Hedges, L., Clements, G.R., Aziz, S.A., Yap, W., Laurance, S., Goosem, M., and Laurance, W.F. (2013) Small carnivore records from a threatened habitat linkage in Terenganu, Peninsula Malaysia. Small Carnivore Conservation, 49. pp. 9-14.

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Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation are a key threat to the survival of several small carnivore species in Southeast Asia. Enhancing habitat connectivity is therefore an important conservation strategy. In Peninsular Malaysia, the government plans to connect its fragmented forests via 17 habitat linkages to form a large contiguous forest complex known as the Central Forest Spine. Small carnivore species composition in these linkages remains poorly documented. Of the 12 species detected in and around Linkage 7, in the state of Terengganu, four are categorised as Vulnerable by The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Binturong Arctictis binturong, Banded Civet Hemigalus derbyanus, Oriental Small-clawed Otter Aonyx cinereus and Smooth-coated Otter Lutrogale perspicillata. A photograph of Crab-eating Mongoose Herpestes urva with young is the first record of this species from Terengganu, extending eastwards its known distribution in Peninsular Malaysia. Forests in and around this linkage are threatened by disturbance associated with an existing road, and the construction of a nearby dam. The study area’s relatively high recorded small carnivore species richness, and its complement of globally threatened small carnivore species, supports its inclusion into a proposed protected area (known as the Kenyir Wildlife Corridor). Information on small carnivores in other linkages warrants publication, especially from camera-trap surveys that consciously account for microhabitat use and behavioural variation between different species. This would allow a clearer understanding of small carnivore communities in Peninsular Malaysia.

Item ID:	32342
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1019-5041
Keywords:	conservation, corridors, small mammals, rainforest
Funders:	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Rufford Small Grant for Nature Conservation, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Cleveland Zoological Society, IDEA WILD, James Cook University, Universiti Malaya, Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Australian Research Council, ARC
Date Deposited:	20 May 2014 04:45
FoR Codes:	06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060202 Community Ecology (excl Invasive Species Ecology) @ 50% 05 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 0501 Ecological Applications > 050104 Landscape Ecology @ 50%
SEO Codes:	96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960806 Forest and Woodlands Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity @ 100%
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