Effects of forest fragmentation on bird communities around Ranomafana National Park (Madagascar)

Thirty bird species of the PN Ranomafana region, restricted to forest habitats, are undergoing a severe decline as a result of a deforestation associated with slash-and-burn agriculture. This unrelenting destruction of forest habitat further aggravates an already precarious situation for many endemic forest bird species. Point counts and direct observations were used to study the effects of forest fragmentation. The specific composition of birds in each of six forest fragments (8.9-0.45 ha), their relative abundance, and their level of endemism are analysed and compared with those of the control site (13,740 ha). The results show that the number of bird species decline in direct relation to the size of each forest block. Terrestrial and understory bird species, as well as higher taxonomic levels, are the most sensitive to habitat fragmentation.