TY - JOUR
T1 - Space-use patterns of Malay civets (Viverra tangalunga) persisting within a landscape fragmented by oil palm plantations
AU - Evans, Meaghan N.
AU - Müller, Carsten T.
AU - Kille, Peter
AU - Asner, Gregory P.
AU - Guerrero-Sanchez, Sergio
AU - Bakar, Mohd Soffian Abu
AU - Goossens, Benoit
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was funded by Houston Zoo, the Sime Darby Foundation, Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong, and Phoenix Zoo. We thank the Sabah Biodiversity Centre and the Sabah Wildlife Department for supporting this research. A heartfelt thank you is extended to L. Evans, D. Stark, M. Kunde, and the staff, students, and volunteers of Danau Girang Field Centre. We are grateful for the veterinarian support provided by Drs. D. Ramírez, M. Gonzalez, L. Benedict, and P. Nagalingam. The Global Airborne Observatory is made possible by support provided by private foundations, visionary individuals, and Arizona State University.
Funding Information:
This project was funded by Houston Zoo, the Sime Darby Foundation, Ocean Park Conservation Foundation Hong Kong, and Phoenix Zoo. We thank the Sabah Biodiversity Centre and the Sabah Wildlife Department for supporting this research. A heartfelt thank you is extended to L. Evans, D. Stark, M. Kunde, and the staff, students, and volunteers of Danau Girang Field Centre. We are grateful for the veterinarian support provided by Drs. D. Ram?rez, M. Gonzalez, L. Benedict, and P. Nagalingam. The Global Airborne Observatory is made possible by support provided by private foundations, visionary individuals, and Arizona State University.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - Context: Agricultural land use is expanding and is a major driver of the biodiversity crisis. Land use planning initiatives seeking to optimize wildlife conservation are hindered by a lack of baseline data quantifying species’ tolerance to human-modified landscapes. Objectives: We explored the influence of landscape characteristics on the fine-scale space-use patterns of a model generalist carnivore, the Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga), within degraded tropical forests and oil palm plantations. Methods: We collected over 20,000 GPS locations from 21 male civets in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo to evaluate the species’ space-use patterns and habitat utilization processes. We used movement-based modeling to determine home ranges, and combined the results with high-resolution remotely sensed habitat characteristics. We developed resource utilization functions to determine individual and population-level functional responses to proximity to plantation edge, distance to water, terrain ruggedness, forest structure, and functional diversity. Results: Civets foraged within oil palm plantations, yet all animals utilized forests. Home ranges scaled with proportion of plantation within both total and core ranges. Resource utilization functions reported individualism in the species’ responses to habitat characteristics. At the population-scale, civets consistently and more intensely used habitats closer to plantation edges and taller tree canopies. Conclusions: Although plantations did not pose an inhospitable matrix, oil palm agriculture is a less suitable habitat than remnant forests for civets. Proximity measures and forest structure influenced the spatial behaviors of this adaptable generalist, highlighting the importance of protected areas. We recommend land-sparing and -sharing approaches to facilitate carnivore persistence across oil palm degraded landscapes.
AB - Context: Agricultural land use is expanding and is a major driver of the biodiversity crisis. Land use planning initiatives seeking to optimize wildlife conservation are hindered by a lack of baseline data quantifying species’ tolerance to human-modified landscapes. Objectives: We explored the influence of landscape characteristics on the fine-scale space-use patterns of a model generalist carnivore, the Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga), within degraded tropical forests and oil palm plantations. Methods: We collected over 20,000 GPS locations from 21 male civets in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo to evaluate the species’ space-use patterns and habitat utilization processes. We used movement-based modeling to determine home ranges, and combined the results with high-resolution remotely sensed habitat characteristics. We developed resource utilization functions to determine individual and population-level functional responses to proximity to plantation edge, distance to water, terrain ruggedness, forest structure, and functional diversity. Results: Civets foraged within oil palm plantations, yet all animals utilized forests. Home ranges scaled with proportion of plantation within both total and core ranges. Resource utilization functions reported individualism in the species’ responses to habitat characteristics. At the population-scale, civets consistently and more intensely used habitats closer to plantation edges and taller tree canopies. Conclusions: Although plantations did not pose an inhospitable matrix, oil palm agriculture is a less suitable habitat than remnant forests for civets. Proximity measures and forest structure influenced the spatial behaviors of this adaptable generalist, highlighting the importance of protected areas. We recommend land-sparing and -sharing approaches to facilitate carnivore persistence across oil palm degraded landscapes.
KW - Agriculture
KW - Home range
KW - Landscape fragmentation
KW - Malay civet
KW - Oil palm plantation
KW - Resource utilization function
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U2 - 10.1007/s10980-020-01187-2
DO - 10.1007/s10980-020-01187-2
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85100119111
SN - 0921-2973
VL - 36
SP - 915
EP - 930
JO - Landscape Ecology
JF - Landscape Ecology
IS - 3
ER -