Effects of Human Disturbances on Two Sympatric Francolin Species in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Erckel’s Francolin Pternistis erckelii and Harwood’s Francolin Pternistis harwoodi are pheasant bird species which inhabit in dryland ecosystems along vast areas of the Nile Basin. They are poorly known however, about the extent of anthropogenic disturbance on the species within their geographical locations. The present study was carried out during wet and dry seasons in 2016. Field data were collected from a total of 20 line transects ranging from 0.5–1.2 km, each 150–400 m far apart. Line transect distance sampling was used to determine the encounter rate of the species against the human induced threats. Threats for both species were gauged by placing 10m circular plot along prearranged line transects. These plots were spaced systematically at an equal distance of 100m which gives a total of 1,064 circular plots during seven months. Various disturbance indices were analyzed by multiple linear regression and Spearman’s correlation test. The estimated value of the entire multiple linear regression coefficients (R2) of various identified threats to the encounter rate of Erckel’s Francolin and Harwood’s Francolinwere R2 = 0.87 and R2= 0.77, respectively. Based on Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC), the fittest variables against the detection of Erckel’s Francolin were cutting, mining and debarking (P