La Tour du Valat

Institut de recherche pour la conservation des zones humides méditerranéennes

Titre :	Severe declines of ant-following birds in African rainforest fragments are facilitated by a subtle change in army ant communities
Auteurs :	Marcell K. Peters, Auteur ; Benjamin Okalo, Auteur
Type de document :	Article
Dans :	Biological Conservation (142(10) OCT 2009)
Article en page(s) :	2050-2058
Langues:	Anglais
Résumé :	Tropical rainforests are disappearing at a rapid rate. Although several studies have revealed the detrimental effects of forest fragmentation on tropical birds, the ecological mechanisms facilitating the decline of populations have been poorly documented. In the tropical rainforests of Africa and America, ant-following birds track the massive swarm raids of army ants and prey on animals which are flushed by the ants. We analyzed the persistence of five species of ant-following birds along a habitat fragmentation gradient in western Kenya and tested if bird populations are limited by the abundance of army ant colonies in forests. Abundances of four of five ant-followers declined by 52-100% in forest fragments

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