Human disturbance increases spatiotemporal associations among mountain forest terrestrial mammal species.

Spatial and temporal associations between sympatric species underpin biotic interactions, structure ecological assemblages, and sustain ecosystem functioning and stability. However, the resilience of interspecific spatiotemporal associations to human activity remains poorly understood, particularly in mountain forests where anthropogenic impacts are often pervasive. Here, we applied context-dependent Joint Species Distribution Models to a systematic camera-trap survey dataset from a global biodiversity hotspot in eastern Himalayas to understand how prominent human activities in mountain forests influence species associations within terrestrial mammal communities. We obtained 10,388 independent detections of 17 focal species (12 carnivores and five ungulates) from 322 stations over 43,163 camera days of effort. We identified a higher incidence of positive associations in habitats with higher levels of human modification (87%) and human presence (83%) compared to those located in habitats with lower human modification (64%) and human presence (65%) levels. We also detected a significant reduction of pairwise encounter time at increasing levels of human disturbance, corresponding to more frequent encounters between pairs of species. Our findings indicate that human activities can push mammals together into more frequent encounters and associations, which likely influences the coexistence and persistence of wildlife, with potential far-ranging ecological consequences.

Disproportionate loss of threatened terrestrial mammals along anthropogenic disturbance gradients.

Tens of thousands of species are increasingly confronted with habitat degradation and threatened with local extirpation and global extinction as a result of human activities. Understanding the local processes that shape the regional distribution patterns of at-risk species is useful in safeguarding species against threats. However, there is only limited understanding of the processes that shape the regional distribution patterns of threatened species. We explored the drivers and patterns of species richness of threatened, non-threatened and total terrestrial mammals by employing multi-region multi-species occupancy models based on data from a broad camera trapping survey at 1096 stations stratified across different levels of human activities in 54 mountain forests in southwest China. We compared correlates between total and threatened species richness and examined relationships of human impact variables with the proportion of threatened species and the site's local contribution to ß diversity (LCBD). We found that threatened species richness was negatively related to human modification and human presence. However, both non-threatened and total species richness increased as human modification increased. Predicted proportions of threatened species were strongly and positively related to LCBD but negatively related to human modification and human presence. Our results indicate that human impacts can lead to disproportionate loss of threatened terrestrial mammals and highlight the importance of considering threatened species diversity independently from total species richness for directing conservation resources. Our approach represents one of the highest-resolution analyses of different types of human impacts on regional diversity patterns of threatened terrestrial mammals available to inform conservation policy.

Functional diversity loss and change in nocturnal behavior of mammals under anthropogenic disturbance.

In the Anthropocene, understanding the impacts of anthropogenic influence on biodiversity and behavior of vulnerable wildlife communities is increasingly relevant to effective conservation. However, comparative studies aimed at disentangling the concurrent effect of different types of human disturbance on multifaceted biodiversity and on activity patterns of mammals are surprisingly rare. We applied a multiregion community model to separately estimate the effects of cumulative human modification (e.g., settlement, agriculture, and transportation) and human presence (aggregated presence of dogs, people, and livestock) on species richness and functional composition of medium- and large-bodied mammals based on camera trap data collected across 45 subtropical montane forests. We divided the detected mammal species into three trophic guilds-carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores-and assessed the nocturnal shifts of each guild in response to anthropogenic activities. Overall, species richness tended to increase (ß coefficient = 0.954) as human modification increased but richness decreased as human presence increased (ß = -1.054). Human modification was associated with significantly lower functional diversity (mean nearest taxon distance [MNTD], ß = -0.134; standardized effect sizes of MNTD, ß = -0.397), community average body mass (ß = -0.240), and proportion of carnivores (ß = -0.580). Human presence was associated with a strongly reduced proportion of herbivores (ß = -0.522), whereas proportion of omnivores significantly increased as human presence (ß = 0.378) and habitat modification (ß = 0.419) increased. In terms of activity patterns, omnivores (ß = 12.103) and carnivores (ß = 9.368) became more nocturnal in response to human modification. Our results suggest that human modification and human presence have differing effects on mammals and demonstrate that anthropogenic disturbances can lead to drastic loss of functional diversity and result in a shift to nocturnal behavior of mammals. Conservation planning should consider concurrent effects of different types of human disturbance on species richness, functional diversity, and behavior of wildlife communities.

