PNNL

Abstract

Throughout the world, tropical rainforests are being destroyed at an alarming rate, reducing many unprotected habitats to small fragments of remnant forests within the cleared landscape. Understanding the best way to provide wildlife habitat amid changing landscapes is essential for land use planning, especially in biodiversity hotspots like Indonesia. However, little is known about the conservation significance and mammalian use of forest fragments in Sumatra. In this study, camera trap surveys were conducted within Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and five surrounding forest fragments, and species composition metrics were used to compare their use. Twenty-eight species of mammals were found in the forest and 21 in the surrounding fragments. The fragments harbored a subset of the species found within the primary forest, as well as several species not observed in the forest. Critically endangered species such as Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) were found in the fragments, along with species of conservation concern such as marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) and Asiatic golden cat (Pardofelis temminickii). The biodiversity found within the fragments suggests that these small patches of remnant forest may be of conservation value to certain mammal species and may facilitate connectivity across the landscape.