Safeguarding Asian tapir habitat in Sumatra, Indonesia

Pinondang, Irene M. R., Deere, Nicolas J., Voigt, Maria, Ardiantiono, Ardiantiono, Subagyo, Agus, Moßbrucker, Alexander, Fardilla, Antika, Chandradewi, Desy S., Surahmat, Fahrudin, Widodo, Febri A., and others. (2024) Safeguarding Asian tapir habitat in Sumatra, Indonesia. Oryx, . ISSN 0030-6053. E-ISSN 1365-3008. (In press) (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:104917)

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Abstract

The Asian tapir Tapirus indicus is the only tapir species in Southeast Asia. It is declining across its range and is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The forests of Sumatra are critical to Asian tapir conservation as they contain some of the last remaining populations of the species, yet conservation efforts are hindered by a lack of information on habitat suitability. We collated camera-trap data from nine landscapes across 69,500 km2 of Sumatran rainforest to help predict suitable habitat for Asian tapirs on the island. Predictions from Bayesian occupancy models demonstrated that tapir occupancy was greatest in forests below 600 m elevation and exclusively in forests with high aboveground biomass. Forests around the Barisan Mountains on the west of Sumatra provide the most suitable habitat for the species. Only 36% of the most critical habitat (i.e. the top 20th percentile of predicted occupancy) for tapirs is formally protected for conservation, with much of the remainder found in forests allocated to watershed protection (35%) or logging (23%). We highlight several key areas in Sumatra where tapir conservation could be bolstered, such as by leveraging existing conservation efforts for other charismatic flagships

species on the island.

Item Type:	Article
Projects:	The empty forest syndrome...
Uncontrolled keywords:	Asian tapir; camera-trapping; conservation areas; habitat suitability; Indonesia; mammals; occupancy modelling; Tapirus indicus
Subjects:	H Social Sciences
Divisions:	Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Funders:	Leverhulme Trust (https://ror.org/012mzw131)
Depositing User:	Matthew Struebig
Date Deposited:	08 Feb 2024 14:22 UTC
Last Modified:	09 Feb 2024 09:43 UTC
Resource URI:	https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/104917 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Pinondang, Irene M. R..

Creator's ORCID:	https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4534-8986
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Deere, Nicolas J..

Creator's ORCID:	https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1299-2126
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Voigt, Maria.

Creator's ORCID:	https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2894-7031
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Ardiantiono, Ardiantiono.

Creator's ORCID:	https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8398-1948
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Struebig, Matthew J..

Creator's ORCID:	https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2058-8502
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

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