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Man, fire and wild cattle in Southeast Asia
... Swiddening involves cutting down a patch of canopy trees to create a clearing which is burned and then planted for a few years. The secondary forest that grows back after a swidden is left fallow, and contains grasses and herbs which can be eaten by herbivores such as elephants [41,84,137]. This development had a mixed impact on elephants. ...
... Large game is found at very low densities in primary rainforest. For example, the large bovids such as banteng occur at 10-15 animals per km 2 in semi-arid forests but in primary rainforest are usually no more than 1-2 per km 2 [149], and in the Peninsula were seldom found south of the Kangar-Pattani line (6 • 26 N) [137]. The seladang is found more widely in the Peninsula, but its presence is thought to be largely dependent on the opening up of the forest by swidden farmers [137]. ...
... For example, the large bovids such as banteng occur at 10-15 animals per km 2 in semi-arid forests but in primary rainforest are usually no more than 1-2 per km 2 [149], and in the Peninsula were seldom found south of the Kangar-Pattani line (6 • 26 N) [137]. The seladang is found more widely in the Peninsula, but its presence is thought to be largely dependent on the opening up of the forest by swidden farmers [137]. ...
Understanding the relationship between humans and elephants is of particular interest for reducing conflict and encouraging coexistence. This paper reviews the ecological relationship between humans and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the rainforests of the Malay Peninsula, examining the extent of differentiation of spatio-temporal and trophic niches. We highlight the strategies that people and elephants use to partition an overlapping fundamental niche. When elephants are present, forest-dwelling people often build above-the-ground shelters; and when people are present, elephants avoid open areas during the day. People are able to access several foods that are out of reach of elephants or inedible; for example, people use water to leach poisons from tubers of wild yams, use blowpipes to kill arboreal game, and climb trees to access honey. We discuss how the transition to agriculture affected the human–elephant relationship by increasing the potential for competition. We conclude that the traditional foraging cultures of the Malay Peninsula are compatible with wildlife conservation.
... The wild banteng population in eastern Cambodia was estimated at between 2700 and 5690 individuals Gray 2010, Gray et al. 2012), and only circa 470 in Thailand (Srikosamatara 1993, Srikosamatara andSuteethorn 1995) although the latter population has increased since then in its primary stronghold in Thailand's Western Forest Complex (Trisurat et al. 2010). Banteng in Thailand avoid evergreen rainforest and usually reside in more open dry deciduous forests (Phan and Gray 2010), but in the more humid areas of Java and Borneo, they occupy primary forest and secondary forest formations that have resulted from logging and fires, and enter tracts of sub-humid forest on occasions (Wharton 1968) as well as beaches and freshwater swamps. The predominant habitat type in Sabah is tropical lowland dipterocarp forest . ...
... A similar habitat preference was found in wild populations of banteng in Thailand (as in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary where they mostly inhabited mixed deciduous forest; Prayurasiddhi 1997). Although more than 50% of the Khao Khieo-Khao Chomphu Wildlife Sanctuary was closed canopy dry evergreen forest, this habitat was avoided (Wharton 1968). Mixed deciduous forest was limited and fragmented in and around Khao Khieo-Khao Chomphu Wildlife Sanctuary, contributing only 46.3 km 2 (32% of the total area) and including some agricultural areas, making the habitat overall less suitable. ...
This research evaluates habitat and forage use by a reintroduced population of endangered banteng (Bos javanicus d’Alton, 1823) in Khao Khieo-Khao Chomphu Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand based on fieldwork conducted between November 2007 and September 2009. Thirteen banteng bred in Khao Kheow Open Zoo were accidentally introduced into the Khao Khieo-Khao Chomphu Wildlife Sanctuary in 1988. Forage species were identified by fecal analysis. The results from field study of showed that the population structure ratio among adults, juveniles and calves was 1:0.5:0.3, respectively. A multiple logistic regression habitat suitability model classified banteng as associated with mixed deciduous forest and agricultural areas (cassava and coconut), at low elevation, distant from human settlements. The kernel density estimate of area use for agriculture was 0.32 km², and for mixed deciduous forest the estimate was 10.75 km² and 6.2 km² in the dry and wet seasons, respectively. When the wet and dry seasons are combined, the total area use for agriculture was 0.35 km² and for mixed deciduous forest, it was 11.40 km². Twenty-three forage species were identified using a combination of fecal analysis and direct observation. Fecal specimens contained high levels of moisture and protein. Major risks to the feral banteng population are low genetic diversity, habitat destruction and poaching. These findings are important for possible translocations elsewhere.
