Search

Habitat connectivity is crucial for the conservation of species restricted to fragmented populations within human-dominated landscapes. However, identifying habitat connectivity for apex predators is challenging because trophic interactions between primary productivity and prey species influence both the distribution of habitats, and predator movement. Our goal was to assess habitat connectivity for Indochinese tigers (Panthera tigris) in Thailand. We quantified suitable habitat and dispersal corridors based an ensemble species distribution model that included prey distributions, primary productivity, and abiotic variables and was based on camera-trap data from 1996 to 2013 in 15 protected areas. We employed graph theory to evaluate the relative importance of habitat patches and dispersal corridors to the overall connectivity network. We found that tiger occurrence models with and without prey distributions performed well (Area Under the Curve: 0.932–0.954). However, inclusion of prey distributions significantly improved model performance (P

Political and economic transitions have had substantial impacts on forest conservation. Where transitions are underway or anticipated, historical precedent and methods for systematically assessing future trends should be used to anticipate likely threats to forest conservation and design appropriate and prescient policy measures to counteract them. Myanmar is transitioning from an authoritarian, centralized state with a highly regulated economy to a more decentralized and economically liberal democracy and is working to end a long-running civil war. With these transitions in mind, we used a horizon-scanning approach to assess the 40 emerging issues most affecting Myanmar's forests, including internal conflict, land-tenure insecurity, large-scale agricultural development, demise of state timber enterprises, shortfalls in government revenue and capacity, and opening of new deforestation frontiers with new roads, mines, and hydroelectric dams. Averting these threats will require, for example, overhauling governance models, building capacity, improving infrastructure- and energy-project planning, and reforming land-tenure and environmental-protection laws. Although challenges to conservation in Myanmar are daunting, the political transition offers an opportunity for conservationists and researchers to help shape a future that enhances Myanmar's social, economic, and environmental potential while learning and applying lessons from other countries. Our approach and results are relevant to other countries undergoing similar transitions.

Across Asia protected areas serve as refuges for carnivores inside human-dominated landscapes. However, the creation of hard edges around reserve boundaries where conflicts with humans arise and disturbance from human activities inside the reserves may affect carnivore behaviour and ecology. Thailand’s largest protected area, Kaeng Krachan National Park (2915 km2) receives >100,000 visitors annually while maintaining an intact assemblage of prey species for large carnivores, making it a potentially important site for population recovery of leopards (Panthera pardus), tigers (Panthera tigris) and dholes (Cuon alpinus). We assessed the abundance of leopards and their prey base, and their response to changes in levels of human activity after an unexpected flooding event that resulted in the park being closed to visitors for >6 months. Using camera-traps, we identified 6 individual leopards and used spatially explicit capture-recapture (SECR) methods, incorporating humans and prey as covariates, to test for factors affecting the detection probability of leopards before and after the park closure. Leopard density was unchanged between the two periods, however the movement and activity patterns were clearly different. In the absence of tourist activity, leopards tended to move more frequently, leopard detection rates increased by 70% and activity shifted towards being more diurnal. The consequences of these changes in behaviour may include improved health, reproduction and survival. A management strategy involving seasonal closure of parks may serve to alleviate pressure on leopards and other carnivores. We recommend using information on abundance of large carnivores and their prey species, and human disturbance as the key indicators for long-term monitoring and management of protected areas in Southeast Asia.

Integration of multiple technologies greatly increases the spatial and temporal scales over which ecological patterns and processes can be studied, and threats to protected ecosystems can be identified and mitigated. A range of technology options relevant to ecologists and conservation practitioners are described, including ways they can be linked to increase the dimensionality of data collection efforts. Remote sensing, ground-based, and data fusion technologies are broadly discussed in the context of ecological research and conservation efforts. Examples of technology integration across all of these domains are provided for large-scale protected area management and investigation of ecological dynamics. Most technologies are low-cost or open-source, and when deployed can reach economies of scale that reduce per-area costs dramatically. The large-scale, long-term data collection efforts presented here can generate new spatio-temporal understanding of threats faced by natural ecosystems and endangered species, leading to more effective conservation strategies.

