scholarly journals The importance of orangutans in small fragments for maintaining metapopulation dynamics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Ancrenaz ◽  
Felicity Oram ◽  
Nardiyono Nardiyono ◽  
Muhammad Silmi ◽  
Marcie Elene Marcus Jopony ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Palm ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Genetic Connectivity ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Multiple Use ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Fragmented Forest ◽  
Ground Survey

Orangutans (Pongo spp.) occur at low densities and therefore large areas are necessary to sustain viable metapopulations, defined here as sets of conspecific units of individuals linked by dispersal. Historically, orangutans lived in large contiguous areas of intact rainforest, but are now increasingly found in agricultural and other landscapes modified by people. Here we collate evidence of orangutans utilizing isolated forest fragments (< 500 ha) within multiple-use landscapes dominated by oil palm monoculture across Borneo. Orangutan signs (i.e. nests) were evident in 76 fragments surveyed by helicopter, and in 50 of 70 additional fragments surveyed on the ground; on average 63 ha in size. This includes presence of adult resident females with dependent young confirmed in 40% of the fragments assessed by ground survey. Our study revealed some resident females are raising offspring in isolated forest patches within mature oil palm stands. This not only confirms that some forest patches can sustain orangutans, but indicates migratory males are capable of reaching these fragments scattered throughout the multiple-use landscape. Therefore, orangutans that use or live in even small isolated forest patches are an essential part of the overall metapopulation by maintaining gene flow between, and genetic connectivity within, populations distributed across larger multiple-use landscapes. Orangutan survival is commonly thought to be low in small, isolated forest patches, and the customary management strategy is to remove (translocate) these individuals and release them in larger forests. In some cases, translocations may be necessary, i.e. in case of fire or when the animals are in eminent danger of being killed and have no other refuge. However, the small amount of data available indicates that mortality rates during and after translocations are high, while the impacts of removing animals from spatially dispersed metapopulations are unknown. Therefore, we argue the current policy of routine translocation rather than conserving the species within human-modified landscapes could inadvertently decrease critical metapopulation functionality necessary for long-term viability. It is clear that orangutans need natural forest to survive, but our findings show that fragmented agricultural landscapes can also serve as complementary conservation areas in addition to fully protected areas if they are well designed with ecological connections, and if orangutan killing can be prevented. To achieve this, we call for a paradigm shift from the traditional large single forest model to one that emphasizes metapopulation functionality in the fragmented forest - human use matrix characteristic of the Anthropocene.

scholarly journals Importance of Small Forest Fragments in Agricultural Landscapes for Maintaining Orangutan Metapopulations

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Ancrenaz ◽  
Felicity Oram ◽  
Nardiyono Nardiyono ◽  
Muhammad Silmi ◽  
Marcie E. M. Jopony ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Palm ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Multiple Use ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Timber Plantations ◽  
Small Forest

Historically, orangutans (Pongo spp.) lived in large contiguous areas of intact rainforest. Today, they are also found in highly modified and fragmented landscapes dominated by oil palm or industrial timber plantations; a situation that calls for new conservation approaches. Here we report signs of orangutan presence in more than 120 small forest fragments of &lt;500 ha in size and isolated in extensive oil palm plantations across Borneo. We confirmed the long-term presence of adult resident females with dependent young in 42% of the fragments assessed by ground survey (n = 50), and the regular sightings of males traveling across the landscape. We argue that orangutans using and living in small isolated forest patches play an essential part in the metapopulation by maintaining gene flow among larger sub-populations distributed across multiple-use landscapes. In some cases, translocations may be necessary when the animals are in imminent danger of being killed and have no other refuge. However, the impacts of removing animals from spatially dispersed metapopulations could inadvertently decrease critical metapopulation functionality necessary for long-term viability. It is clear that orangutans need natural forest to survive. However, our findings show that forest fragments within agricultural landscapes can also complement conservation areas if they are well-distributed, properly connected and managed, and if orangutan killing is prevented. Efforts to better understand the dynamics and the functionality of an orangutan metapopulation in forest-farmland landscape mosaics characteristic of the Anthropocene are urgently needed to design more efficient conservation strategies for the species across its range.

