestation and forest degradation on the endemism rich bird communities of the Angolan Scarp Forests. PhD Thesis, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. Acknowledgements First, I want to thank my advisors, Martim Melo and Jos Barlow, for their constant support and guidance. I would like to thank you for encouraging my research and for being amazing mentors, allowing me to grow as a researcher and become a better human being. Thank you for teaching me that my welfare and my family will always be above anything. Thank you very much! Muito obrigada! I am extremely grateful to Michael S. L. Mills, for the ideas, the support, the motivation and the infinite patience. Above all, I thank you for being a great inspiration, for showing me never to give up even when everything seems bad, and of course, for teaching me to play “spite and malice”. I am also thankful to Nigel Collar and Phil Hall, for always encouraging this project and for being a great example for me. I want to thank you for believing in me and for giving me the confidence in myself that so many times I lacked. I am also grateful to Brian Huntley, Fernanda Lages (ISCED-Huíla), Jorge Palmeirim (University of Lisbon), Paulo Cardoso, Ricardo Lima and Neftalí Sillerio for all their help and technical support. Thank you to all the people who helped me with the fieldwork: Ana Leite, Francisco Maiato, Henrique Costa, Hugo Pereira, José Dala, Martim Melo, Michael Mills, Ricardo Lima and Ursula Franke. Furthermore, I also want to thank all my friends and colleagues in CIBIO (especialmente as pessoas nos “barracões”) and Lancaster University (you rock tropicals!). I also want to thank all the organizations and persons that funded my fieldwork in Angola: the A.G. Leventis Foundation (especially to Mr. A.P. Leventis), the Chicago Zoological Society CBOT Endangered Species Fund, the British Ornithologists' Union Small Research Grants (BOU), the Birdfair/RSPB Research Fund for Endangered Birds, Club 300 Foundation for Bird Protection, Louise Peat and the International Turaco Society. I am also grateful to all my friends in Angola who helped me with the logistics of my trips: Ana Nunes, Bernardo Melo, Bruce Bennet, Cristovão Vieira, Henriette and Tako Koning, Herculano Antas, Katherine McHannon, Kelse Alexandre, Michael Rogerson, Raul Carvalho, Vicenta and Enrique Acevedo, and Zulmira Oliveira. A special thanks to all the people in Conda and Kumbira for their support. Thank you to the Administrator of Conda (Sr. Fonseca), Sr. Luís Araújo, Sra. Teresinha Joca, Dona Kikinha and her daughter Paula, and especially to the amazing people of the community of Kumbira de Njelo. I would also like to thank my amazing parents, Armando and Gilma, for letting me follow my own path and support my crazy decisions; and my siblings (Daniel, Brissy and Manolo) for a very happy (and crazy!) childhood and for teaching me (being the smallest and youngest…hehehehehe) to always fight for what I really want. Gracias nerds!!! Last but not least, I want to thank my husband, Henrique Costa. Thank you for all your unconditional support, especially when everything seems impossible. Thank you for your calm and patience, especially when I was being difficult. Thank you for being with me and for definitely being the greatest joy in my life. Gracias tugo!!! FCUP i Bird diversity in the Angolan Scarp Forest Resumo A perda de habitat provocada por actividades humanas é a principal causa do declínio e extinção de espécies. Isto é particularmente evidente nos trópicos, onde se concentra a maior parte da biodiversidade do planeta e onde os impactos humanos estão a aumentar mais rapidamente. A biodiversidade tropical tende a diminuir com a redução da complexidade da vegetação. No entanto, as respostas às alterações de habitat podem diferir entre espécies e com o contexto da paisagem. Compreender os efeitos das actividades humanas na biodiversidade é crucial para propor medidas que assegurem a sua conservação. No entanto, essa informação não existe para muitas áreas tropicais. Este é o caso de Angola, um país com uma biodiversidade elevada mas muito pouco estudado. Após a guerra da independência, Angola viveu 30 anos de conflitos armados (1974 - 2002) durante os quais praticamente nenhuma investigação foi feita. Além disso, o desenvolvimento