Despite being heavily exploited, pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) have been subject to limited research, resulting in a lack of reliable population estimates and standardised survey methods for the eight extant species. Camera trapping represents a unique opportunity for broad-scale collaborative species monitoring due to its largely nondiscriminatory nature, which creates considerable volumes of data on a relatively wide range of species. This has the potential to shed light on the ecology of rare, cryptic and understudied taxa, with implications for conservation decision-making. We undertook a global analysis of available pangolin data from camera trapping studies across their range in Africa and Asia. Our aims were (1) to assess the utility of existing camera trapping efforts as a method for monitoring pangolin populations, and (2) to gain insights into the distribution and ecology of pangolins. We analysed data collated from 103 camera trap surveys undertaken across 22 countries that fell within the range of seven of the eight pangolin species, which yielded more than half a million trap nights and 888 pangolin encounters. We ran occupancy analyses on three species (Sunda pangolin Manis javanica, white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis and giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea). Detection probabilities varied with forest cover and levels of human influence for P. tricuspis, but were low (

The loss and fragmentation of substantial areas of forest habitat, in combination with rampant hunting, has pushed many of Southeast Asia’s megafauna species to the verge of extinction. However, the extent of these declines is rarely quantified, thereby weakening lessons learned and species-based management. This need not be the case as a proliferation of camera trap surveys for large-bodied mammals across Southeast Asia, which use a standardized sampling technique, presents a rich yet under-utilized wildlife data set. Furthermore, advances in statistical techniques for assessing species distribution provide new opportunities for conducting comparative regional analyses. Here, we focus on one of Southeast Asia’s least known species of megafauna, the Endangered Asian tapir ( Tapirus indicus ), to investigate the performance of a camera trap-based spatial modeling approach in conducting a range-wide species assessment. Detection data were collectively collated from 52,904 trap days and 1,128 camera traps located across 19 study areas drawn from the Asian tapir’s entire range. Considerable variation in tapir occurrence was found between study areas in: Malaysia (0.52–0.77); Sumatra, Indonesia (0.12–0.90); Thailand (0.00–0.65); and, Myanmar (0.00–0.26), with generally good levels of estimate precision. Although tapirs were widespread (recorded in 17 of the 19 study areas), their occurrence was significantly and negatively correlated with human disturbance. Thus, this study extends the previously known applicability of camera traps to include a threatened and cryptic species by identifying where and how tapirs persist (including new records of occurrence), where future surveys should be conducted and providing a benchmark for measuring future conservation management efforts.

The monitoring and management of species depends on reliable population estimates, and this can be both difficult and very costly for cryptic large vertebrates that live in forested habitats. Recently developed camera trapping techniques have already been shown to be an effective means of making mark-recapture estimates of individually identifiable animals (e.g. tigers). Camera traps also provide a new method for surveying animal abundance. Through computer simulations, and an analysis of the rates of camera trap capture from 19 studies of tigers across the species' range, we show that the number of camera days/tiger photograph correlates with independent estimates of tiger density. This statistic does not rely on individual identity and is particularly useful for estimating the population density of species that are not individually identifiable. Finally, we used the comparison between observed trapping rates and the computer simulations to estimate the minimum effort required to determine that tigers, or other species, do not exist in an area, a measure that is critical for conservation planning.

Southeast Asia's tropical forests suffer the highest rates of deforestation and disturbance of any on Earth, with poorly understood impacts on native fauna. Asian tapirs (Tapirus indicus) are among the least studied of the large mammals in these forests. Using records from 9 camera trap surveys in 7 of the largest (>1000 km(2) ) protected area complexes, we assessed the influence of environmental variation and human-induced disturbance on tapir occurrence. Tapirs were detected at 13% of locations sampled, significantly associated with evergreen forest (P 40% over the past 20 years. We recommend surveys to fill gaps in the understanding of the status in lesser-known protected areas, research to better understand the fine-scale environmental influences on behavior and habitats of tapirs, and other forest ungulates, and continued legal status for tapirs in the highest category of protection.

Clouded Leopard, Leopard, and Tiger are threatened felids in Southeast Asia, but little is known about the factors in! uencing their distributions. Using logistic regression, we assessed how habitat variables, prey detection patterns, and presence of intraguild predators affect the occurrence of these felids across 13 protected areas within Thailand. Our analysis is based on data from 1108 camera-trap locations (47,613 trap-nights). Clouded Leopard and Leopard are associated with habitat where Red Muntjac and Eurasian Wild Pig were most likely to be present. Tiger are associated with habitat with a higher likelihood for the presence of Gaur, Eurasian Wild Pig, and Sambar. Clouded Leopard and Tiger were both weakly associated with areas with mature evergreen forest. Besides availability of prey, associations with potential competitors also appear to in! uence the distribution of these felids, although the strength of these effects requires further investigation. Occurrence rates for Clouded Leopard were no different in protected areas with Leopard versus without Leopards. Leopard had similar occurrence rates regardless of the presence of Tiger, but Leopards were less likely to be detected at the same camera-trap points with the larger felid. Our results suggest that the two most commonly photographed prey species in the study areas serve as key prey species, Eurasian Wild Pig for all three carnivores and Red Muntjac for Leopard and Clouded Leopard.

