Data from: Selective logging intensity in an East African rain forest predicts reductions in ant diversity

As natural forest ecosystems increasingly face pressure from
deforestation, it is ever more important to understand the impacts of
habitat fragmentation and degradation on biodiversity. Most studies of
anthropogenic change in the tropics come from Southeast Asia and South
America, and impacts of habitat modification are often taxon-specific.
Here we empirically assessed the impact of habitat fragmentation and
recent (within 25 years) and historic (>25 years ago) selective
logging on the diversity of ants in the Kakamega rain forest in western
Kenya, and asked whether these forms of degradation interact as multiple
stressors. We found that the severity of recent selective logging was
negatively related to overall species richness and abundance as well as
the richness and abundance of forest specialists, but found no detrimental
effect of past selective logging or habitat fragmentation on ant
diversity, although habitat fragment size was correlated with estimated
species richness. There was also no effect of any form of habitat
degradation on the richness or abundance of open habitat specialists, even
though these species often exploit niches created in disturbed
environments. Ultimately, this study reveals the detrimental impact of
even moderate forms of habitat degradation on insect biodiversity in the
understudied African rain forests.