Abstract. Strong global demand for tropical timber and palm oil has driven large-scale logging and subsequent clearance of tropical forests. Given that the majority of tropical landscapes have been or will likely be logged, the protection of biodiversity within tropical forests thus depends on whether species can persist in these economically exploited lands, and if species cannot 40 persist, whether we can protect enough primary forest from logging and clearance. Our knowledge of the impact of logging and clearance to oil palm on biodiversity is limited to a few taxa, often sampled in different locations with complex land-use histories, hampering attempts to plan cost-effective conservation strategies and to draw conclusions across taxa. Spanning a landuse gradient of primary forest, once-and twice-logged forests, and oil palm plantations, we 45 compiled an extensive dataset in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo for nine vertebrate and invertebrate taxa to quantify (i) the biological impacts of logging and oil palm, (ii) cost-effective methods of protecting biodiversity, and (iii) whether there is congruence in response among taxa. Logged forests retained high species richness, including most of the species found in primary forest. In contrast, clearance to oil palm dramatically reduces species richness, including most primary-50 forest species. Using a systematic conservation planning analysis, we show that efficient protection of primary-forest species is achieved with land portfolios that include a large proportion of logged-forest plots. Protecting logged forests is thus a cost-effective method of protecting much of the biodiversity in the tropics, particularly when conservation budgets are limited. Six indicator groups (birds, leaf-litter ants, beetles, aerial hymenpoterans, flies, and true 55 bugs) proved to be consistently good predictors of the response of the other taxa to logging and oil palm. Our results confidently establish the high conservation value of logged forests and the low value of oil palm. We also show that several taxonomic groups are, in fact, good indicators 4 of general animal biodiversity. This suggests that the practice of focusing on only a few taxa in studies of logging and oil palm may not be as problematic as feared. 60

Arboreal animals negotiate a highly three-dimensional world that is discontinuous on many spatial scales. As the scale of substrate discontinuity increases, many arboreal animals rely on leaping or gliding locomotion between distant supports. In order to successfully move through their habitat, gliding animals must actively modulate both propulsive and aerodynamic forces. Here we examined the take-off and landing kinetics of a free-ranging gliding mammal, the Malayan colugo (Galeopterus variegatus) using a custom-designed three-dimensional accelerometry system. We found that colugos increase the propulsive impulse to affect longer glides. However, we also found that landing forces are negatively associated with glide distance. Landing forces decrease rapidly as glide distance increases from the shortest glides, then level off, suggesting that the ability to reorient the aerodynamic forces prior to landing is an important mechanism to reduce velocity and thus landing forces. This ability to substantially alter the aerodynamic forces acting on the patagial wing in order to reorient the body is a key to the transition between leaping and gliding and allows gliding mammals to travel long distances between trees with reduced risk of injury. Longer glides may increase the access to distributed resources and reduce the exposure to predators in the canopy or on the forest floor.

Here we present the first field report on the ecology of a single female Sunda pangolin and her young in their natural habitat on an offshore island of Singapore. Observations of this event were made possible by the use of radio-telemetry and infrared-triggered camera traps. Only one offspring was recorded from this birth event and the period of maternal care was approximately 3 to 4 mo. A total of 3 natal dens were used throughout the monitoring period, and hollows of large trees (> 50 cm diameter at breast height, DBH) were associated with all dens. The 100 and 95% home range estimated by minimum convex polygons is 6.97 and 5.63 ha, respectively. The daily active period of the pangolin was 127 ± 13.1 min, and peak activity levels were between 03:00 and 06:00 h. The findings of this report are discussed in relation to the conservation challenges confronting this species.

The colugo genome reveals hidden biodiversity and the sister group to primates.