Khao Yai National Park (KYNP) is well known for its biodiversity and has the potential to serve as a regional model for wildlife conservation. From October 2003 through October 2007, the managers of KYNP conducted a Carnivore Conservation Project to develop and implement long-term monitoring of their large mammal populations. We present these data as an example to demonstrate the usefulness of long-term camera-trapping despite data that cannot be fitted to mark/recapture or occupancy statistical frameworks. Overall, a relatively high number of camera trap photographs was obtained for viverrids (four species; 44 photos) and ursids (two species; 39 photos). However, a relatively low number (range, one to eight) of camera trap photographs was obtained for each of the four felid species and two canid species detected by cameras. Of a total survey effort of 6,260 trap nights, no tigers ( Panthera tigris) were detected by camera traps, suggestive of at best a small, non-viable tiger population. Compared to previous camera-trapping efforts at KYNP, we expanded intensive sampling beyond the core area to include all zones and edges of the park. We found significantly lower relative abundance indices (RAIs) for certain mammal species, and collectively for all mammals compared to data obtained in 1999–2000 from 34 similar survey locations, suggesting population declines linked to increased human activity. Information from long-term camera-trapping can provide critical information on the occurrence of elusive species, hotspots, the role of invasive or domestic species, and an indication of the effectiveness of patrolling and other management and conservation interventions.

A century ago, tigers (Panthera tigris Linnaeus, 1758) were so common in parts of Southeast Asia as to be considered pests, and governments sponsored their killing. Habitat loss and fragmentation, market-driven poaching and loss of prey have since led to the disappearance of Indochinese tigers from most their former range. Despite 15 years of dedicated tiger conservation funding, national estimates of Indochinese tiger subpopulations can at best only be roughly approximated. The future for the subspecies appears grim unless very focused efforts can be applied to stabilize and recover subpopulations. On a regional scale, the 2 proposed subspecies Panthera tigris corbetti and P. tigris jacksoni are effectively managed as separate conservation units. Evaluating where to place conservation efforts should consider the vulnerability (likelihood of extinction) and irreplaceability (likelihood that an area contributes uniquely to regional conservation) of tiger subpopulations. Only 1 site in Thailand supporting200 individuals (Huai Kha Khaeng-Thung Yai) is considered low vulnerability, and is irreplaceable. Five sites in Lao, Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia are medium vulnerability and irreplaceable. Priorities at these 6 sites are to double tiger numbers within 10 years through protection and monitoring. Seven sites in Lao, Thailand and Myanmar are high vulnerability and irreplaceable, and might be recovered if government commitment to tigers, staff capacity and legal frameworks for tiger protection are established. Tigers are extremely vulnerable or even extinct in Cambodia's Eastern Plains and the site is irreplaceable for tigers because it represents the only large (10,000 km(2) ) block of dry forest habitat available in the region. A reintroduction program is the only option to recover tigers there.

Melanistic leopards Panthera pardus are common in south-east Asian forests but the exact frequency of this variant phenotype is difficult to assess. Records from camera-trapping studies conducted at 22 locations in Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand between 1996 and 2009 show that only melanistic leopards were present in samples south of the Isthmus of Kra. During 42 565 trap-nights, we collected 445 photos of melanistic leopards and 29 photos of the spotted or non-melanistic morph. All 29 photos of spotted leopards came from study sites north of the Isthmus. These results indicate that this recessive trait may be nearly fixed in P. pardus populations of the Malay Peninsula, suggesting a unique evolutionary history of leopards in the region. Assuming a very small effective population size (Ne=100) and a high initial allelic frequency, at least 1000 years would be expected to elapse until a neutral allele became fixed. The severe bottleneck implied by this scenario provides a testable hypothesis that can be addressed using molecular markers and evidence of past glacioeustatic changes across the region. Although natural selection might lead to rapid fixation of melanism within Malayan leopards, had their effective population size been much larger (e.g. Ne=5000) and stable, with a lower allelic frequency, the fixation would require a longer time span (e.g. 20 000 years) if induced by genetic drift alone.

