Occupancy of wild southern pig-tailed macaques in intact and degraded forests in Peninsular Malaysia

PeerJ

article

Anna Holzner¹  D. Mark Rayan⁴  Jonathan Moore⁶  Cedric Kai Wei Tan⁸  Laura Clart²  Lars Kulik¹  Hjalmar Kühl^1,10  Nadine Ruppert³  Anja Widdig¹ 

[1] Department of Human Behaviour, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology;Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig;School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia;Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology ,(DICE), University of Kent;Wildlife Conservation Society ,(WCS) Malaysia Program;School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology;School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia;Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford;School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia;German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research

关键词: Camera trapping;    Deforestation;    Imperfect detection;    Macaca nemestrina;    Southern pig-tailed macaques;    Occupancy;    Peninsular Malaysia;    Selective logging;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.12462

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Deforestation is a major threat to terrestrial tropical ecosystems, particularly in Southeast Asia where human activities have dramatic consequences for the survival of many species. However, responses of species to anthropogenic impact are highly variable. In order to establish effective conservation strategies, it is critical to determine a species’ ability to persist in degraded habitats. Here, we used camera trapping data to provide the first insights into the temporal and spatial distribution of southern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca nemestrina, listed as ‘Vulnerable’ by the IUCN) across intact and degraded forest habitats in Peninsular Malaysia, with a particular focus on the effects of clear-cutting and selective logging on macaque occupancy. Specifically, we found a 10% decline in macaque site occupancy in the highly degraded Pasoh Forest Reserve from 2013 to 2017. This may be strongly linked to the macaques’ sensitivity to intensive disturbance through clear-cutting, which significantly increased the probability that M. nemestrina became locally extinct at a previously occupied site. However, we found no clear relationship between moderate disturbance, i.e., selective logging, and the macaques’ local extinction probability or site occupancy in the Pasoh Forest Reserve and Belum-Temengor Forest Complex. Further, an identical age and sex structure of macaques in selectively logged and completely undisturbed habitat types within the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex indicated that the macaques did not show increased mortality or declining birth rates when exposed to selective logging. Overall, this suggests that low to moderately disturbed forests may still constitute valuable habitats that support viable populations of M. nemestrina, and thus need to be protected against further degradation. Our results emphasize the significance of population monitoring through camera trapping for understanding the ability of threatened species to cope with anthropogenic disturbance. This can inform species management plans and facilitate the development of effective conservation measures to protect biodiversity.

【 授权许可】

CC BY