Occupancy winners in tropical protected forests: a pantropical analysis

Abstract

The structure of forest mammal communities appears surprisingly consistent across the continental tropics, presumably due to convergent evolution in similar environments. Whether such consistency extends to mammal occupancy, despite variation in species characteristics and context, remains unclear. Here we ask whether we can predict occupancy patterns and, if so, whether these relationships are consistent across biogeographic regions. Specifically, we assessed how mammal feeding guild, body mass and ecological specialization relate to occupancy in protected forests across the tropics. We used standardized camera-trap data (1002 camera-trap locations and 2–10 years of data) and a hierarchical Bayesian occupancy model. We found that occupancy varied by regions, and certain species characteristics explained much of this variation. Herbivores consistently had the highest occupancy. However, only in the Neotropics did we detect a significant effect of body mass on occupancy: large mammals had lowest occupancy. Importantly, habitat specialists generally had higher occupancy than generalists, though this was reversed in the Indo-Malayan sites. We conclude that habitat specialization is key for understanding variation in mammal occupancy across regions, and that habitat specialists often benefit more from protected areas, than do generalists. The contrasting examples seen in the Indo-Malayan region probably reflect distinct anthropogenic pressures.

National parks and conservation concessions: a comparison between mammal populations in two types of tropical protected areas in Ucayali, Peru

“…In addition to tapirs, CCSMCD harbours other large mammals that are sensitive to anthropogenic changes like white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) (Altrichter et al 2012;Teixeira-Santos et al 2020), indicating the presence of large patches of primary forest with the ecological functionality necessary for white-lipped peccary persistence. However, the presence of more species classified as threatened on the IUCN Red List in the PNSD than CCSMCD may demonstrate that CCs do not have the same conservation value as large national parks for species that are sensitive to human activity (Semper-Pascual et al 2022). One example is the absence of giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) from the CCSMCD study area despite the presence of ample suitable habitat and cameras placed near rivers and oxbow lakes.…”

“…However, the presence of more species classified as threatened on the IUCN Red List in the PNSD than CCSMCD may demonstrate that CCs do not have the same conservation value as large national parks for species that are sensitive to human activity (Semper-Pascual et al 2022). One example is the absence of giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) from the CCSMCD study area despite the presence of ample suitable habitat and cameras placed near rivers and oxbow lakes.…”

The moon’s influence on the activity of tropical forest mammals

“…A standardized survey methodology allowed us to simultaneously examine diel and nocturnal activity of 88 mammal species spread over 16 orders and 35 families. Camera traps are now widely used for monitoring and studying terrestrial biodiversity (Burton et al 2015, Steenweg et al 2017, Semper-Pascual et al 2022)and several studies have relied on time-stamped camera trap images to quantify and study animal diel activity (Rowcliffe et al 2014, Frey et al 2017, Vallejo-Vargas et al 2022). We analyzed photographic detection data using a novel framework – multinomial regression combined with ternary classification – for consistent categorization and quantification of the temporal niche and shifts therein (see also Gerber et al 2023).…”

Geographic differences in body size distributions underlie food web connectance of tropical forest mammals

“…Unique ecological and evolutionary histories within biogeographic regions have been shown to relate to the taxonomic, phylogenic, and functional structure of tropical mammal communities 11 – 13 . However, multiple components of tropical mammal community structure are consistent among biogeographic regions 14 – 16 , which suggests the potential for food web network structure to be similar among regions as well.…”