Wildlife managers require status and distribution information for informed decisions. Recognizing the tiger's globally threatened status and potential as an umbrella species for protection of forested landscapes, camera trap surveys for tigers and other large mammals have been conducted since 1997 in Peninsular Malaysia with the aim of assessing the population status of tigers in the Peninsula. Results from surveys at nine sites between December 1997 and December 1999 are reported here. Tigers were confirmed from six sites in the Main Range and Greater Taman Negara landscape, with multiple locations inside putative priority tiger areas. Although the data were collected 8 years ago, they are supplemented with more recent information, including tiger-human conflict investigations during 2000–2005 that indicate tiger persistence at these sites. Tiger density estimates were 0.51–1.95 tigers per 100 km2. With results from other surveys, this suggests a national population of up to several hundred tigers. A thorough survey, with sufficient resources, should be carried out in the future to derive a more reliable tiger population estimate for Malaysia. Key threats are habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting of prey, commercial trade in tiger parts, and harassment and displacement. Recommendations for the recovery of tigers in Peninsular Malaysia are provided.

Edge effects arising from road construction and other development in protected areas can negatively affect the behaviour of wildlife, particularly large carnivores. The Asiatic leopard Panthera pardus is a large carnivore that may be sensitive to edge effects. Camera trapping was used to assess the influence of human disturbance along forest edges on leopard behaviour and habitat use in a 104 km2 area of Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand. A minimum of four male and two female leopards was recorded in the study area. A Park access road bisecting the study area was not a barrier to leopard movement but movements and activity were affected by human traffic inside the Park. A regression model showed that leopard habitat use increased with distance from human settlements at the forest edge. As in other parts of its range, leopards at Kaeng Krachan National Park tended to show less diurnal activity in areas more heavily used by people compared to areas less used. As is the case with tigers, such responses may pose a threat to leopard population persistence but more research is needed to determine the demographic implications of edge effects for Asiatic leopards and other large tropical carnivores, and the appropriate mitigation strategies required.

A century ago, tigers were considered pests in Myanmar. Hunters claimed thousands, yet populations persisted. In the past century, because of habitat loss and prey depletion, coupled with the recent demand for traditional medicines, tiger populations have been reduced to a few hundred individuals. As a first step toward long-term planning for tigers, and to guide efforts to increase protected area coverage, the Myanmar government in 1998 initiated a project to develop a revised National Tiger Action Plan. Extensive surveys confirmed tigers in only 4 of 17 survey locations. Significant populations are thought to persist in the far North and far South of the country, where large, intact forests offer the potential for tiger recovery. With partnerships and collaborations, tiger populations can be protected in the short term (

Southeast Asia is a biodiversity hotspot where the risk of extinction for many vertebrates is high (Duckworth et al. 2012) due to the loss and degradation of habitats resulting from burgeoning human populations and economies, expansion of agricultural development, and unsustainable harvest of wildlife and other natural resources (Sodhi et al. 2010). Important conservation challenges in the region, especially in the terrestrial and coastal realms, include reducing the loss and degradation of native vegetation and reducing the risk of species' extinction and extirpation. This will involve mitigating impacts of land-use change, reducing human-wildlife conflicts, improving management of protected areas, resolving land-tenure conflicts, increasing community engagement in in resource conservation, and ultimately developing proconservation behaviors in Asian societies as a whole. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Changes in the distribution and abundance of bird and small mammal species at urban-wildland edges can be caused by different factors. Edges can affect populations directly if animals respond behaviorally to the edge itself or if proximity to edge directly affects demographic vital rates (an “ecotonal” effect). Alternatively, urban edges can indirectly affect populations if edges alter the characteristics of the adjacent wildland vegetation, which in turn prompts a response to the altered habitat (a “matrix” or “habitat” effect). We studied edge effects of birds and small mammals in southern Californian coastal sage scrub, and assessed whether edge effects were attributable to direct behavioral responses to edges or to animal responses to changes in habitat at edges. Vegetation species composition and structure varied with distance from edge, but the differences varied among study sites. Because vegetation characteristics were correlated with distance from edge, responses to habitat were explored by using independently-derived models of habitat associations to calibrate vegetation measurements to the habitat affinities of each animal species. Of sixteen species examined, five bird and one small mammal species responded to edge independently of habitat features, and thus habitat restoration at edges is expected to be an ineffective conservation measure for these species. Two additional species of birds and one small mammal responded to habitat gradients that coincided with distance from edge, such that the effect of edge on these species was expressed via potentially reversible habitat degradation.

Fragmentation of tropical forests has wide-ranging effects on wildlife communities, but the actual mechanisms of species impoverishment remain poorly understood. Small mammal assemblages on recent land-bridge islands at Chiew Larn, Thailand, were compared with nearby continuous forest from the fifth to seventh years following island creation. Assemblages on islands rapidly developed a nested structure, converging in composition and representing a depauperate subset of those in continuous forest. Among species that persisted on islands, many had altered abundances, with some increasing and others declining. A “random placement model” accounted for the observed distributions of species on mainland sites but not on islands, suggesting that nested island assemblages were generated both by changes in species distributions and abundances after fragmentation. Six species were prone to extinction on islands, whereas three increased in abundance, apparently because they were good over-water colonizers or favored disturbed habitats on islands. We conclude that the development of nested mammal assemblages in the Chiew Larn archipelago was caused both by differential vulnerabilities of species to local extinction and by varying abilities of species to colonize islands and to thrive in disturbed island habitats.