... Apparently, crocodiles were abundant and usually shot during the rst half of the 20th century according to Bassenne (1912). Apart local people, the last direct observation of Crocodylus siamensis until now was reported by Wharton (1966) in the 1950s and 1960s along Lao-Cambodia border where crocodiles were regularly hunted. The observation here reported represents the rst direct observation of C. siamensis made in the wild by a non-local person since Wharton (1966), more than thirty years ago. ...
... Apart local people, the last direct observation of Crocodylus siamensis until now was reported by Wharton (1966) in the 1950s and 1960s along Lao-Cambodia border where crocodiles were regularly hunted. The observation here reported represents the rst direct observation of C. siamensis made in the wild by a non-local person since Wharton (1966), more than thirty years ago. ...
... Banteng are thought to have followed shifting cultivators into the interior between 450–1000 years ago; prior to this they were probably largely restricted to the alluvial plains of the coastal belt (Wharton, 1968). Low (1848, cited by Wharton) reported that the Banteng in Sarawak lived chiefly in the bamboo forests along the Sangow and Baram rivers, where according to Banks (1931) domestic Banteng were kept by the Kalabit people. ...
... commun. to Wharton, 1968). In the early-1980s, Banteng apparently persisted in the more remote parts of north and east Sarawak (Aken and Kravanagh, 1982) but Payne et al. (1985) stated that there had been no recent reports, although Labang (1987 cited by Caldecott, 1988) reportedly found evidence of their continued presence. ...
... The global population is estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 17 and only 470 was estimated in Thailand at the 1990s 11,14 although the population has increased in Thailand's Western Forest Complex 18 . Banteng prefer more open dry deciduous forests and secondary forest formations, and enter tracts of sub-humid forest of Java and Borneo 19 . However, tropical lowland dipterocarp forest is the predominant habitat type in Sabah 20 . ...
Banteng (Bos javanicus) are susceptible to hunting and habitat destruction. Banteng were successfully reintroduced in Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. Thus, understanding their adaptation to natural forage species and nutrition is important to enhance the chance for successful reintroduction of the banteng. We studied the adaptation of banteng to natural forages and nutrition before and after the reintroduction in Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary between November 2015 and November 2017. Four individuals in 2015 and three individuals in 2016 were reintroduced. We analyzed nutritional values before release and after release into the natural habitat. Twenty-four forage species were identified and the ratio of monocots to dicots was 20:80. The highest energy was found in Dalbergia cultrate (17.5 MJ kg⁻¹) in the wet season and Wrightia arborea (19.9 MJ kg⁻¹) in the dry season (p < 0.001). Nutritional values were significantly different among experiments (p < 0.001). Moreover, the macro nutrients including N and Ca in natural forages were the highest in the dry season. In the wet season, micro-nutrients were the highest in dung collected while bantegn were in captivity. Our research improves our understanding of how banteng adapt their foraging after release into the wild, helps in evaluation of the reintroduction, and informs adaptive management of the banteng to support the long term survival of the population.
... The global population of wild banteng is estimated at between 5,000 and 8,000 (Pudyatmoko, 2004). Banteng prefer more open dry deciduous forests and avoid evergreen rainforests but occupy secondary forest formations that are a result of logging and fires and enter tracts of sub-humid forest on occasions in the more humid areas of Java and Borneo (Wharton, 1968). However, the predominant habitat type is the tropical lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah . ...
Background
Banteng ( Bos javanicus d’Alton 1823) are an endangered species, highly sensitive to habitat structure and quality. In many areas, banteng were extinct and needed to be reintroduced to restore their population. Thus, understanding the responses of body condition of reintroduced banteng to their habitat was important for ensuring the sustainability of a reintroduction program. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the body condition of banteng after reintroduction into the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand based on photographs from camera-traps carried out between July 2016 and November 2018.
Methods
Seven banteng were bred at the Khao Nampu Nature and Wildlife Education Center and systematically reintroduced into the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary in December 2015 (four) and July 2016 (three). The seven reintroduced adults and two newborns (from the 2015 group) were captured via camera traps in 2018. The body condition scoring (BCS) obtained from these photographs was used to identify the individual performance of all seven adults after their reintroduction.
