Sunda pangolins show inconsistent responses to disturbances across multiple scales

Nursamsi, Ilyas; Amir, Zachary; Decoeur, Henri; Moore, Jonathan H.; Luskin, Matthew Scott

doi:10.1002/wll2.12010

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…This leaves behind uneven surfaces of loose bare soil and altered leaf litter and vegetation (Fujinuma & Harrison, 2012). Singapore does not have any other animals that disturb the soil in this particular manner (Dehaudt et al, 2022;Nursamsi et al, 2023)…”

Section: S Scrofamentioning

confidence: 99%

Recolonizing native wildlife facilitates exotic plant invasion into Singapore's rain forests

Ho,

Dehaudt,

Lee

et al. 2023

Biotropica

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Halting biological invasions and rewilding extirpated native fauna are conservation interventions to bolster biodiversity, species interactions, and ecosystems. These actions are often considered separately and the potential for reintroduced wildlife to facilitate invasive plants has been largely overlooked. Here, we investigated the role of Singapore's recolonizing native wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in facilitating an invasive weed Miconia crenata into tropical rainforests, which are normally highly resistant to invasion. We conducted line‐transect surveys in 11 Singaporean rain forests and used generalized linear mixed models to consider the contribution of pigs' soil disturbances, human forest paths, and other environmental covariates, on the density of M. crenata. We found that M. crenata was more abundant at forest edges and invasion into forest interior was facilitated by pigs, paths, and canopy gaps, but that these effects were all additive, not synergistic (i.e., not multiplicative). These results highlight how modern invasions are driven by multiple disturbances as well as propagule pressure (e.g., urban birds dispersing seeds at forest edges where they establish in pig soil disturbances). Singapore's extensive native forest restoration efforts may have provided plentiful edge and secondary forests that are well suited to pigs and M. crenata, which in turn undermine the aims of fostering later‐successional native plant communities. To prevent negative externalities, we suggest that plant restoration and rewilding projects consider the potential role of wildlife in facilitating non‐native plants, and couple these actions with preliminary screening of unintended consequences and continued monitoring, as well as limiting human‐mediated weed invasion to minimize propagule sources.

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Section: S Scrofamentioning

confidence: 99%

Recolonizing native wildlife facilitates exotic plant invasion into Singapore's rain forests

Ho,

Dehaudt,

Lee

et al. 2023

Biotropica

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“…Khao Yai National Park in Thailand had the highest capture rates (1.238 captures per 100 trap nights), the highest naïve occupancy, and detection-corrected RN relative abundance among new camera trapping sessions (detected at 48% of all cameras; Supporting Information, Table S2). Leopard cats were rarely captured in rainforest interiors >2 km from a forest edge or in Singapore despite other disturbance-tolerant species recovering (Lamperty et al, 2023;Nursamsi et al, 2023). The RN model selection showed little support for the generic "distance to edge" covariate and strong support that leopard cats are more abundant near oil palm (Table 2).…”

Section: Local-scale Habitat Associationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesopredators in forest edges

Luskin,

Arnold,

Sovie

et al. 2023

Wildlife Letters

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Fragments and edges account for most remaining forest habitats globally. Apex predators and megaherbivores often decline in these degraded habitats while smaller generalist omnivores can persist or thrive in forest edges, especially if they can utilize nonnative resources (“cross‐boundary food subsidies”). Outcomes for small‐medium carnivores (mesopredators) remain unclear or idiosyncratic. We tested responses of a widespread and common forest mesopredator to edges and the composition of the adjacent nonforested areas using 91 camera trapping surveys in Southeast Asia. Leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis and Prionailurus javanensis) showed a hump‐shaped relationship with forest cover and a positive association with oil palm plantations, but they did not increase near other types of nonnative land cover. Leopard cats' success in edges appears due to their hunting abundant rodent prey inside oil palm plantations, providing natural pest management for farmers. Abundant leopard cats also hunt and suppress native small vertebrates, which may trigger negative ecological cascades and suppress biodiversity in forest edges.

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“…We tested our second hypothesis using mousedeer counts from published camera trapping studies and analysed this with generalized linear mixed models (glmms). Third, since predators and larger hunted herbivores are often the first to decline in forest edges and fragments (Amir, Moore, et al, 2022;Decoeur et al, 2023;Dehaudt et al, 2022;Dunn et al, 2022;Hendry et al, 2023;Honda et al, 2023;Moore et al, 2023;Nursamsi et al,. 2023), and because mousedeer have been reported from small forest patches, we hypothesized that release from predation and competition would produce a positive association with degraded forests (logged forest, forest edges and forest fragments).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi‐scale synthesis of mousedeer habitat associations in Southeast Asia reveals declining abundance but few extirpations in fragments and edges

Mendes,

Liu,

Amir

et al. 2023

Austral Ecology

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Habitat loss and fragmentation profoundly impact Southeast Asian rainforest biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. While many larger herbivores are hunted and area‐demanding apex predators are lost from degraded forests (logged forests, forest fragments and forest edges), smaller herbivore species may be comparatively resilient or even benefit from a release from competition and predation in degraded forests. Mousedeer (or chevrotains) in the Tragulus genus are some of the world's smallest ungulates (1.5–4.5 kg) and are widespread in Southeast Asia. We evaluated mousedeer habitat associations at three spatial scales. At the regional scale, presence‐only species distribution modelling suggested mousedeer are negatively associated with aridity and elevation. At the landscape scale, variation capture rates among 186 published camera trapping studies suggested mousedeer are negatively associated with forest degradation and elevation. At the local scale (within landscapes), mousedeer abundance sampled with 1218 cameras at 10 landscapes and analysed with hierarchical abundance modelling suggested mousedeer are negatively associated with humans and elevation. Mousedeer diel activity patterns shifted towards increased nocturnality in degraded forests, possibly to avoid interactions with diurnal humans. Taken together, mousedeer prefer wet lowland forests and they persist – but decline – in degraded habitats and near humans. One exception was degraded forest fragments of Singapore where mousedeer are very abundant, likely due to the absence of hunting and predators. Our results emphasize that small herbivores persisting in fragmented rainforests decline relative to intact forests and thus are unlikely to be experiencing significant release from competition or predation. They also differ from small omnivorous generalists who experience beneficial foraging opportunities at edges. In degraded forests where larger wildlife has been lost, even low densities of small herbivores may perpetuate important ecological interactions such as herbivory, seed dispersal, or as prey for remaining predators.

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Sunda pangolins show inconsistent responses to disturbances across multiple scales

Cited by 5 publications

References 69 publications

Recolonizing native wildlife facilitates exotic plant invasion into Singapore's rain forests

Recolonizing native wildlife facilitates exotic plant invasion into Singapore's rain forests

Mesopredators in forest edges

A multi‐scale synthesis of mousedeer habitat associations in Southeast Asia reveals declining abundance but few extirpations in fragments and edges

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