**1.2 Forest disturbance and its consequences on biodiversity**

Several forest degradation types have been documented, at the global level25,26,27 as well as at the local level28, and most severe one consists of a total loss of forest cover due to disturbances. The consequences of this loss not only effects the biodiversity but also ecosystem functions28, including pest control and pollination in agricultural crops29, seed dispersal 30, and the regulation of water resources29,31. While in many instances losses in forest cover have negative impacts, in other circumstances, positive impacts have been noted in which there have been increases in plant species diversity. Such improvement in species diversity has been attributed to resilience which allow the certain plants to regenerate profusely after disturbance or to changed forest conditions such as increased light to forest floor 32 which favour the establishment of pioneer and early successional species whose seeds may have been stored in the soil seed bank. In the Taita Hills, the consequences of the disturbances documented have shown marked changes in tree species compositions25,33. The most disturbed forest fragment had a higher degree of changes in tree species composition in which 58 different tree species regenerated with stem densities varying between 10 and 2000 trees per hectare33. Differences in species composition occurred between the forest stand types, with native forests showing higher species diversities than the exotic plantations. The loss of biodiversity had also affected the animal species composition34.