Results
The BCS scores in reintroduced adult banteng, both males and females, (between 5 and 7 years old) increased significantly over time after reintroduction into a natural habitat ( p < 0.05), although the BCS scores in females were not significantly different between the second and third years ( p > 0.05).
Conclusions
The results from the present study suggest that camera traps are a practical tool to assess the BCS of reintroduced banteng, and can be used to monitor their condition post-release. These techniques may be appropriate for translocation programs elsewhere.
... Given the opportunity, shifting cultivator communities preserve wild resources. Studies in Asia have concluded that most of the mature forests in this region are not virgin forests, but merely old forests that have reached a relatively stable equilibrium of ecological succession after some earlier clearing by human or natural means (Spencer, 1966; Wharton, 1968; Scoones et al, 1992). Under traditional systems of shifting cultivation, wildlife flourishes, with elephants, wild cattle, deer, and wild pigs all feeding in the abandoned fields. ...
This paper argues that the present style of conservation has neglected the needs and aspirations of local people, their indigenous knowledge and management systems, their institutions and social organizations, and the value to them of wildlife resources. It asserts that conservation itself needs rethinking. The dominant "positivist-rationalist' paradigm fails to take into account the growing body of empirical evidence indicating that local people have long influenced natural systems in ways that both provide their livelihoods and improve biodiversity. In the past, many "primary' forests or habitats supported large numbers of people, who significantly influenced current ecosystems. The paper asserts that it is necessary to find ways of ensuring local communities' full participation in conservation programmes and policy. Alternative systems of learning and interaction have the potential to contribute to more sustainable management of protected areas. The paper concludes that, for this vision to succeed, a "new professionalism' is required, as well as supportive national and international policies. This Discussion Paper was published in collaboration with the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the World Wide Fund for Nature. -from Authors
... The wild banteng population in Thailand was estimated at only ,470 in the 1990s (Srikosamatara 1993;Srikosamatara and Suteethorn 1995), although the population has increased since then in its primary stronghold in Thailand's Western Forest Complex (Trisurat et al. 2010). Banteng usually resides in more open, dry deciduous forests and avoids evergreen rainforests, but occupies secondary forest formations that are a result of logging and fires, and enters tracts of subhumid forest on occasions in the more humid areas of Java and Borneo (Wharton 1968). However, the predominant habitat type of banteng is tropical lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah . ...
Context
Large forest-dwelling mammals are highly sensitive to habitat structure. Thus, understanding the responses of reintroduced banteng (Bos javanicus d’Alton 1823) to their habitat is important for ensuring the sustainability of a reintroduction program.
Aims
The aim of the present study was to evaluate the habitat preferences of banteng after reintroduction into the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand on the basis of fieldwork conducted between January 2015 and November 2017.
Methods
Seven banteng individuals bred at the Khao Nampu Nature and Wildlife Education Center were systematically reintroduced into the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary in 2015 (four individuals) and 2016 (three individuals). The banteng individuals were tracked via radio-collars and camera-traps. The maximum-entropy method (MaxEnt) and multiple logistic regressions (MLR) were used to identify habitat preferences. Kernel-density estimates (KDE) and a minimum convex polygon (MCP) were used to estimate the area of the habitat used.
Key results
In total, 407 radio-signal locations showed that the MaxEnt habitat-preference models classified the banteng as associated with distance from villages and salt licks (regularised training gain of >1.0). Multiple logistic regressions form 32 camera-trap locations classified the banteng as associated with low elevations far from villages, guard stations and roads in a flat area (no aspect). The two methods for estimating habitat use provided similar results and showed that the reintroduced banteng used a wider range of habitat in the dry than in the wet season.
Conclusions
The results from the present study suggest that the reintroduced banteng individuals prefer low elevations and flat areas without human activity.
Implications
These findings are important for possible translocations elsewhere.
... The favorable temperature of winter and available fodder in the low lying habitat of TMF might have favored gaur and sambar. Low lying areas seem to comprise optimal habitat for gaur in India [2] as gaur generally prefers sub-humid foothill tracks [24] . The undergrowth in TMF is mainly grass and the coarse grass covered areas were observed as the habitat for gaur in India [13] . ...
