http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/resource?r=ecadata Surveys of the East Coast Akalat, Sheppardia gunningi, in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, 2005-2011 Colin Jackson A Rocha Kenya National Director
P.O Box 383 Watamu 80202 KE
colin.jackson@arocha.org http://www.arocha.or.ke
Lennox Kirao A Rocha Kenya Research Scientist
P.O Box 383 Watamu 80202 KE
lennoxk9@gmail.com http://www.arocha.or.ke
Albert Baya Freelance Biodiversity technician
KE
albert_baya@yahoo.com
Judith Ochieng A Rocha Kenya Data Clerk
P.O Box 383 Watamu 80202 KE
judithadhaiambo85@gmail.com
Dave Bruinsma Ted Nanninga Alex Mwalimu Jonathan Mwachongo Andrew Kinzer Michigan University Research assistant
US
andrew.kinzer@gmail.com
Colin Jackson A Rocha Kenya National Director
P.O Box 383 Watamu 80202 KE
colin.jackson@arocha.org http://www.arocha.or.ke
Judith Ochieng A Rocha Kenya Data Clerk
P.O Box 383 Watamu 80202 KE
judithadhiambo85@gmail.com
Lawrence Monda National Museums of Kenya ICT Manager
P.O Box 40658 Nairobi 00100
lmonda@museums.or.ke http://www.museums.or.ke publisher
2019-03-01 eng Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is the largest and most intact coastal forest in East Africa and is located just south of Gede in Kilifi County, Kenya. It is globally known for its conservation importance for threatened biodiversity. The East Coast Akalat Sheppardia gunningi is one of six key Red Listed species of bird for which Arabuko-Sokoke holds globally important populations. This dataset contains 418 records of the near threatened East Coast Akalat, Sheppardia gunningi, point count surveys that were done by A Rocha Kenya together with the Arabuko-Sokoke Guides Association between 2005-2011 to monitor its population size and distribution in the forest. Arabuko-Sokoke Forest biodiversity coastal forest Kilifi East Coast Akalat near threatened GBIF Dataset Type Vocabulary: http://rs.gbif.org/vocabulary/gbif/dataset_type.xml This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC) 4.0 License. The data is of East Coast Akalat recorded within the boundaries of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest.Latitude of 3° 20’ S, Longitude 39° 50’ E 39.797 40.001 -3.197 -3.509 2005 2011 The data is of East Coast Akalat recorded within the boundaries of Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. species Sheppardia gunningi Haagner, 1909 East Coast Akalat This dataset aims to help assess the population status of the Near Threatened East Coast Akalat in order to assist the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Management Team make informed decisions for the conservation the East Coast Akalat and other threatened species in the forest. This dataset also aims to encourage further research on the East Coast Akalat. It is also meant to inform citizen scientists, researchers and the general public of what an important role Arabuko-Sokoke Forest plays as an ecosystem in terms of conservation of biodiversity. unkown Colin Jackson A Rocha Kenya National Director
P.O Box 383 Watamu 80202 KE
colin.jackson@arocha.org http://www.arocha.or.ke
Judith Ochieng A Rocha Kenya Data Clerk
P.O Box 383 Watamu 80202 KE
judithadhiambo85@gmail.com
Ten set points (marked with GPS) 200 m apart were used along a 2 km transect to sample for East Coast Akalats. The transects were distributed in habitat preferred by the akalat. Half a minute of playback of the akalat song was used to elicit a response from any Akalats within hearing followed four and a half minutes of focused observing. This was repeated facing the opposite side to total 10 minutes of survey at each point. Birds calling were estimated by the same observer as to how far from the point they were and rounded to 5 m bands from the central point. Data were recorded on field data sheets and later transcribed to excel spreadsheets. Later they were converted to GBIF format for publishing. The surveys were carried out along transects located in the known preferred habitat for East Coast Akalats, namely the Mixed Forest in the eastern section of the forest and Cynometra forest and thicket to the west and north (Matiku, Bennun, & Nemeth, 2000). Surveys were carried out over a single, approximately two week period in 2005 and annually from 2007 to 2011. Point counts of the S. gunningi were conducted using a call playback sampling protocol in the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest in the years 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011. The counts were conducted along permanently established long-term transects located in the Mixed Forest and Cynometra and not in the Brachystegia because the East Coast Akalat is known not