____________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: E-mail: hassanshombe@yahoo.co.uk; British Journal of Applied Science & Technology 3(1): 48-64, 2013 SCIENCEDOMAIN international www.sciencedomain.org Human-induced Disturbances Influence on Bird Communities of Coastal Forests in Eastern Tanzania Shombe N. Hassan 1* , Amina R. Salum 2 , Alfan A. Rija 1 , Robert Modest 1 , Jafari R. Kideghesho 1 and Pius F. Malata 3 1 Department of Wildlife Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P.O.Box 3073, Morogoro, Tanzania. 2 Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA), P.O. Box 3134 Arusha, Tanzania. 3 College of African Wildlife Management (CAWM), Mweka, P.O. Box 3031 Moshi, Tanzania. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Author SNH designed the study, wrote the protocol, guided the statistical analyses and wrote the first manuscript; author ARS did field work, managed the data, and performed the core statistical analysis; author AAR managed literature searches, performed additional analysis, read and commented on the draft manuscripts along with other authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Received 6 th September 2012 Accepted 23 rd November 2012 Published 17 th December 2012 ABSTRACT Aims: To assess the influence of human-induced disturbances on bird communities. Study Design: Longitudinal study. Place and Duration of Study: Four forests; - Kion/Zaraninge, Kwamsisi/Kwahatibu, Msumbugwe and Gendagenda in Pangani–Saadani ecosystem, from October 2010 to January 2011. Methodology: Eight permanent transects, each 500 m long stratified into forest core and forest edge habitats were used in each forest to identify types and quantify levels of human-induced disturbances, determine bird species composition, diversity and richness, and abundance. Therefore three circular plots, each 20 m radius were allocated at beginning, middle and end of each transect. The level of disturbance was assessed using four disturbance indicators; tree lopping, human trails, Pit-sawing and animal snaring while Research Article