Conservation of ungulates is vital to protect the viable population of tiger, leopard and dhole as ungulates are the principal prey species of carnivores of conservation importance. The objective of this study is to determine the distribution and habitat utilization by ungulates in Royal Manas National Park in southern Bhutan. The study area was stratified into four habitat types and a total of 53 sample plots of 20 x 20 m were surveyed to enumerate pellet groups and habitat variables such as canopy cover, ground cover, elevation, slope and aspect. A total of 80 pellet groups were recorded in 53 plots with a mean pellet of 1.51 per plot with a detection probability of 0.8. Among ungulates, Sambar pellet showed highest relative abundance (23.8%) and mostly ungulates detection probability is high in elevation zone less than 1000masl. The study concludes that RMNP could be one of the hotspot areas for tiger conservation through forest habitat conservation and protecting ungulates habitat.
... The favorable temperature of winter and available fodder in the low lying habitat of TMF might have favored gaur and sambar. Low lying areas seem to comprise optimal habitat for gaur in India [2] as gaur generally prefers sub-humid foothill tracks [24] . The undergrowth in TMF is mainly grass and the coarse grass covered areas were observed as the habitat for gaur in India [13] . ...
Abstract
Conservation of ungulates is vital to protect the viable population of tiger, leopard and dhole as ungulates
are the principal prey species of carnivores of conservation importance. The objective of this study is to determine the distribution and habitat utilization by ungulates in Royal Manas National Park in southern
Bhutan. The study area was stratified into four habitat types and a total of 53 sample plots of 20 x 20 m
were surveyed to enumerate pellet groups and habitat variables such as canopy cover, ground cover, elevation, slope and aspect. A total of 80 pellet groups were recorded in 53 plots with a mean pellet of
1.51 per plot with a detection probability of 0.8. Among ungulates, Sambar pellet showed highest relative abundance (23.8%) and mostly ungulates detection probability is high in elevation zone less than
1000masl. The study concludes that RMNP could be one of the hotspot areas for tiger conservation
through forest habitat conservation and protecting ungulates habitat.
... Our analysis also suggested that two endangered species were 'losers' of sustainable forestry, the Otter Civet (Cynogale bennettii, Gray, 1837) and Banteng (Bos javanicus, d'Alton, 1823). As a grazer, the Banteng is associated with open habitats (Wharton, 1968) and the semi-aquatic otter civet is associated with wetlands (Veron et al., 2006 ). In our analysis, both habitats are confounded with disturbed areas, because we consider forest as high quality habitat. ...
Aim
Financial incentives to manage forests sustainably, such as certification or carbon storage payments, are assumed to have co‐benefits for biodiversity conservation. This claim remains little studied for rain forest mammals, which are particularly threatened, but challenging to survey.
Location
Sabah, Malaysia, Borneo.
Methods
We used photographic data from three commercial forest reserves to show how community occupancy modelling can be used to quantify mammalian diversity conservation co‐benefits of forest certification. These reserves had different management histories, and one was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Results
Many threatened species occupied larger areas in the certified reserve. Species richness, estimated per 200 × 200‐m grid cell throughout all reserves, was higher in the certified site, particularly for threatened species. The certified reserve held the highest aboveground biomass. Within reserves, aboveground biomass was not strongly correlated with patterns of mammal richness (Spearman's rho from 0.03 to 0.32); discrepancies were strongest along reserve borders.
Main conclusions
Our approach provides a flexible and standardized tool to assess biodiversity and identify winners of sustainable forestry. Inferring patterns of species richness from camera‐trapping carries potential for the objective designation of high conservation value forest. Correlating species richness with aboveground biomass further allows evaluating the biodiversity co‐benefits of carbon protection. These advantages make the present approach an ideal tool to overcome the difficulties to rigorously quantify biodiversity co‐benefits of forest certification and carbon storage payments.
... Although it relies mainly on grasses, it is known to consume a lot of browse and fruits depending on season and local food availability (Hoogerwerf, 1970;Timmins et al., 2008). Most of the modern bovid specimens considered in this study were from mainland Southeast Asia (Vietnam and Cambodia) where they are restricted to open, dry deciduous forests (Wharton, 1968;Hoogerwerf, 1970). R. unicolor and R. marianna are deer species known for their adaptation to a wide range of environmental conditions, from dense rainforests to open grasslands. ...
... Older fields contain a high proportion of fruit trees that attract primates, hornbills, squirrels and a variety of other animals. Studies in Asia have concluded that most of the mature forests in this region are not virgin forests, but merely old forests that have reached a relatively stable equilibrium of ecological succession after some earlier clearing by human or natural means (Spencer, 1966;Wharton, 1968;Scoones et al., 1992). ...
