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Ecology, occurrence and distribution of wild felids in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. ORYX 2022. [DOI: 10.1017/s0030605321001484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Sarawak is the largest state in the megadiverse country of Malaysia. Its rich biodiversity is threatened by land-use change and hunting, with mammalian carnivores particularly affected. Data on the ecology, occurrence and distribution of small carnivores are crucial to inform their effective conservation, but no large-scale assessments have previously been conducted in Sarawak. Here we examine the status of the five species of felids in Sarawak based on data from camera-trap studies over 17 years (May 2003–February 2021) across 31 study areas, including protected areas of various sizes, production forests and forest matrix within oil palm plantations. Felids were detected at 39% of 845 camera stations. The marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata and Sunda clouded leopard Neofelis diardi had higher probabilities of occurrence in protected than unprotected areas, and vice versa for the leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis and bay cat Catopuma badia. The marbled and bay cats were mostly diurnal, and the leopard cat was predominantly nocturnal; activity patterns did not substantively differ between protected and unprotected sites. The probabilities of occurrence of marbled and bay cats increased with greater distance from roads. The leopard cat and flat-headed cat Prionailurus planiceps were more likely, and the clouded leopard less likely, to occur near rivers. Flat-headed cats preferred peat swamp forest, bay cats lowland forest, and marbled cats and clouded leopards occurred in both lowland and montane forest. Felids may tolerate higher elevations to avoid anthropogenic disturbance; therefore, it is critical to preserve lowland and mid-elevation habitats that provide refugia from climate change and the destruction of lowland habitat.
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Musthafa MM, Abdullah F, Martínez-Falcón AP, de Bruyn M. How mountains and elevations shape the spatial distribution of beetles in Peninsular Malaysia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:5791. [PMID: 33707515 PMCID: PMC7970977 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84965-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
This study was conducted to assess the spatial distribution of beetles in mountain ecosystems and their elevational diversity. Malaise, pitfall and light traps were used to collect beetles from nine different mountains in Malaysia from September 2014 to September 2016, where from Gunung Angsi, Gunung Belumut, Gunung Basor and Gunung Tebu samples were collected at 500 m and 1000 m (above sea level) elevations, while beetles were sampled at 500 m, 1000 m and 1500 masl from Gunung Benom, Gunung Inas, Cameron Highland, Gunung Besar Hantu and Gunung Basor. In this study, 9628 beetles belonging to 879 different species were collected with highest representation from family Staphylinidae and Carabidae. Chamah Highland had the highest beetle diversity followed by Gunung Benom, Gunung Inas, Cameron Highland, Gunung Belumut, and Gunung Basor. Chamah Highland was different to all mountains on abundance and species richness. The highest species richness was observed at 1000 m, followed by 500 m and 1500 m. We identified characteristic species associated with habitat conditions at Gunung Benoum and Gunung Inas mountains, according to INDVAL values. The beetle diversity of the sampled mountains showed multiple alpha and beta patterns according to type of mountain ecosystem and elevation, providing guidelines for the scientific community to underpin conservation efforts in Malaysia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muneeb M Musthafa
- Department of Biosystems Technology, Faculty of Technology, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, University Park, Oluvil, 32360, Sri Lanka. .,Institute of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
| | - Fauziah Abdullah
- Institute of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Ana Paola Martínez-Falcón
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, Instituto de Ciencias Básicas e Ingeniería, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Carretera Pachuca-Tulancingo km 4.5, C.P. 42184, Mineral de La Reforma, Hidalgo, Mexico
| | - Mark de Bruyn
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia
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Thonis A, Ceballos RM, Tuen AA, Lovegrove BG, Levesque DL. Small Tropical Mammals Can Take the Heat: High Upper Limits of Thermoneutrality in a Bornean Treeshrew. Physiol Biochem Zool 2020; 93:199-209. [PMID: 32196407 DOI: 10.1086/708467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Tropical ectotherms are generally believed to be more vulnerable to global heating than temperate species. Currently, however, we have insufficient knowledge of the thermoregulatory physiology of equatorial tropical mammals, particularly of small diurnal mammals, to enable similar predictions. In this study, we measured the resting metabolic rates (via oxygen consumption) of wild-caught lesser treeshrews (Tupaia minor, order Scandentia) over a range of ambient temperatures. We predicted that, similar to other treeshrews, T. minor would exhibit more flexibility in body temperature regulation and a wider thermoneutral zone compared with other small mammals because these thermoregulatory traits provide both energy and water savings at high ambient temperatures. Basal metabolic rate was on average 1.03±0.10 mL O2 h-1 g-1, which is within the range predicted for a 65-g mammal. We calculated the lower critical temperature of the thermoneutral zone at 31.0°C (95% confidence interval: 29.3°-32.7°C), but using metabolic rates alone, we could not determine the upper critical temperature at ambient temperatures as high as 36°C. The thermoregulatory characteristics of lesser treeshrews provide a means of saving energy and water at temperatures well in excess of their current environmental temperatures. Our research highlights the knowledge gaps in our understanding of the energetics of mammals living in high-temperature environments, specifically in the equatorial tropics, and questions the purported lack of variance in the upper critical temperatures of the thermoneutral zone in mammals, emphasizing the importance of further research in the tropics.
