BlogForest Conservation
Author: Charles Wheeler, MRCI Forest Intern
The MRCI Forest Program saw a very successful 2017, a year of working hard to monitor the biodiversity of Nosy Komba. The staff and volunteers on the forest program carried out a total of 493 surveys for our herpetofaunal, bird, and lemur monitoring projects and worked for over 500 hours collecting important data. The long hard hours our forest volunteers have put in hiking through forests, climbing over rocks, and exploring the villages around Nosy Komba have contributed to the long-term monitoring of species abundance affected by human settlement expansion.
Over the course of the year, volunteers and forest staff members carried out 133 reptile transects and 57 plot surveys (Figure 1), the most common species to be spotted in surveys being the Phelsuma laticauda on the preferred substrate of banana plants in plantations (Figure 2). The forest program also carried out 110 bird point-count surveys and over 121 hours of data collection, highlighting a clear correlation between seasons and species counts across Nosy Komba (Figure 3).
Figure 1. Number of completed transects (n=133) and plot surveys (n=57) from 2017. The most frequently monitored location, T7, was in degraded secondary forest and had 25 completed transect surveys and 17 completed plot surveys.
Figure 2. Substrates most commonly recorded with the presence of reptiles or amphibians during line transects or plot surveys in 2017. Banana trees (n=284) are the most common substrate recorded, mainly associated with the Phelsuma species. Woody trees (n=12) and tree substrates (n=62) are less commonly recorded and more associated with threatened species, e.g. Uroplatus henkeli.
Figure 3. Species counts for each month of 2017 illustrating seasonal fluctuations of species found on Nosy Komba. Dry season months (May n=415 to September n=245, except July n=85) had high individual counts, whereas wet season months (November n=101 to March n=7) had much lower counts.
In 2018, the forest program will continue monitoring biodiversity on Nosy Komba, introducing a more hands-on approach to conservation. Efforts will focus on agroforestry, removal of invasive species, and active reforestation of native trees. Forest volunteers will also visit local farmers to help harvest and plant crops such as vanilla and cocoa, creating connections with the community and sharing sustainable agriculture knowledge.
The newest and most needed project on the forest program is the invasive species removal and reforestation initiative. The main goal is to restore secondary forests on Nosy Komba by removing the invasive plant Lantana camara and replacing it with native tree saplings grown in our reforestation nursery. Lantana is fast-growing, creates inter-specific competition, and reduces biodiversity, so its removal is a critical step.
With the dedication of our volunteers, we hope to continue positively impacting the biodiversity and ecology of this important island in northern Madagascar.
Read more about the MRCI Forest Conservation Program!