Futile Forest Fragments Most of the planet's terrestrial biodiversity is found in tropical forests, but much of this critical habitat now persists as fragmented patches surrounded by agriculture. Smaller forest patches sustain fewer species than larger patches or contiguous forest. However, the numbers of species that will disappear from a forest fragment—and the rate of species loss—remain poorly understood. Gibson et al. (p. 1508 ) surveyed islands in a reservoir in Thailand to measure the rate of loss of small mammals from small forest fragments. Collapse of the entire native community (up to 12 species) from 16 forest fragments was observed after 25 years of isolation. Thus, small forest fragments hold little value for mammalian biodiversity, and conservation efforts should instead focus on the preservation of large forest expanses.

No recent attempt has been made to survey dhole distribution, or to estimate remaining population numbers. We surveyed 15 protected areas in Thailand with camera traps from 1996 to 2010. We used the photo locations of dholes (n = 96) in the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) model along with six environmental variables to model current dhole distribution, as well as species predictive occurrence layers for sambar, red muntjac, wild boar, tiger, and leopard. The MaxEnt model identifi ed the predicted probability of the presence of leopards and sambar as positive and the most important variables in modeling dhole presence, indicating that maintaining a suffi cient prey base may be the most important factor determining continued survival of dholes. Roughly 7 % of the total land area in Thailand is potentially suitable for dholes. However, surveys to date have focused on protected areas, which make up just a third of the potential suitable areas for dholes. Only in four protected areas do they occur across the entire landscape, suggesting that in the majority of places where they occur, habitats are not uniformly suitable. Using the model, we identifi ed several potential areas where dholes have not been reported, and therefore status surveys are needed, and where future research of the species might be focused.

Most species-specific conservation efforts require estimates of population size to establish priorities and to monitor management activities. Yet obtaining reliable estimates of animal populations is often difficult, especially given time and funding limitations experienced by many research programmes. Consequently, there is a great need for practical methods to provide indices of animal density. Ideally, accurate estimates of populations would be obtained through mark-recapture data collected from recognizable individuals over multiple censuses that cover the entire population range. Such data are rarely available, so conservation biologists have no alternative but to resort to analyses of less perfect data, ranging from permanent-point censuses from cameras through to transect data on sightings and spoor encounters. The importance of census and monitoring data makes the development, and validation, of new techniques a priority. Because we do not live in a perfect world, there is a need to develop methods that can give an estimate of population sizes. It would be naive to assume that these will give hugely accurate estimates of population size, but these techniques can prove useful in identifying areas that are likely to benefit from conservation action.

Habitat destruction and overhunting are two major drivers of mammal population declines and extinctions in tropical forests. The construction of roads can be a catalyst for these two threats. In Southeast Asia, the impacts of roads on mammals have not been well-documented at a regional scale. Before evidence-based conservation strategies can be developed to minimize the threat of roads to endangered mammals within this region, we first need to locate where and how roads are contributing to the conversion of their habitats and illegal hunting in each country. We interviewed 36 experts involved in mammal research from seven Southeast Asian countries to identify roads that are contributing the most, in their opinion, to habitat conversion and illegal hunting. Our experts highlighted 16 existing and eight planned roads - these potentially threaten 21% of the 117 endangered terrestrial mammals in those countries. Apart from gathering qualitative evidence from the literature to assess their claims, we demonstrate how species-distribution models, satellite imagery and animal-sign surveys can be used to provide quantitative evidence of roads causing impacts by (1) cutting through habitats where endangered mammals are likely to occur, (2) intensifying forest conversion, and (3) contributing to illegal hunting and wildlife trade. To our knowledge, ours is the first study to identify specific roads threatening endangered mammals in Southeast Asia. Further through highlighting the impacts of roads, we propose 10 measures to limit road impacts in the region.

Simultaneous studies on an insular population of house mice Mus domesticus and an avian predator, the barn owl Tyto alba, showed that owls differentially take small female mice from the population. Owls hunted at night over open vegetation, when mice were also active. Fluorescent pigment tracking and trapping showed that juvenile mice, especially females, used open vegetation more than adults, and hence were potentially most at risk of predation