Diversity and density of diurnal squirrels in a primary hill dipterocarp forest, Malaysia

Abstract

Squirrels (Order Rodentia; Family Sciuridae) are among the group of small mammals that have high species diversity in the Malaysian tropical rain forests (Corbet & Hill 1992). In Peninsular Malaysia alone a total of 14 diurnal and 11 nocturnal species has been recorded (Medway 1983). In Peninsular Malaysia, several studies on squirrels have been done which emphasized vertical stratification (Harrison 1962, Lim et al. 1977, MacKinnon 1978, Saiful et al. 2001a), diversity (Zubaid & Ariffin 1997), home range sizes (Tamura 1993, Saiful et al. 2001b), social behaviour (Tamura & Yong 1993) and impact of human disturbance on habitat (Johns 1987). These studies were conducted in lowland and hill forests that have been logged. There are, however, few studies on squirrel abundance in terms of their density in Peninsular Malaysia especially in primary ill forests. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to provide baseline data and information on squirrel richness, diversity and abundance in the Malaysian primary hill forest.