to occur in Brachystegia (Matiku et al., 2000). The counts were conducted in the breeding season of each year, spanning November to January, when birds are more prone to call and respond to a playback. The exception was the first survey in 2005 carried out in June. The call was played using a portable speaker system at set point counts along the 2 km transects. The distance between points was 200 metres to avoid the possibility of double counting individuals because akalats will not respond to playback calls at a distance greater than 100 metres (Nemeth & Bennun, 2000). Upon arriving at a transect an appropriate period of time was taken to allow the birds to quiet down and become accustomed to the presence of the observer. At each set point, the call was played on the speakers for a total of 30 seconds to one side of the track. The observer then listened for 4.5 minutes, recording any birds seen or heard. The observer also estimated and recorded the distance and direction of each individual when first detected. Any distances greater than 10 metres were rounded to the nearest five metre interval. This process was then repeated for the other side of the transect. Akalats which were seen or heard between the points or outside of the time frame were recorded but were not included in the count data or the analysis. The fieldwork was carried out involving the same observer in all surveys to avoid differences in field skills and distance estimation between different observers. The data were then entered into excel spreadsheets in a variety of methods but later converted to the Darwin Core standard format for uploading to GBIF. GPS locations for each point count were mapped in both QGIS and on Google Earth to ascertain their accuracy. Some were noted to have an offset error and were adjusted to align with other correct locations. The data were then verified by CHWJ who assisted oversight of the project. Monitoring the East Coast Akalat in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Colin Jackson author Lennox Kirao pointOfContact Judith Ochieng processor Lawrence Monda publisher The East Coast Akalat surveys were coordinated by A Rocha Kenya as part of its threatened species monitoring programme in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest. The data were digitized through a Biodiversity Information for Development project focused on the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest under the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The project aims to share biodiversity data through the GBIF online database so as to assist research, conservation and management of the forest. Funding for the fieldwork was provided mostly by the A.G. Leventis Foundation. Data digitisation for publication to the GBIF database came from the European Union through GBIF: https://www.gbif.org/project/7EOzw96rgAoSKKUgYaoaCe/prioritizing-conservation-management-in-an-east-african-forest-landscape Arabuko-Sokoke Forest is the largest remaining patch of indigenous coastal forest in East Africa. It is located south of Malindi on the north coast of Kenya at 03° 20’ S, 39° 50’ E. It predominantly consists of three distinct forest habitat types. Cynometra Forest (c. 23,500 ha) is dominated by Cynometra webberi and Manilkara sulcata; it used also to be dominated by Brachylaena huilliensis but this has been largely selectively removed. The Brachystegia Woodland (c. 7,700 ha) is dominated by Brachystegia spiciformis on white sandy soil. Mixed Forest (c.7,000 ha) occurs on the eastern side of the forest and has a diverse tree flora including Afzelia quanzensis (formerly dominant), Hymenaea verrucosa, Combretum schumannii and Manilkara sansibarensis and the cycad Encephalartos hildebrandtii. Surveys for the East Coast Akalat were carried out within the boundary of the forest reserve.
2019-02-25T03:37:58.659+03:00 dataset Jackson C, Kirao L, Baya A, Ochieng J, Bruinsma D, Nanninga T, Mwalimu A, Mwachongo J, Kinzer A (2019): Surveys of the East Coast Akalat, Sheppardia gunningi, in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, 2005-2011. v1.0. A Rocha Kenya. Dataset/Samplingevent. http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/resource?r=ecadata&v=1.0 Matiku, P. M., Bennun, L. A., & Nemeth, E. (2000). Distribution and population size of the threatened East Coast Akalat in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, Kenya. Ostrich, 71(1–2), 282–285. Nemeth, E., & Bennun, L. (2000). Distribution, habitat selection and behaviour of the East Coast Akalat Sheppardia gunningi sokokensis in Kenya and Tanzania. Bird Conservation International, 10(02), 115–130. http://ipt.museums.or.ke/ipt/logo.do?r=ecadata