Diversity, Relative abundance and Habitat preference of Medium and Large sized Mammals in Babiya Folla Montane Forest, Limmu Kossa District, Jimma Zone, South West, Ethiopia

Abstract

Mammals are a diverse group of animals that hold ecological and economic significance, are impacted by vario us factors that affect their distribution and abundance. This study was conducted to assess the diversity, relative abundance, and habitat preference of medium and large-sized mammals in Babiya Folla montane forest southwestern Ethiopia from February to |July 2023. The area was categorized into three habitats: Coffee forest, Semi coffee forest, and Natural forest. Data was collected using line transects, camera traps, and interview methods. The line transects were established and representative sample transects were randomly selected from each habitat for the survey. R statistics (R version 4.2.2) with a vegan package was used to analyze the diversity, richness and evenness of the species. The effect of habitat, season, and its combined effect on the diversity, richness, and evenness of the species were analyzed by ANOVA. Chi-square test was used to compute the difference in the abundance of species between seasons and among habitats. A total of 2803 individual mammals counted that distributed into 22 species belong to six orders and twelve families were recorded for the area. The highest diversity (H`=2.08 ± 0.02), (1.86 ± 0.029), and richness (R=12.25 ± 1.03), (11.5 ± 0.29) was recorded in the natural forest during wet and dry seasons respectively. The impact of habitats and season on diversity and richness was significant (F2, 10=7.461, p < 0.05),(F2,10=29.29, p < 0.05), and (F2,10=24, p < 0.05),(F2,10=14.43, p < 0.05) during dry and wet seasons, respectively. However, there was no significant effect on species evenness (F2, 10=0.78, p > 0.05) and (F2, 10=3.16, p > 0.05) during dry and wet seasons, respectively. The combined effect of habitat and season was significant (F2, 10=6.751, p < 0.05) on diversity. However, there was no significant combine effect on richness (F2, 10=1.895, p > 0.05) and evenness (F2, 10=2.738, p > 0.05). The olive baboon was the most abundant (31.46%) and the least were honey badger, leopard, serval cat, and spotted hyena (0.035%) each. There was no significant difference (X2=0, DF=1, p > 0.05) in species abundance between seasons. However, there were significant differences in species abundance between CF and SCF (X2=421.003, DF=1, P < 0.05), between CF and NF(X2=440, DF=1, P < 0.05) and between SCF and NF habitats (X2=467.5, DF=1, P < 0.05). The natural forest habitat was highly preferred by the mammals. From the camera trap data, the olive baboon (31.90%) was also the most abundant, and the white tailed mongoose (0.48%) had the least. Settlement, habitat loss and modification as a result of encroachment for coffee plantation, deforestation, charcoaling and griddling were the main threats to mammals. Therefore, all concerned bodies should take immediate action to conserve the forest biodiversity including medium and large sized mammal species in the area.