Checklist of mammals of the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania

Rovero, Francesco; Luca, Daniela W. De

doi:10.1515/mamm.2007.015

Cited by 32 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…The Udzungwa Mountains are an area of outstanding importance for biodiversity endemism and conservation in Africa [24], and are particularly rich in forest dwelling mammals [25]. Through our assessment we aimed to (1) evaluate sampling effort and estimate species’ richness, (2) determine drivers of variation in species richness and detection probability ( p ) using an occupancy framework [17], (3) estimate species’ occupancy ( ψ ), and (4) determine the best habitat and human disturbance predictors of both ψ and p to identify major patterns of species’ responses to these predictors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Species Richness and Modelling Habitat Preferences of Tropical Forest Mammals from Camera Trap Data

et al. 2014

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Medium-to-large mammals within tropical forests represent a rich and functionally diversified component of this biome; however, they continue to be threatened by hunting and habitat loss. Assessing these communities implies studying species’ richness and composition, and determining a state variable of species abundance in order to infer changes in species distribution and habitat associations. The Tropical Ecology, Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) network fills a chronic gap in standardized data collection by implementing a systematic monitoring framework of biodiversity, including mammal communities, across several sites. In this study, we used TEAM camera trap data collected in the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania, an area of exceptional importance for mammal diversity, to propose an example of a baseline assessment of species’ occupancy. We used 60 camera trap locations and cumulated 1,818 camera days in 2009. Sampling yielded 10,647 images of 26 species of mammals. We estimated that a minimum of 32 species are in fact present, matching available knowledge from other sources. Estimated species richness at camera sites did not vary with a suite of habitat covariates derived from remote sensing, however the detection probability varied with functional guilds, with herbivores being more detectable than other guilds. Species-specific occupancy modelling revealed novel ecological knowledge for the 11 most detected species, highlighting patterns such as ‘montane forest dwellers’, e.g. the endemic Sanje mangabey (Cercocebus sanjei), and ‘lowland forest dwellers’, e.g. suni antelope (Neotragus moschatus). Our results show that the analysis of camera trap data with account for imperfect detection can provide a solid ecological assessment of mammal communities that can be systematically replicated across sites.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Species Richness and Modelling Habitat Preferences of Tropical Forest Mammals from Camera Trap Data

et al. 2014

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“…The highland forests of Tanzania are among the most important areas in the world for biodiversity conservation due to the exceptional density of threatened and endemic species (Rovero et al, 2014a). In particular, the Udzungwa Mountains are a stronghold for many rare species, including mammals (Rovero & De Luca, 2007), such as the recently discovered endemic gray-faced sengi Rhynchocyon udzungwensis, the IUCN-endangered Abbott's duiker Cephalophus spadix, a large-bodied forest antelope which is endemic of Tanzania and threatened by hunting and habitat loss (Bowkett et al, 2014), and the ground-dwelling, IUCN-endangered (and Udzungwa's iconic monkey) Sanje mangabey Cercocebus sanjei (Rovero et al, 2014a;IUCN 2016). Mwanihana (177 km 2 ) is a forest within the Udzungwa Mountains National Park, while Uzungwa Scarp (200 km 2 ) is a nature reserve ( Fig.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Poor management in protected areas is associated with lowered tropical mammal diversity

Oberosler

Tenan

Zipkin

et al. 2019

Animal Conservation

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Numerous protected areas (PAs) have been created worldwide to safeguard wildlife and other natural resources from anthropogenic threats such as habitat destruction and bushmeat hunting. However, conservation efforts in many tropical PAs are still inadequate, revealing deficiencies in management effectiveness. It is therefore important to quantify how different protection regimes impact wildlife within PAs. We investigated the differences between forest mammal communities in two ecologically comparable PAs in the Udzungwa Mountains (Tanzania) with contrasting management regimes. One is a well‐protected national park with efficient law enforcement; the other has suffered decades of inadequate protection, mainly resulting in high levels of illegal hunting. Using camera‐trapping data, we assessed the target communities in terms of species richness, functional composition (i.e. proportions of trophic guilds) and species‐specific occurrences, all while accounting for imperfect detection. We found striking differences between the two mammal communities: lower species richness, alteration in the trophic structure and reduced occurrence probabilities for most species in the forest with high disturbance. The difference in occurrence probability between the two PAs tended to be highest for larger‐bodied species. Our results show that strictly enforced legal protection is required to maintain diverse mammal communities in tropical forests under ever‐increasing anthropogenic threats. While PAs are the cornerstone of efforts to conserve tropical biodiversity, the future of biodiversity within them is closely tied to the effectiveness of enforcement.

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“…Camera traps are being used extensively for inventorying mammals (e.g. Azlan ; Rovero & De Luca ; Tobler et al . ; Kitamura et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatiotemporal hierarchical modelling of species richness and occupancy using camera trap data

Tobler

Hartley²,

Carrillo‐Percastegui

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Ecology

154

143

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Summary1. Over the last two decades, a large number of camera trap surveys have been carried out around the world and camera traps have been proposed as an ideal tool for inventorying and monitoring medium to large-sized terrestrial vertebrates. However, few studies have analysed camera trap data at the community level. 2. We developed a multi-session multi-species occupancy model that allows us to obtain estimates for species richness and occupancy combining data from multiple camera trap surveys (sessions). By estimating species presence at the session-level and modelling detection probability and occupancy for each species and sessions as nested random effects, we could improve parameter estimates for each session, especially for species with sparse data. We developed two variants of our model: one was a binary latent states model while the other used a Royle-Nichols formulation for the relationship between detection probability and abundance.3. We applied both models to data from eight camera trap surveys from south-eastern Peru including six study sites, 263 camera stations and 17 423 camera days. Sites covered protected areas, a logging concession and Brazil nut concessions. We included habitat (terra firme vs. floodplain) as a covariate for occupancy and trail vs. off-trail as a covariate for detection. 4. Among-camera heterogeneity was a serious problem for our data and the Royle-Nichols variant of our model had a much better fit than the binary-state variant. Both models resulted in similar species richness estimates showing that most of the sites contained intact large mammal communities. Detection probabilities and occupancy values were more variable across species than across sessions within species. Three species showed a habitat preference and four species showed preference or avoidance of trails. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our multi-session multi-species occupancy model provides improved estimates for species richness and occupancy for a large data set. Our model is ideally suited for integrating large numbers of camera trap data sets to investigate regional and/ or temporal patterns in the distribution and composition of mammal communities in relation to natural or anthropogenic factors or to monitor mammal communities over time.

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Checklist of mammals of the Udzungwa Mountains of Tanzania

Cited by 32 publications

References 24 publications

Estimating Species Richness and Modelling Habitat Preferences of Tropical Forest Mammals from Camera Trap Data

Estimating Species Richness and Modelling Habitat Preferences of Tropical Forest Mammals from Camera Trap Data

Poor management in protected areas is associated with lowered tropical mammal diversity

Spatiotemporal hierarchical modelling of species richness and occupancy using camera trap data

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