Effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon

Abstract Natural disturbances are essential for tropical forests biodiversity. In the Afrotropics, megaherbivores have played a key role before their recent decline. Contrastingly to savanna elephants, forest elephants’ impact on ecosystems remains poorly studied. Few decades ago, forests on Mount C...

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Autores principales:	Vincent Maicher, Sylvain Delabye, Mercy Murkwe, Jiří Doležal, Jan Altman, Ishmeal N. Kobe, Julie Desmist, Eric B. Fokam, Tomasz Pyrcz, Robert Tropek
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/8efee318f6a54955b92484ab79b69eda
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:8efee318f6a54955b92484ab79b69eda2021-12-02T11:43:43ZEffects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon10.1038/s41598-020-78659-72045-2322https://doaj.org/article/8efee318f6a54955b92484ab79b69eda2020-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-78659-7https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Natural disturbances are essential for tropical forests biodiversity. In the Afrotropics, megaherbivores have played a key role before their recent decline. Contrastingly to savanna elephants, forest elephants’ impact on ecosystems remains poorly studied. Few decades ago, forests on Mount Cameroon were divided by lava flows, not being crossed by a local population of forest elephants until now. We assessed communities of trees, butterflies and two guilds of moths in the disturbed and undisturbed forests split by the longest lava flow. We surveyed 32 plots, recording 2025 trees of 97 species, and 7853 insects of 437 species. The disturbed forests differed in reduced tree density, height, and high canopy cover, and in increased DBH. Forest elephants’ selective browsing and foraging also decreased tree species richness and altered their composition. The elephant disturbance increased butterfly species richness and had various effects on species richness and composition of the insect groups. These changes were likely caused by disturbance-driven alterations of habitats and species composition of trees. Moreover, the abandonment of forests by elephants led to local declines of range-restricted butterflies. The recent declines of forest elephants across the Afrotropics probably caused similar changes in forest biodiversity and should be reflected by conservation actions.Vincent MaicherSylvain DelabyeMercy MurkweJiří DoležalJan AltmanIshmeal N. KobeJulie DesmistEric B. FokamTomasz PyrczRobert TropekNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Vincent Maicher Sylvain Delabye Mercy Murkwe Jiří Doležal Jan Altman Ishmeal N. Kobe Julie Desmist Eric B. Fokam Tomasz Pyrcz Robert Tropek Effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon
description	Abstract Natural disturbances are essential for tropical forests biodiversity. In the Afrotropics, megaherbivores have played a key role before their recent decline. Contrastingly to savanna elephants, forest elephants’ impact on ecosystems remains poorly studied. Few decades ago, forests on Mount Cameroon were divided by lava flows, not being crossed by a local population of forest elephants until now. We assessed communities of trees, butterflies and two guilds of moths in the disturbed and undisturbed forests split by the longest lava flow. We surveyed 32 plots, recording 2025 trees of 97 species, and 7853 insects of 437 species. The disturbed forests differed in reduced tree density, height, and high canopy cover, and in increased DBH. Forest elephants’ selective browsing and foraging also decreased tree species richness and altered their composition. The elephant disturbance increased butterfly species richness and had various effects on species richness and composition of the insect groups. These changes were likely caused by disturbance-driven alterations of habitats and species composition of trees. Moreover, the abandonment of forests by elephants led to local declines of range-restricted butterflies. The recent declines of forest elephants across the Afrotropics probably caused similar changes in forest biodiversity and should be reflected by conservation actions.
format	article
author	Vincent Maicher Sylvain Delabye Mercy Murkwe Jiří Doležal Jan Altman Ishmeal N. Kobe Julie Desmist Eric B. Fokam Tomasz Pyrcz Robert Tropek
author_facet	Vincent Maicher Sylvain Delabye Mercy Murkwe Jiří Doležal Jan Altman Ishmeal N. Kobe Julie Desmist Eric B. Fokam Tomasz Pyrcz Robert Tropek
author_sort	Vincent Maicher
title	Effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon
title_short	Effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon
title_full	Effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon
title_fullStr	Effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon
title_full_unstemmed	Effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon
title_sort	effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on mount cameroon
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/8efee318f6a54955b92484ab79b69eda
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Effects of disturbances by forest elephants on diversity of trees and insects in tropical rainforests on Mount Cameroon

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