Pérdidas en la Diversidad Funcional y Cambios en el Comportamiento Nocturno de los Mamíferos bajo la Perturbación Antropogénica Resumen En el Antropoceno, el conocimiento sobre la influencia antropogénica sobre la biodiversidad y el comportamiento de las comunidades vulnerables de fauna es cada vez más relevante para la conservación efectiva. Sin embargo, sorprende que los estudios comparativos dirigidos a desentrañar el efecto concurrente de los diferentes tipos de perturbación humana sobre la biodiversidad multifacética y sobre los patrones de actividad de los mamíferos son escasos. Aplicamos un modelo de comunidad multirregional para estimar de manera separada los efectos de la modificación humana (p. ej.: establecimientos, agricultura, transporte) y la presencia humana (presencia agregada de perros, gente y ganado) acumuladas sobre la riqueza de especies y la composición funcional de los mamíferos de tamaño mediano y grande con base en datos de fototrampas recolectados en 45 bosques montanos subtropicales. Dividimos las especies de mamíferos detectadas en tres gremios tróficos: carnívoros, herbívoros y omnívoros, y analizamos los cambios nocturnos de cada gremio como respuesta a las actividades antropogénicas. En general, la riqueza de especies tuvo una tendencia al incremento (coeficiente ß = 0.954) conforme aumentaron las modificaciones humanas, pero la riqueza disminuyó conforme incrementó la presencia humana (ß = −1.054). Las modificaciones humanas estuvieron asociadas con una diversidad funcional (distancia promedio al taxón más cercano [DPTC], ß = −0.134; tamaños del efecto estandarizado de la DPTC, ß = −0.397), masa corporal promedio de la comunidad (ß = −0.240) y proporción de carnívoros (ß = −0.580) significativamente más bajas. La presencia humana estuvo asociada con una proporción gravemente reducida de herbívoros (ß = −0.522), mientras que la proporción de omnívoros incrementó significativamente conforme aumentaron la presencia humana (ß = 0.378) y la modificación del hábitat (ß = 0.419). En cuanto a los patrones de actividad, los omnívoros (ß = 12.103) y los carnívoros (ß = 9.368) se volvieron más nocturnos como respuesta a las modificaciones humanas. Nuestros resultados sugieren que las modificaciones humanas y la presencia de personas tienen efectos diferentes sobre los mamíferos y demuestran que las perturbaciones antropogénicas pueden llevar a pérdidas drásticas de la diversidad funcional y resultar en un cambio hacia el comportamiento nocturno en los mamíferos. La planeación de la conservación debería considerar los efectos concurrentes de los diferentes tipos de perturbaciones humanas sobre la riqueza de especies, la diversidad funcional y el comportamiento de las comunidades faunísticas.

Effects of Ethnic Settlements and Land Management Status on Species Distribution Patterns: A Case Study of Endangered Musk Deer (Moschus spp.) in Northwest Yunnan, China.

Understanding the status and spatial distribution of endangered species in biologically and ethnologically diverse areas is important to address correlates of cultural and biological diversity. We developed models for endangered musk deer (Moschus spp.) abundance indices in and around protected areas inhabited by different ethnic groups in northwest Yunnan China to address different anthropogenic and management-related questions. We found that prediction of relative abundance of musk deer was best accomplished using ethnicity of settlements, conservation status and poaching pressure in an area. Musk deer were around 5 times more abundant in Tibetan regions relative to Lisu regions. We found no significant negative correlates of gathering and transhumance activities on musk deer abundance. Hunting pressure showed no significant differences between protected and non-protected areas, but showed significant differences among ethnic groups. Hunting pressures in areas adjacent to Lisu settlements was 7.1 times more than in areas adjacent to Tibetan settlements. Our findings indicate protected areas in southwest China are not fully effective in deterring human disturbance caused by traditional practices. We suggest that conservation and management strategies should engage traditional culture and practices with a positive conservation impact. Better understanding of indigenous culture may open up new opportunities for species conservation in much wider tracts of unprotected and human-dominated lands. Traditional practices that are not destructive to biodiversity should be allowed as a way of providing a link between the local communities and protected areas thereby creating incentives for conservation.