The importance of novel and agricultural habitats for the avifauna of an oceanic island

Conservation management can no longer rely on protecting pristine habitats, but must consider the

wider landscape. This is especially true on oceanic islands where endemic species are believed to be

particularly susceptible to the extinction risks that accompany land conversion. Despite this, there is a

paucity of studies examining how endemic communities on oceanic islands may be distributed across

such human-modified habitats. Taking Príncipe Island in West Africa as a case study, we investigate how

avian communities vary across the habitats (primary forest, secondary forest, agricultural areas) of this

globally important centre of endemism. Here, recent policy reforms aimed at poverty alleviation and

increased food production are rapidly altering the current land-use mosaic. Across all habitats, 27 bird

species were encountered. Survey points in secondary forest and agricultural areas were, on average,

more diverse and held higher overall abundances of birds than those within primary forest. This was

true for both the entire avian assemblage and the endemic species alone. Nevertheless, two IUCN-listed

species were restricted to primary forest, and many other endemics occurred at higher densities within

this habitat. We demonstrate that agricultural areas and novel habitats, such as secondary forest, can

hold high abundances of endemic species and thus have the potential to act as a resource for biodiversity

conservation. A double-stranded approach to conservation is therefore required that both protects the

integrity of the primary forest and controls the rapid changes in agricultural land-use to ensure that it

continues to support a large component of the endemic avifauna.