Effects of forest fragmentation on neotropical fauna: current research and data availability

1995 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly L. Offerman ◽  
Virginia H. Dale ◽  
Scott M. Pearson ◽  
Robert V. O'Neill ◽  
Richard O. Bierregaard Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Forest Fragmentation ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Neotropical Fauna ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Spatially Explicit Data ◽  
Biological Dynamics

Tropical deforestation often produces landscapes characterized by isolated patches of forest habitat surrounded by pasture, agriculture, or regrowth vegetation. Both the size and the distribution of these forest patches may influence the long-term persistence of faunal species. There is, therefore, a pressing need to understand faunal responses to patterns of forest fragmentation in tropical systems. The Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP) provides a wealth of autecological information and spatially explicit data describing habitat use and movement of fauna between Amazonian forest fragments. Using data from the BDFFP and other studies in the Amazon Basin, this paper reviews the information available on tropical insects, frogs, birds, primates, and other mammals that can be used to identify and classify species most at risk for extirpation in fragmented forests.Key words: Amazonia, habitat fragmentation, rainforest, fauna, Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragmentation Project.

scholarly journals Reference Site Influences Perceived Species Loss in Shade Coffee, But Assemblages in Fact Depend on Landscape Context

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Juliana Bedoya ◽  
Harrison H Jones ◽  
Kristen Malone ◽  
Lyn C Branch
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Landscape Context ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Shade Coffee ◽  
Coffee Plantations ◽  
Fragmented Forest ◽  
Continuous Forest ◽  
Species Occupancy

Abstract Context: Shade coffee plantations are purported to maintain forest biodiversity in agricultural landscapes. Understanding their conservation importance is hindered, however, by the limited taxa studied and failure to account for the landscape context of plantations and quality of reference sites.Objectives/Research questions: (1) how occupancy of mammals and birds changed from continuous forest to fragmented forest and coffee plantations while statistically controlling for landscape context, and (2) whether mammal and bird communities responded differently to shade coffee with regard to richness and composition.Methods: We used camera traps to sample ground-dwelling birds and medium- and large-bodied mammals (31 and 29 species, respectively) in shade coffee plantations and two types of reference forest (fragmented and continuous) in Colombia’s Western Andes. We used a multi-species occupancy model to correct for detection and to estimate occupancy, richness, and community composition.Results Shade coffee lacked ~50% of the species found in continuous forest, primarily forest-specialist insectivorous birds and forest-specialist and large-bodied mammals, resulting in different species composition between coffee and forest assemblages. Coffee plantation birds were generally a unique subset of disturbance-adapted specialists, whereas mammals in coffee were mostly generalists encountered across land uses. Forest fragments had species richness more similar to shade coffee than to continuous forest. Species sensitive to shade coffee responded negatively to isolation and disturbance at the landscape scale.Conclusions: Studies comparing coffee with relictual forest fragments may overestimate the conservation value of shade coffee. Conservation of biodiversity in shade coffee landscapes will be ineffective unless these efforts are linked to larger landscape-level conservation initiatives.

Bird assemblages in isolated Ficus trees in Kenyan farmland

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 723-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. Eshiamwata ◽  
D. G. Berens ◽  
B. Bleher ◽  
W. R. J. Dean ◽  
K. Böhning-Gaese
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Forests ◽  
Forest Fragmentation ◽  
Seedling Establishment ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Frugivorous Birds ◽  
Fragmented Forest ◽  
Important Group ◽  
Disturbed Areas

Over the last few decades a rapid and extensive conversion of tropical forests to agricultural land has taken place resulting in mosaics of fragmented forest patches, pastures and farmland. While the effects of forest fragmentation on biodiversity have been intensively studied within the remaining forests, relatively little is known about the biodiversity in tropical farmland (Daily et al. 2001, Pimentel et al. 1992). Frugivorous birds are an important group of species in tropical farmland ecosystems. Frugivorous birds are significant seed dispersers and can play a prominent role in transporting seeds into disturbed areas and setting the stage for the regeneration of these systems. Isolated fleshy-fruited trees in agricultural landscapes have been shown to attract birds, leading to an increased seed rain and seedling establishment under their canopies (Carrière et al. 2002, Duncan & Chapman 1999, Guevara et al. 1986, 2004; Slocum & Horvitz 2000).

scholarly journals Physiological implications of life at the forest interface of oil palm agriculture: blood profiles of wild Malay civets (Viverra tangalunga)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Meaghan N Evans ◽  
Sergio Guerrero-Sanchez ◽  
Peter Kille ◽  
Carsten T Müller ◽  
Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oil Palm ◽  
Immune Cell ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Population Variation ◽  
Physiological Status ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Mosaic Landscape ◽  
Cell Counts ◽  
Viverra Tangalunga ◽  
Blood Profiles