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Cheng W, Kendrick RC, Guo F, Xing S, Tingley MW, Bonebrake TC. Complex elevational shifts in a tropical lowland moth community following a decade of climate change. DIVERS DISTRIB 2018. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Wenda Cheng
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Hong Kong SAR China
| | - Roger C. Kendrick
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Hong Kong SAR China
- C&R Wildlife Tai Po Hong Kong SAR China
- Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden Corporation Tai Po Hong Kong SAR China
| | - Fengyi Guo
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Hong Kong SAR China
| | - Shuang Xing
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Hong Kong SAR China
| | - Morgan W. Tingley
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut
| | - Timothy C. Bonebrake
- School of Biological SciencesThe University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Hong Kong SAR China
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Levesque DL, Tuen AA, Lovegrove BG. Staying hot to fight the heat-high body temperatures accompany a diurnal endothermic lifestyle in the tropics. J Comp Physiol B 2018; 188:707-716. [PMID: 29623412 DOI: 10.1007/s00360-018-1160-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2018] [Revised: 03/20/2018] [Accepted: 04/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Danielle L Levesque
- Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300, Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia.
- School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA.
| | - Andrew Alek Tuen
- School of Biology and Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, USA
| | - Barry G Lovegrove
- School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, P/Bag X01, Scottsville, 3209, South Africa
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White KS, Gregovich DP, Levi T. Projecting the future of an alpine ungulate under climate change scenarios. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2018; 24:1136-1149. [PMID: 28973826 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 08/25/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Climate change represents a primary threat to species persistence and biodiversity at a global scale. Cold adapted alpine species are especially sensitive to climate change and can offer key "early warning signs" about deleterious effects of predicted change. Among mountain ungulates, survival, a key determinant of demographic performance, may be influenced by future climate in complex, and possibly opposing ways. Demographic data collected from 447 mountain goats in 10 coastal Alaska, USA, populations over a 37-year time span indicated that survival is highest during low snowfall winters and cool summers. However, general circulation models (GCMs) predict future increase in summer temperature and decline in winter snowfall. To disentangle how these opposing climate-driven effects influence mountain goat populations, we developed an age-structured population model to project mountain goat population trajectories for 10 different GCM/emissions scenarios relevant for coastal Alaska. Projected increases in summer temperature had stronger negative effects on population trajectories than the positive demographic effects of reduced winter snowfall. In 5 of the 10 GCM/representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios, the net effect of projected climate change was extinction over a 70-year time window (2015-2085); smaller initial populations were more likely to go extinct faster than larger populations. Using a resource selection modeling approach, we determined that distributional shifts to higher elevation (i.e., "thermoneutral") summer range was unlikely to be a viable behavioral adaptation strategy; due to the conical shape of mountains, summer range was expected to decline by 17%-86% for 7 of the 10 GCM/RCP scenarios. Projected declines of mountain goat populations are driven by climate-linked bottom-up mechanisms and may have wide ranging implications for alpine ecosystems. These analyses elucidate how projected climate change can negatively alter population dynamics of a sentinel alpine species and provide insight into how demographic modeling can be used to assess risk to species persistence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin S White
- Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau, AK, USA
| | - David P Gregovich
- Division of Wildlife Conservation, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau, AK, USA
| | - Taal Levi
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, USA
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Brodie JF, Strimas-Mackey M, Mohd-Azlan J, Granados A, Bernard H, Giordano AJ, Helmy OE. Lowland biotic attrition revisited: body size and variation among climate change 'winners' and 'losers'. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 284:rspb.2016.2335. [PMID: 28100818 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2335] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Accepted: 12/19/2016] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The responses of lowland tropical communities to climate change will critically influence global biodiversity but remain poorly understood. If species in these systems are unable to tolerate warming, the communities-currently the most diverse on Earth-may become depauperate ('biotic attrition'). In response to temperature changes, animals can adjust their distribution in space or their activity in time, but these two components of the niche are seldom considered together. We assessed the spatio-temporal niches of rainforest mammal species in Borneo across gradients in elevation and temperature. Most species are not predicted to experience changes in spatio-temporal niche availability, even under pessimistic warming scenarios. Responses to temperature are not predictable by phylogeny but do appear to be trait-based, being much more variable in smaller-bodied taxa. General circulation models and weather station data suggest unprecedentedly high midday temperatures later in the century; predicted responses to this warming among small-bodied species range from 9% losses to 6% gains in spatio-temporal niche availability, while larger species have close to 0% predicted change. Body mass may therefore be a key ecological trait influencing the identity of climate change winners and losers. Mammal species composition will probably change in some areas as temperatures rise, but full-scale biotic attrition this century appears unlikely.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jedediah F Brodie
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada .,Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Matthew Strimas-Mackey
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Jayasilan Mohd-Azlan
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak, Malaysia
| | - Alys Granados
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Henry Bernard
- Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, 88999 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
| | - Anthony J Giordano
- Field Conservation Program, SPECIES, Ventura, CA, USA.,Conservation Science Program, Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge, Tyler, TX, USA
| | - Olga E Helmy
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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