Why do secondary forests and abandoned gardens provide habitat for many mammals in the Ituri Forest?

Secondary forests and abandoned gardens in the Ituri Forest provide essential habitat for many mammals because they contribute to a diverse mosaic of vegetation. Through slash-and-burn cultivation, human activity creates a patchwork of climax vegetation interspersed with various successional stages of secondary forest.1

These successional patches—ranging from tangles of lianas and shrubs to stands of umbrella trees—alongside river valleys and other clearings, offer a variety of environmental niches. This structural diversity provides both the cover and the food sources necessary to support the greatest abundance of mammals found in any forested region of Africa.1