As demand for African timber soars, birds pay the ultimate price

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/du-adf090815.php

Public Release: 8-Sep-2015
As demand for African timber soars, birds pay the ultimate price
Illegal logging has halved the number of birds in Ghana's tropical forests
Drexel University

Tropical forests are home to more of the world's terrestrial biodiversity than any other habitat, but are increasingly threatened by the impact of human activities. Illegal logging, in particular, poses a severe and increasing threat to tropical forests worldwide. But, until now, its impact on tropical wildlife has not been quantified.

A new study co-authored by scientists at Drexel University, published in the most recent issue of Biological Conservation, reveals the devastating impact of illegal logging on bird communities in the understory layer of Ghana's Upper Guinea rain forests, one of the world's 25 "biodiversity hotspots" where the most biologically rich ecosystems are most threatened.

Researchers found that the level of legal and illegal logging increased more than 600 percent between 1995 and 2010 - six times greater than the maximum sustainable rate. They also discovered that the abundance of forest understory bird species declined more than 50 percent during the same period. Species richness, or the number of different understory bird species represented, also showed declining trends. The bird communities showed no evidence of post-logging recovery.

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In contrast to legal logging operations, which are undertaken by companies who apply for a government permit to log under certain parameters including restrictions on the number, size and species of trees that can be logged, illegal logging is much more devastating because it is completely unregulated. "It's like the Wild West," said Arcilla.

A major driver contributing to tropical forest destruction worldwide, illegal logging accounts for 50-90 percent of timber harvested in many tropical countries, according to the report. Recent studies have shown that an estimated 80 percent of timber harvested in Ghana is illegal.

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