Camera trapping assessment of terrestrial mammals and birds in rehabilitated forest in INIKEA Project Area, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

The Innoprise-IKEA (INIKEA) Forest Rehabilitation Project in Kalabakan Forest Reserve, Sabah, was established to rehabilitate degraded forest afected by conventional logging and forest fres that occurred during an El-Nino event (1982–1983). The present study aimed to investigate the responses of ground-dwelling mammals and birds to the diferent rehabilitation practices in INIKEA: gap-cluster planting, line planting and liberation, where enrichment planting applied in both gap-cluster and line planting. A total of 74 camera traps were deployed at random locations across reforested INIKEA plots, including plots in control areas comprising naturally regenerated forest. A total of 6534 independent photographs of medium-to-large vertebrates from 7266 camera-trap nights representing 33 species from 14 families and 7 orders were obtained. Among the detected vertebrate species, 2 are listed as Critically endangered, 5 as Endangered, 8 as Vulnerable and 6 as Near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Mousedeer was the most frequently photocaptured species, followed by muntjac, bearded pig, sambar deer, pig-tailed macaque and crested freback. The present study demonstrates that the rehabilitation methods applied in INIKEA have aided forest recovery, providing habitat for the ground-dwelling mammals and birds in Sabah. General forest structure, species richness and species composition did not signifcantly difer between the areas subjected to rehabilitation treatment and the control area. The results suggest that the liberation method should be abandoned to ensure a variety of food resources for animal species. Provided major forest components remain after disturbance, disturbed forest areas should be left to undergo natural recover

Camera-trapping assessment of terrestrial mammals and birds in rehabilitated forest in INIKEA Project Area, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo

The Innoprise-IKEA (INIKEA) Forest Rehabilitation Project in Kalabakan Forest Reserve, Sabah, was established to rehabilitate degraded forest affected by conventional logging and forest fires that occurred during an El-Nino event (1982–1983). The present study aimed to investigate the responses of ground-dwelling mammals and birds to the different rehabilitation practices in INIKEA: gap-cluster planting, line planting and liberation, where enrichment planting applied in both gap-cluster and line planting. A total of 74 camera traps were deployed at random locations across reforested INIKEA plots, including plots in control areas comprising naturally regenerated forest. A total of 6534 independent photographs of medium-to-large vertebrates from 7266 camera-trap nights representing 33 species from 14 families and 7 orders were obtained. Among the detected vertebrate species, 2 are listed as Critically endangered, 5 as Endangered, 8 as Vulnerable and 6 as Near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Mousedeer was the most frequently photocaptured species, followed by muntjac, bearded pig, sambar deer, pig-tailed macaque and crested fireback. The present study demonstrates that the rehabilitation methods applied in INIKEA have aided forest recovery, providing habitat for the ground-dwelling mammals and birds in Sabah. General forest structure, species richness and species composition did not significantly differ between the areas subjected to rehabilitation treatment and the control area. The results suggest that the liberation method should be abandoned to ensure a variety of food resources for animal species. Provided major forest components remain after disturbance, disturbed forest areas should be left to undergo natural recovery

Seasonal home range and habitat selection patterns of sika deer Cervus nippon in southern Hokkaido, Japan

In 1980 and 1981, eight and nine individual sika deer Cervus nippon were reintroduced in southern Hokkaido, Japan, respectively, to address population declines in this species during 1900s. As recent population growth has led to human-wildlife conflicts, this study investigated the responses of sika deer to resource availability and geomorphic factors during the summer and winter seasons in southern Hokkaido. Global positioning system-collared data collected from 2016 to 2018 were used to assess the home range patterns and habitat selection of 14 female sika deer located in Mount Esan and Shiriuchi. The core home range size was defined using a 50% kernel density estimation that indicated a larger home range in winter than summer for all deer. Habitat selection was assessed using generalized linear mixed models. The results showed variation in habitat selection between resident deer of Mount Esan and Shiriuchi, as well as migratory deer in Shiriuchi during summer. Resident deer in Mount Esan and Shriuchi preferred areas closer to crops during summer. Interaction effects revealed that migratory deer utilized natural grassland close to forest edge habitat in Shiriuchi. By contrast, resident deer in Shiriuchi selected forest edge habitat and natural grasslands close to crops. In winter, low elevation was the most important habitat factor for all deer across the study area. Thus, sika deer habitat selection depends on resource availability in summer and topographic factors in the winter

Seasonal and year-round use of the Kushiro Wetland, Hokkaido, Japan by sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis)

The sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) population in the Ramsar-listed Kushiro Wetland has increased in recent years, and the Ministry of the Environment of Japan has decided to take measures to reduce the impact of deer on the ecosystem. However, seasonal movement patterns of the deer (i.e., when and where the deer inhabit the wetland) remain unclear. We examined the seasonal movement patterns of sika deer in the Kushiro Wetland from 2013 to 2015 by analyzing GPS location data for 28 hinds captured at three sites in the wetland. Seasonal movement patterns were quantitatively classified as seasonal migration, mixed, dispersal, nomadic, resident, or atypical, and the degree of wetland utilization for each individual was estimated. The area of overlap for each individual among intra-capture sites and inter-capture sites was calculated for the entire year and for each season. Our results showed that the movement patterns of these deer were classified not only as resident but also as seasonal migration, dispersal, and atypical. Approximately one-third of the individuals moved into and out of the wetland during the year as either seasonal migrants or individuals with atypical movement. Some of the individuals migrated to farmland areas outside the wetland (the farthest being 69.9 km away). Half of the individuals inhabited the wetland all or most of the year, i.e., 81–100% of their annual home range was within the wetland area. Even among individuals captured at the same site, different seasonal movement patterns were identified. The overlap areas of the home ranges of individuals from the same capture sites were larger than those for individuals from different capture sites (e.g., mean of annual home range overlap with intra-capture sites: 47.7% vs. inter-sites: 1.3%). To achieve more effective ecosystem management including deer management in the wetland, management plans should cover inside and outside of the wetland and separate the population into multiple management units to address the different movement patterns and wetland utilization of the population