Abstract Agricultural development is a major threat to global biodiversity, and effective conservation actions are crucial. Physiological repercussions of life alongside human-modified landscapes can undermine adaptable species’ health and population viability; however, baseline data are lacking for many wildlife species. We assessed the physiological status of a generalist carnivore, the Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga), persisting within an extensively human-modified system in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. We characterized hematology and serum biochemistry panels from civets sampled across a mosaic landscape comprising tropical forest fragments and oil palm plantations. Intra-population variation in certain blood parameters were explained by expected biological drivers such as sex, age category and sampling season. Furthermore, we determined several erythrocyte measures, immune cell counts and dietary biochemistry markers significantly varied with proximity to oil palm plantation boundaries. These findings were supported by a case study, whereby blood profiles of GPS collared male civets were contrasted based on their exclusive use of forests or use of oil palm plantations. These data provide robust and valuable first insights into this species’ physiological status and suggest agricultural landscapes are impacting the persisting population.

scholarly journals Evaluation and long-term conservation perspectives of woodland key habitat bryophyte and lichen indicators in Latgale

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 197
Author(s):  
Anna Mežaka ◽  
Sanita Putna ◽  
Inga Erta
Keyword(s):  
Indicator Species ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Forest Stand ◽  
Stand Age ◽  
Fragmented Landscape ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Woodland Key Habitats

<span lang="EN">Nowadays human impact to habitats and species are stronger then ever before. Latvia is typical example of fragmented landscape, where forest patches are mixed with agricultural land and waterbodies. Latgale is one of typical such a fragmented landscape parts of Latvia. Around 6.41 % of Latgalian forests were evaluated as Woodland Key Habitats (WKHs) or potential WKHs (P)WKHs  after WKH inventory. In total 16 WKH types, suitable for bryophyte and lichen indicator species existence were identified in Latgale. (P)WKH type, forest stand age and area were significant factors influencing bryophyte and lichen specialist and indicator species richness in forest stand level. WKH status did not provide any official conservation status for habitats or species based on current legislation in Latvia. Therefore establishment of conservation areas as microreserves for habitats and species and Nature Reserves in areas, with high (P)WKH density is an effective tool for their long-term conservation in Latgale. Further scientific studies of bryophytes, lichens and WKHs are necessary for planning the best conservation scenarios taking into account also forest ecosystem services.    </span>

scholarly journals DIVERSITY OF MICROCHIROPTERAN BATS IN FOREST FRAGMENTS AND RIPARIAN ZONES IN AN OIL PALM PLANTATION ESTATE

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fauziah Syamsi
Keyword(s):  
Oil Palm ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Wildlife Corridors ◽  
Riparian Areas ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Oil Palm Plantation ◽  
West Sumatra ◽  
History Of ◽  
Commercial Oil

Oil palm is one of the world’s most rapidly increasing crops, and covers over 13 million ha in Southeast Asia. Sumatra has a relatively long history of commercial oil palm cultivation, and many plantations have replaced rain forest. Typically these monoculture plantations support much fewer species than do forest, however there is very little information available for bats. We sampled insectivorous bats in West Sumatra in a mature oil palm plantation where some forest cover was retained in forest fragments on hills and along rivers. Using a total of 180 harp trap nights we compared the bat community in three habitat types: forest patches, riparian zone and plantation area. In total we captured 1108 bats representing 21 species and 5 families, and the majority of these (in terms of species and abundance) were found in forest fragments. Oil palm plantation was found to be a poor habitat for bats – only four individuals of two species were captured. Riparian areas supported intermediate diversity, and might be important as wildlife corridors between forest fragments.

