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Adam Narish

The Effects of Forest Fragmentation on Cloud Forest Diurnal Raptor communities of Honduras 

Cloud forests are now considered one of the world’s most endangered ecosystems. The rate of deforestation of cloud forests of many countries surpasses that of lowland humid tropical forests.  One of the regions with the highest rate of deforestation is Central America, with Honduras and Costa Rica having the lowest negative change in forest area for this region.  Forest fragmentation affects an ecosystem through a loss in a selected number of resident species.  Diversity of birds within neotropical forest communities is known to be correlated with habitat structure and respond to forest fragmentation.  The sensitivity of raptors to changes in their habitat, their low population densities, and their roles as top predators make them a valuable indicator of the effects of forest fragmentation.  The goal of this study is to determine if it is an edge effect, an area requirement, isolation factor, or shape of forest fragment that drives changes in the biodiversity of cloud forest raptor communities.  This study is aimed at answering:  which patch variable(s) has the greatest affect on defining the structure of cloud forest raptor communities; which raptor survey technique(s) gives the best estimate of overall raptor species diversity, richness, and density; do large cloud forest patches have a higher raptor species diversity, richness, and density than smaller cloud forest patches; and for each raptor species, which patch variables have the greatest affect on species abundance?  The study is being conducted throughout various fragments of cloud forests found within Honduras.  Three raptor survey techniques will be performed to as means of collecting data on cloud forest raptor communities.  These survey techniques follow techniques conducted by the Peregrine Fund in their Maya Project and include an early morning listening survey, a canopy-emergent point survey, and an acoustical luring survey. Species abundance for each fragment size will be compared with patch (fragment) characteristics (perimeter, area, isolation, and shape) with the use of LANDSAT maps and ARC-GIS, to answer the already above mentioned questions.  All information will be shared with Honduras’s Departamento de Área Protegida y Vida Silvestre in order to aid the country in establishing future conservation protocols for cloud forest management.