económico e o crescimento populacional actuais estão a criar grandes pressões nas áreas naturais. Uma das áreas mais importantes no país para a biodiversidade – e especialmente para as aves – são as florestas da escarpa angolana. O objectivo principal desta tese foi o de compreender os efeitos da desflorestação e degradação das florestas nas comunidades de aves da floresta da escarpa angolana. Para tal: i) descreveram-se as mudanças históricas no uso de solo e determinou-se o seu efeito nas comunidades de aves; ii) identificaram-se as características do habitat que determinam a riqueza de espécies e a presença de aves endémicas e iii) utilizou-se rádio-telemetria para obter informação detalhada sobre as preferências de habitat e a área vital da ave endémica ameaçada com a área de distribuição mais restrita de Angola, o pisco da Gabela Sheppardia gabela. Finalmente, (iv) as taxas de deflorestação e as reservas de carbono foram estimadas para avaliar o potencial de uma iniciativa REDD+ como ferramenta para a conservação da Floresta de Escarpa Angolana. Os resultados principais deste trabalho mostram que nas últimas duas décadas (1989-2010) a cobertura florestal total não sofreu alterações significativas em Kumbira. No entanto, isto foi conseguido através da substituição de floresta natural por floresta secundária. Esta última é capaz de manter uma comunidade de aves semelhante à da floresta natural. Não obstante, as aves endémicas ameaçadas parecem ser mais dependentes da floresta natural, com uma espécie – o picanço do Amboim Laniarius amboimensis – apenas presente neste tipo de habitat. As características do habitat que influenciaram a diversidade de aves foram a cobertura da copa e a densidade de lianas. A cobertura da copa afectou a riqueza de ii FCUP Aimy Cáceres espécies e a presença do pisco da Gabela, enquanto a densidade de lianas teve um efeito na presença do Turaco de Angola Tauraco erythrolophus. Nenhuma característica de habitat foi identificada como determinante na presença das outras espécies endémicas; isto pode estar relacionado com a baixa detecção de algumas espécies – como o bico-longo de Angola Macrosphenus pulitzeri e o picanço de Monteiro Malaconotus monteiri – ou com a incapacidade das medidas de vegetação utilizadas em identificar as variáveis que influenciam as espécies - possivelmente o caso para o picanço do Amboim. O tamanho da área vital do pisco da Gabela foi ligeiramente maior do que para outras espécies do género Sheppardia e, curiosamente, o tamanho diminuiu nas áreas com maior perturbação humana. Esta espécie evita claramente o uso de áreas abertas e a floresta é o habitat preferido, embora seja capaz de usar áreas agrícolas e de vegetação secundária. No entanto, esta capacidade parece estar relacionada com o contexto da matriz da paisagem onde persistem fragmentos de floresta natural. Na última década (2001-2014), com o regresso das populações às zonas rurais após o fim da guerra, a taxa de desflorestação da floresta pode ter atingindo os 4% ao ano – o que se traduziu na perda de mais de 1/3 da floresta neste breve intervalo de tempo. Perante esta situação, avaliou-se a aplicabilidade do programa REDD+ como instrumento para parar e inverter esta tendência. O potencial existe pois as reservas de carbono estimadas para Kumbira encontram-se entre os valores estimados para outras florestas de África. No entanto, para que as iniciativas REDD+ sejam uma ferramenta bem-sucedida na conservação da Floresta de Escarpa Angolana, é necessário que sejam dirigidas para programas de desenvolvimento da capacidade das populações locais em implementarem sistemas agro-florestais adequados. A integração dos resultados desta tese oferece bases sólidas para propor linhas orientadoras para a conservação da floresta da escarpa central. Nomeadamente: i) a criação de uma reserva natural com urgência, e ii) a de minimização dos impactos da agricultura através: ii-a) da introdução de métodos mais amigos do ambiente, tais como a recuperação das plantações abandonadas de café de sombra, ii-b) o uso de práticas agrícolas mais eficientes a fim de evitar o abate e queima de mais floresta natural e ii-c) a recuperação de áreas degradadas através de um projecto de reflorestação com espécies arbóreas nativas.
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