Occupancy Pattern Of A Forest Dependent Bird Among Coastal Forest Fragments In Northeast Tanzania

The loss of biological resources in the coastal forests of eastern Tanzania is alarming. This is due to human related activities such as vegetation clearing for agriculture and intensive livestock grazing. By their nature these activities affect forest dependent birds through destroying habitat and or blocking migratory corridors and thus interrupting site occupancy pattern. The aim of this study therefore was to determine whether habitat degradation along the Tanzanias north eastern coast affects site occupancy patterns of forest dependent birds among forest fragments and the associated savannahs. Lowland Tiny Greenbul a forest dependent bird was used as a model. The data was collected along transects set inside the forest fragments and along the neighboring matrices. The collected data was then used to build site occupancy probability models using the software Presence. The results revealed that ideal undisturbed habitat positively influenced both the relative abundance and site occupancy probability of the model bird 268213 indicating the significance of maintaining habitat in their natural state for the welfare of forest dependent species and the broader biodiversity. This study emphasizes minimizing human pressures in the forests and the matrices for the persistence of the species.