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Fruit gardens enhance mammal diversity and biomass in a Southeast Asian rainforest

Moore, Jonathan Harry; Sittimongkol, Saifon; Campos-Arceiz, Ahimsa; Sumpah, Tok; Eichhorn, Markus P.

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Authors

Saifon Sittimongkol

Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz

Tok Sumpah

Markus P. Eichhorn



Abstract

Protected areas are frequently inhabited by people and conservation must be integrated with traditional management systems. Cultivation of fruit gardens is a low-impact agroforestry technique which alters the structure and composition of forest stands and has the potential to thereby influence animal communities. This is of particular interest in the rainforests of Southeast Asia, where limited fruit availability between intermittent mast fruiting events results in low mammal densities. We assessed how agroforestry practises of an indigenous community affect terrestrial mammal abundance, diversity and assemblage composition within Krau Wildlife Reserve, Pahang, Malaysia. We used baited camera traps to compare mammal abundance and diversity between seven fruit gardens and eight control sites. Fruit gardens contained similar species richness and abundance levels but higher diversity and almost threefold higher mammal biomass. Fruit gardens contained five times as many fruit-producing trees and a positive correlation was found between the number of fruit trees and total mammal biomass. Mammal community composition differed between the two habitats, with fruit gardens attracting nine species of conservation concern. These results suggest that traditional agroforestry systems may provide additional resources for mammals and therefore their net effects should be considered in conservation policy.

Citation

Moore, J. H., Sittimongkol, S., Campos-Arceiz, A., Sumpah, T., & Eichhorn, M. P. (2016). Fruit gardens enhance mammal diversity and biomass in a Southeast Asian rainforest. Biological Conservation, 194, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.12.015

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Feb 1, 2016
Deposit Date Feb 25, 2016
Publicly Available Date Feb 25, 2016
Journal Biological Conservation
Print ISSN 0006-3207
Electronic ISSN 1873-2917
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 194
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.12.015
Keywords Agroforestry, Indigenous practices, Fruit availability, Frugivory, Camera trapping
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/978546
Publisher URL http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715301968

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