Diet and habitat selection of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis borneoensis) in an agricultural landscape in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajanathan Rajaratnam ◽  
Mel Sunquist ◽  
Lynette Rajaratnam ◽  
Laurentius Ambu
Keyword(s):  
Oil Palm ◽  
Agricultural Landscape ◽  
Secondary Forest ◽  
Agricultural Landscapes ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Dipterocarp Forest ◽  
Concurrent Study ◽  
Leopard Cat ◽  
Prionailurus Bengalensis ◽  
Selection Of

Ten leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis borneoensis) were captured and radio tracked in an agricultural landscape in Sabah, Malaysia. Seventy-two leopard cat scats were analysed for diet while information on prey distribution and abundance was obtained from a concurrent study on small mammals. Mammals, namely murids, were the major prey with Whitehead's rat (Maxomys whiteheadi) being the principal prey species. Leopard cats significantly preferred the relatively open oil palm habitat over both selectively logged dipterocarp forest and secondary forest fragments. Although relative murid abundance was highest in selectively logged dipterocarp forest, oil palm harboured a higher relative abundance of Maxomys whiteheadi. Visibility and ease of movement for leopard cats was also better in oil palm, thereby possibly increasing their hunting success. We suggest that the significantly higher use of oil palm by leopard cats is related to their preference for areas with high prey ‘catchability’ rather than high prey density. Although secondary-forest fragments were least selected, they were important to leopard cats for resting and possibly breeding, highlighting the importance of forest fragments for the conservation of Bornean leopard cats in agricultural landscapes.

scholarly journals Mitochondrial DNA diversity and population structure of a forest-dependent rodent, Praomys taitae (Rodentia: Muridae) Heller 1911, in the fragmented forest patches of Taita Hills, Kenya

2008 ◽  
Vol 104 (11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvester Nyakaana ◽  
Christopher Tumusiime ◽  
Nicholas Oguge ◽  
Hans R. Siegismund ◽  
Peter Arctander ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Forest Patches ◽  
Fragmented Forest ◽  
Taita Hills ◽  
Hierarchical Amova ◽  
Indigenous Forest ◽  
The Hill

The population genetic structure of the forest-dependent rodent, Praomys taitae, sampled from nine indigenous forest fragments distributed over three ranges of the Taita Hills in Kenya, was determined using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region sequence variation. Thirty-three unique haplotypes were observed in a total sample of 132 individuals, whereas the number of different haplotypes per population ranged from two to 10. An overall low nucleotide diversity of 0.9% was observed in the total sample but varied widely between populations (0.2–1.3%). Significant genetic differentiation was observed in 30 of the 36 possible pair-wise comparisons between populations, while a hierarchical AMOVA revealed significant genetic subdivision between groups of populations on the three hill ranges of Dabida, Mbololo and Kyulu (FCT = 0.404, P less than 0.01), among populations on each of the hill ranges (FSC = 0.112, P less than 0.01) and among populations in the total sample (FST = 0.471, P less than 0.001). Demographic history analyses based on pair-wise nucleotide sequence mismatch distributions revealed that all the populations were in mutation-drift disequilibrium except the populations of the Kyulu and Ronge forest fragments.

DIVERSITY OF MICROCHIROPTERAN BATS IN FOREST FRAGMENTS AND RIPARIAN ZONES IN AN OIL PALM PLANTATION ESTATE

SIMBIOSA ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fauziah Syamsi
Keyword(s):  
Oil Palm ◽  
Riparian Zones ◽  
Habitat Patch ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Oil Palm Plantation

Kelapa sawit merupakan salah satu tanaman meningkat paling pesat di dunia, dan mencakup lebih dari 13 juta ha di Asia Tenggara. Sumatera memiliki sejarah yang relatif panjang budidaya kelapa sawit komersial, dan banyak perkebunan telah menggantikan hutan hujan. Biasanya ini perkebunan monokultur mendukung spesies lebih sedikit daripada hutan, namun ada sangat sedikit informasi yang tersedia untuk kelelawar. Kami mencicipi kelelawar pemakan serangga di Sumatera Barat dalam perkebunan kelapa sawit matang di mana beberapa tutupan hutan dipertahankan di fragmen hutan di bukit-bukit dan di sepanjang sungai. Menggunakan total 180 kecapi perangkap malam kami dibandingkan dengan komunitas kelelawar dalam tiga jenis habitat: patch hutan, zona riparian dan perkebunan. Total kami ditangkap 1108 kelelawar yang mewakili 21 spesies dan 5 keluarga, dan mayoritas ini (dalam hal spesies dan kelimpahan) ditemukan di fragmen hutan. perkebunan kelapa sawit ditemukan menjadi habitat miskin untuk kelelawar - hanya empat orang dari dua spesies ditangkap. daerah pinggiran sungai didukung keanekaragaman menengah, dan mungkin penting sebagai koridor satwa liar antara fragmen hutan. Kata kunci : Biodiversitas, keleawar Microchiropteran

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