Understorey to canopy vertebrate fauna of a lowland evergreen forest in Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve, Philippines
| Autor: | Anna Pauline O. de Guia, Nathaniel C. Bantayan, Judeline Dimalibot, Juan Carlos T. Gonzalez, Khryss V Pantua, Whizvir O Gustilo |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Canopy Ecology Proceedings of the 26th Annual Philippine Biodiversity Symposium 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology wildlife Biodiversity Rainforest Understory Stratification (vegetation) Biology vertical stratification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Evergreen forest lcsh:Biology (General) wild Species richness tropical rainforest species richness lcsh:QH301-705.5 Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Research Article Tropical rainforest |
| Zdroj: | Biodiversity Data Journal 8: e56999 Biodiversity Data Journal, Vol 8, Iss, Pp 1-28 (2020) Biodiversity Data Journal |
| Popis: | We examined the vertical stratification of forest wildlife, from the ground up to the canopy layer, within a 2-hectare permanent plot of lowland evergreen rainforest on the Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve. Our aim was to determine the species richness of the different forest layers and evaluate their ecosystem services. Understorey, sub-canopy and canopy sampling were conducted during July 2016, March to April 2017 and February to March 2018, respectively. We were able to record a total of 68 species, consisting of 11 amphibians, 15 reptiles, 25 birds and 17 mammals. Increasing species richness with increasing vertical stratification was observed for both reptiles and mammals. For birds, the peak richness was observed in the sub-canopy and then decreased in the canopy. A decreasing trend was observed with amphibians wherein the peak species richness was observed in the understorey. Increasing vertical stratification influenced vertical habitat use and species richness. For the similarity index, the same pattern was observed for all species groups. Highest similarity was observed between the sub-canopy and the canopy and the least similarity was observed between the understorey and canopy. These results indicate that the understorey and the canopy host different species groups, thus, sampling of the understorey alone, often done in biodiversity surveys, may lead to the underestimation of species richness in an area. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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