Community structure and ecology of snakes in fields of oil palm trees (Elaeis guineensis) in the Niger Delta, southern Nigeria

African Journal of Ecology

Volumn 46, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 500-506

  Akani, Godfrey C ^a   Ebere, Nwabueze ^a   Luiselli, Luca ^b   Eniang, Edem A ^c  

^a RIVERS STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY   (Nigeria)

^b Centre of Environmental Studies DEMETRA srl   (Italy)

^c UNIVERSITY OF UYO   (Nigeria)

Author keywords

Community ecology; Diet; Nigeria; Oil palm tree; Snake diversity

Indexed keywords

COMMUNITY ECOLOGY; COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; DIET; FRUIT; MONOCOTYLEDON; SNAKE; SPECIES DIVERSITY;

AFRICA; NIGER DELTA; NIGERIA; SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA; WEST AFRICA;

AGAMA; ANURA; AVES; COLUBRIDAE; ELAEIS; ELAEIS GUINEENSIS; ELAPIDAE; GEKKONIDAE; HYLIDAE; RODENTIA; SCINCIDAE; SERPENTES; SQUAMATA; VIPERIDAE;

EID: 57449096997     PISSN: 01416707     EISSN: 13652028     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2028.2007.00885.x     Document Type: Article

References (26)

1. Akani, G.C., Barieenee, I.F., Capizzi, D. Luiselli, L. (1999) Snake communities of moist forest and derived savanna sites of Nigeria: biodiversity patterns and conservation priorities. Biodivers. Conserv. 8, 629 642.
2. Akani, G.C., Angelici, F.M. Luiselli, L. (2002) Diet of Thelotornis kirtlandii (Serpentes: Colubridae: Dispholidini) from Southern Nigeria. Herpetol. J. 12, 179 182.
3. Akani, G.C., Angelici, F.M. Luiselli, L. (2005) Ecological data on the Goldie's tree cobra, Pseudohaje goldii (Elapidae) in southern Nigeria. Amphib-Reptil. 26, 382 387.
4. Angelici, F.M. Luiselli, L. (2005) Habitat associations and dietary relationships between two genets, Genetta maculata and Genetta cristata. Rev. Ecol. (Terre et Vie) 60, 341 354.
5. Chippaux, J.-P. (2006) Les Serpents d' Afrique Ocidentale et Centrale. IRD Editions, Paris.
6. Fumilayo, O. (1976) Diet and roosting damage and environmental pollution by the straw-coloured fruit bat in South-Western Nigeria. Niger. Field 41, 136 142.
7. Hopkins, B. (1974) Forest and Savannah, 2nd edn. Heinemann, Ibadan.
8. Jacquemard, J.C. (1998) Oil Palm. MacMillan, New York.
9. Janzen, D.H. (1976) The depression of reptile biomass by large herbivores. Am. Nat. 110, 371 400.
10. Luiselli, L. (2001) The ghost of a recent invasion in the reduced feeding rates of spitting cobras during the dry season in a rainforest region of tropical Africa? Acta Oecol. 22, 311 314.
11. Luiselli, L. (2003) Do snakes exhibit shifts in feeding ecologyassociated with the presence or absence of potential competitors? A case study from tropical Africa. Can. J. Zool. 81, 228 236.
12. Luiselli, L. (2006a) Resource partitioning and interspecific competition in snakes: the search for general geographical and guild patterns. Oikos 114, 193 211.
13. Luiselli, L. (2006b) Interspecific relationships between two species of sympatric Afrotropical water snake in relation to a seasonally fluctuating food resource. J. Trop. Ecol. 22, 91 100.
14. Luiselli, L. (2006c) Broad geographic, taxonomic and ecological patterns of interpopulation variation in the dietary habits of snakes. Web Ecol. 6, 2 16.
15. Luiselli, L. (2008) Community ecology of African reptiles: historical perspective and a meta-analysis using null models. Afr. J. Ecol. Doi :
16. Luiselli, L. Akani, G.C. (2002) An investigation into the composition, complexity and functioning of snake communities in the mangroves of south-eastern Nigeria. Afr. J. Ecol. 40, 220 227.
17. Luiselli, L., Akani, G.C. Capizzi, D. (1998a) Food resource partitioning of a community of snakes in a swamp-rainforest of south-eastern Nigeria. J. Zool. (Lond.) 246, 125 133.
18. Luiselli, L., Akani, G.C. Barieenee, I.F. (1998b) Observations on habitat, reproduction and feeding of Boiga blandingii (Colubridae) from South-eastern Nigeria. Amphib-Reptil. 19, 430 436.
19. Luiselli, L., Akani, G.C. Angelici, F.M. (2000a) Arboreal habits and viper biology in the African rain forest: the ecology of Atheris squamiger. Isr. J. Zool. 46, 273 286.
20. Luiselli, L., Angelici, F.M. Akani, G.C. (2000b) Large elapids and arboreality: the ecology of Jameson's green mamba (Dendroaspsis jamesoni) in an Afrotropical forested regions. Contrib. Zool. 69, 147 155.
21. Luiselli, L., Akani, G.C., Rugiero, L. Politano, E. (2005) Relationships between body size, population abundance and niche characteristics in the communities of snakes from three habitats in southern Nigeria. J. Zool. (Lond.) 265, 207 213.
22. Madsen, T. Shine, R. (1999a) Life-history consequences of nest-site variation in tropical pythons. Ecology 80, 987 997.
23. Madsen, T. Shine, R (1999b) The adjustement of reproductive threshold to prey abundance in a capital breeder. J. Anim. Ecol. 68, 571 580.
24. Okon, E.E. (1974) Fruit bats at Ife: their roosting and food preferences (Ife Fruit Bat Project No. 2). Niger. Field 39, 33 40.
25. Reading, A.J., Thompson, R.D. Millington, A.C. (1995) Humid Tropical Environments. Blackwell Publishers Inc., Oxford.
26. Von Chi-Bonnardel, R. (1973) The Atlas of Africa. MacMillan-Free-Press, New York.