Impact of tropical selective logging on avian feeding interactions

Background. Over 400 million hectares of tropical forest--an area the size of the European Union--are designated for selective logging. Logging shifts biological communities, as forest-interior specialists decline and edge-tolerant species increase, yet these forests retain high diversity. A key question is how individuals are impacted by logging and, in turn, how impacts manifest in the interactions between species. Previous research by the PI (Edwards et al. 2013 Cons Biol, 27: 1079-1086) suggests that, post logging, birds feed from higher trophic levels (i.e. more insects, less fruit), but how the abundance and diversity of exploited food sources varies between primary and logged forest is unknown, and in turn, how this relates to changes in species abundance.

Objectives. Focusing on selective logging in Malaysian Borneo, this PhD will:
1. Determine how logging impacts bird diets
2. Explore logging impacts on the structuring of interaction networks between birds and their food sources
3. Link changes in species abundance with changes in food resources.

Novelty. This research will harness the recent development of DNA metabarcoding and the power of new-generation sequencing to efficiently determine the diets of large samples of multiple species. This will be one of the first question-driven studies to exploit this technology. Previous studies of diet were impeded by their labour-intensive nature.

Timeliness. Understanding the biodiversity impacts of logging and how better to manage timber extraction to reduce these impacts are important questions in developing more sustainable practices and protecting logged forests from conversion. With increasing focus on timber management under carbon-based payments for ecosystem service schemes, this research will feed into an urgent research need for balancing multiple goals for concession management.