Using indicator species to detect high quality habitats in an East African forest biodiversity hotspot

Species demanding specific habitat requirements suffer, particularly under environmental changes. The smallest owl of Africa, the Sokoke Scops Owl ( Otus ireneae ), occurs exclusively in East African coastal forests. To understand the movement behaviour and habitat demands of O. ireneae , we combine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biodiversity and conservation 2021-03, Vol.30 (3), p.903-915
Main Authors: Habel, Jan Christian, Zamora, Camilo, Rödder, Dennis, Teucher, Mike, Cuadros-Casanova, Ivon, Fischer, Christina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Biodiversity
Biodiversity hot spots
Biological diversity
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Charcoal
Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts
Conservation Biology/Ecology
Current distribution
Cynometra
Ecology
Environmental changes
Environmental quality
Forest and plantation biodiversity
Forests
Geographical distribution
Habitat selection
Habitats
Home range
Indicator organisms
Indicator species
Indicators (Biology)
Life Sciences
Local population
Logging
Original Paper
Otus ireneae
Population number
Protection and preservation
Remote sensing
Tracking
Trees
Woodlands
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Summary:Species demanding specific habitat requirements suffer, particularly under environmental changes. The smallest owl of Africa, the Sokoke Scops Owl ( Otus ireneae ), occurs exclusively in East African coastal forests. To understand the movement behaviour and habitat demands of O. ireneae , we combined data from radio-tracking and remote sensing to calculate Species Distribution Models across the Arabuko Sokoke forest in southern Kenya. Based on these data, we estimated the local population size and projected the distribution of current suitable habitats. We found that the species occurs only in Cynometra woodland with large old trees and dense vegetation. Based on home range sizes and the distribution of suitable forest habitats, the local population size was estimated at 
ISSN:0960-3115
1572-9710
DOI:10.1007/s10531-021-02124-8