Edu
has successfully defended her PhD thesis titled “Consequences of bushmeat
hunting in tropical forests” on March 1st
2013 at Lund University, Sweden. Funding for her thesis was provided by grants from Sida,
Kungliga Fysiografiska Sallskapet and Formas with support from Lund
University, Cross River State Forestry Commission, A. P. Leventis
Ornithological Research Institute, Jos and WCS.
Her thesis evaluated the effect
of bushmeat hunting in southeastern Nigerian rainforests on:
1) adult tree, seedling,
and animal community compositions
2) germination and survival among seedlings
in association with competition
3) changes in community composition at multiple
trophic levels
4) leaf nitrogen concentration (LNC), leaf mass per area (LMA)
and stem specific density (SSD)
5) on human reliance on forest resources and
rural people use forest resources.
Results
from her thesis showed that primates
(4-180 kg) were much rarer in hunted sites, while seed
predators increased in abundance with hunting. Community composition of birds
was similar in paired sites. Seedlings and adult tree composition were
similar in protected sites. Abiotically dispersed species dominated in hunted
sites and had a higher germination rate only in hunted sites. Seedling
communities were
significantly related to mammal communities. LNC and SSD increased with hunting
but not LMA. Data
from questionnaires administered in four villages in and around the Cross River
National Park revealed an overwhelming reliance by
households on forest resources for sustenance. Contrary to prevailing knowledge, the
collection of food resources was the most widespread form of resource
extraction and not bushmeat. More primate dispersed trees have utility for
human compared trees with other dispersal modes. Results reveal a minimal
effect of competition among seedlings rather that
dispersal limitation and altered mammal community composition triggered by the
decline of efficient seed dispersing vertebrates majorly mediate changes in
seedling communities and that these
changes are largely detrimental to forest conservation and
human wellbeing.
One of her papers have
recently been published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/280/1759/20130246.abstract
More on her work can
be seen at:
http://www4.lu.se/o.o.i.s/23814
