Camera-trapping rates of mammals and birds in a Bornean tropical rainforest under sustainable forest management

Abstract

To evaluate the effectiveness of sustainable forest management (SFM) for wildlife conservation, we investigated the abundances of medium to large ground-dwelling vertebrates in a forest management unit in Borneo by camera trapping. The forest management unit (FMU), Deramakot Forest Reserve (55,083ha), has applied SFM for the past 15years. We established 15 plots in preharvested areas and five plots in postharvested areas over the FMU. Plots in the postharvested areas had been subject to reduced-impact logging from 2 to 13years ago. We obtained photos of ground-dwelling vertebrates with infrared sensor cameras set at 12 random points in each plot. Based on the numbers of photos taken over 770 camera days in each plot, we calculated the mean trapping rate (MTR) of each species for each plot. Over the 20 plots, we obtained 5444 photos of 39 medium-to-large vertebrates (i.e., mammals, birds, and monitor lizards); these included many elusive and endangered species. Among the 39 species, no species showed a significant difference in MTR between the pre- and postharvested areas. Furthermore, species composition was not significantly different between the pre- and postharvested areas. Our results support the idea that implementation of SFM can be an effective investment in wildlife conservation in tropical rainforests.