Mid-sized felids threatened by habitat degradation in Southeast Asia

Decœur，Henri1; Amir，Zachary1; Mendes，Calebe P.1,2; Moore，Jonathan H.3,4; Luskin，Matthew Scott1,5

2023-07-01

10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110103

Biological Conservation   影响因子和分区

0006-3207

1873-2917

Deforestation and poaching in Southeast Asia have driven a stark decline in the region's apex predators, including large felids like tigers and leopards. Meanwhile, some small felids thrive in the region's human-modified landscapes. The extent to which medium-sized felids cope with anthropogenic disturbances remains poorly understood, but this information is crucial for the conservation of threatened felids and key trophic interactions that maintain high-diversity food webs. Here, we use the largest camera-trap dataset from Southeast Asia to conduct a multi-scale synthesis of the habitat associations of two cryptic felids, the Near-Threatened Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) and the Endangered bay cat (Catopuma badia). Unlike many mesopredators, both species exhibited poor tolerance to habitat degradation (i.e. selective logging, edges or fragmentation). The golden cat was positively associated with forest patch size and elevation, and negatively associated with degraded forests, and the bay cat was negatively associated with human population density. Our habitat suitability model suggests that ongoing forest fragmentation and degradation have critically reduced suitable habitat for the golden cat, giving reason to suspect a population decline that calls for a revision of the species' IUCN Red List status to Vulnerable. There is also evidence that the bay cat may be more widely distributed in Borneo than previously thought, including in areas currently threatened by deforestation. Our results indicate both species face a high risk of becoming extirpated from many of the region's remaining forests. In areas where apex predators have been extirpated, these charismatic mid-sized felids can become umbrella species to protect forests with high biodiversity value.

Deforestation Felid conservation Habitat fragmentation Mesopredator Rainforest ecology Species distribution modelling

SCI

英语

其他

National Geographic Society[9384–13];Australian Research Council[DE210101440];

Biodiversity & Conservation ; Environmental Sciences & Ecology

Biodiversity Conservation ; Ecology ; Environmental Sciences

WOS:001012037300001

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY

2-s2.0-85160053975

Scopus

1.School of Biological Sciences,University of Queensland,Brisbane,4072,Australia
2.Asian School of the Environment,Nanyang Technological University,Singapore
3.School of Environmental Sciences,University of East Anglia,Norwich,United Kingdom
4.School of Environmental Science and Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,China
5.Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science,University of Queensland,Australia

Decœur，Henri,Amir，Zachary,Mendes，Calebe P.,et al. Mid-sized felids threatened by habitat degradation in Southeast Asia[J]. Biological Conservation,2023,283.

Decœur，Henri,Amir，Zachary,Mendes，Calebe P.,Moore，Jonathan H.,&Luskin，Matthew Scott.(2023).Mid-sized felids threatened by habitat degradation in Southeast Asia.Biological Conservation,283.

Decœur，Henri,et al."Mid-sized felids threatened by habitat degradation in Southeast Asia".Biological Conservation 283(2023).