Coexistence between Javan Slow Lorises (Nycticebus javanicus) and Humans in a Dynamic Agroforestry Landscape in West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

In a world increasingly dominated by human demand for agricultural products, we need to understand wildlife's ability to survive in agricultural environments. We studied the interaction between humans and Javan slow lorises (Nycticebus javanicus) in Cipaganti, Java, Indonesia. After its introduction in 2013, chayote (Sechium edule), a gourd grown on bamboo lattice frames, became an important cash crop. To evaluate people's use of this crop and to measure the effect of this increase on slow loris behaviour, home ranges, and sleep sites, we conducted interviews with local farmers and analysed the above variables in relation to chayote expansion between 2011-2015. Interviews with farmers in 2011, 2013 and 2015 confirm the importance of chayote and of bamboo and slow lorises in their agricultural practises. In 2015 chayote frames covered 12% of land in Cipaganti, occupying 4% of slow loris home ranges, which marginally yet insignificantly increased in size with the increase in chayote. Slow lorises are arboreal and the bamboo frames increased connectivity within their ranges. Of the sleep sites we monitored from 2013-2016, 24 had disappeared, and 201 continued to be used by the slow lorises and processed by local people. The fast growth rate of bamboo, and the recognition of the value of bamboo by farmers, allow persistence of slow loris sleep sites. Overall introduction of chayote did not result in conflict between farmers and slow lorises, and once constructed the chayote bamboo frames proved to be beneficial for slow lorises.

Elevation gradients of lemur abundance emphasise the importance of Madagascar’s lowland rainforest for the conservation of endemic taxa

“…Herrera et al 2011, in other primates (e.g. Zarate et al 2014, Nekaris et al 2017, and in animal species in general (Bhagwat et al 2008).…”

Artificial canopy bridges improve connectivity in fragmented landscapes: The case of Javan slow lorises in an agroforest environment

“…Cipaganti is located at 1,345 m above sea level on Mount Puntang, which is a part of the Java-Bali Montane Rain Forests ecoregion. This area is characterized by a mosaic of gardens, where local farmers practice an annual rotating crop system (Nekaris et al, 2017). This traditional system consists of a variety of crop formations, with tall trees planted along farm property boundaries, or interspersed between crop types (Reinhardt et al, 2016).…”

Spider Monkeys in Human-Modified Landscapes

“…The great value of large forest remnants for primate conservation is incontrovertible (Estrada et al, 2017), but what is questionable is the exclusion of the anthropogenic matrix from conservation initiatives (Chapman, Chapman, & Glander 1989;Hockings, Yamakoshi, & Matsuzawa, 2017;Nekaris et al, 2017;Perfecto & Vandermeer, 2010). In this sense, the maintenance of native and some cultivated trees in the anthropogenic matrix is of critical importance for spider monkeys, as all land cover types used by this primate were composed of trees (both native and cultivated).…”