... HiÖn t¹i, ®©y ch−a ph ¶i lµ vÊn ®Ò lín, nh−ng vÒ l©u dµi ®©y cã thÓ lµ mét nguyªn nh©n lµm suy tho¸i quÇn thÓ. Bëi lÏ, v× trong mét quÇn thÓ sinh sèng ë khu vùc biÖt lËp th× kh ¶ n¨ng giao phèi cËn huyÕt hoAEc bÞ tiªu diÖt do dÞch bÖnh hoµn toµn cã thÓ x ¶y ra (Wharton, 1968;Richard Frankham, 1998). ...
... However, kouprey might also be associated to dense dipterocarp forest, gallery and monsoon forests (Wharton 1957;Pfeffer 1969;Timmins 2011). Furthermore, Wharton (1968) suggested that kouprey were also associated with burning grassland habitat. ...
The kouprey (Bos sauveli) is a little-known wild cattle species discovered in the nineteenth century in Northern Cambodia. Probably the first to mention this species was Campbell (1860), who described three species of wild cattle in Cambodia: the gaur, the banteng and a ‘black or blackish grey’ wild ox that frequently occurs ‘on the plains in herds of from 50 to 300 at a time’. Later, Dufossé (1918) gave additional information on the species, mentioned that the kouprey is endangered and suggested prohibiting its hunting in order to preserve the remaining populations. The species, Bos sauveli, was described by Urbain (1937) based on a young male caught in Preah Vihear Province of Cambodia and maintained in captivity at the Vincennes Zoo (France) until the 1940s. Urbain (1937) placed the kouprey with banteng and gaur into the subgenus Bibos. An adult male shot in Cambodia in 1939 was further described by Coolidge (1940), who considered the species sufficiently distinct to put it in the new genus Novibos. Subsequently, the validity of Novibos was questioned and the kouprey was returned to the genus Bos (Bohlken 1961a, 1961b; Pfeffer & Kim-San 1967; Groves 1981) or alternatively placed in the genus Bibos (e.g. Geraads 1992).
... Following Wharton (1968), Ashwell (1997) divides Cambodia into ten physiographic units. Half of these are lowlands lying below 100 m elevation that dominates most of central Cambodia, while half are areas of greater relief. ...
... Given the collective ability of hunter-gatherers throughout the world to both adapt to and transform landscapes, it seems likely that páramo hunter-gatherers would have actively manipulated their environment, especially through the use of fire. Such is the case for other open-vegetation hunter-gatherer groups in Asia, Africa and Australia, as in Neotropical lowland settings (Aceituno and Loaiza, 2007;Bird et al., 2008;Gnecco, 1998;Gould, 1985;Kirkpatrick, 1994;O'Connell and Allen, 1995;Piperno et al., 1990;Pyne, 1993;Rull, 2009;Wharton, 1968). Prescribed, moderate-interval burning in páramo would have generated higher plant productivity and herbaceous diversity, resulting in increased graze and thus grazers. ...
Tussock grass páramo constitutes the dominant vegetation of the high tropical Andes and cordilleras of Costa Rica. Its distribution, composition and the location of the upper forest line are ascribed, by broad consensus, to climate. The zonal argument finds support in the altitudinal movements of páramo during the Pleistocene, clearly responding to changes in precipitation and temperature. I ask here, however, if the principal ecological variables driving post-Pleistocene páramos are circumscribed solely by climate. The combined pollen, charcoal and archaeological evidence generated in recent decades suggests a distinct Holocene etiology. Five principal conclusions emerge: (1) the sedimentary charcoal record establishes that grass páramo is a fired landscape, (2) natural sources of fire, specifically volcanoes and lightning, are incapable of generating the fire regime apparent in the sedimentary charcoal record, (3) burning at most sites intensified significantly between 13,000 and 11,000 cal. yr BP, and maintained heightened levels during the Holocene, (4) archaeological findings suggest that the original settlement of the Andes coincided with the sedimentary charcoal rise, and (5) the subsistence logic of hunter-gatherers argues strongly for firing the vegetation to increase resource productivity and reliability. From the pioneering mixed vegetation after deglaciation, anthropic fire selected in favor of tussocks and against woody species, generating a novel plant association. I propose, therefore, that Holocene grass páramo is not zonal vegetation, but rather a hunter-gatherer landscape.
... There is evidence that the distribution of large mammals in Asia was highly dependent on the shifting cultivation that has been practiced for thousands of years (Wharton, 1968). Several authors (Panwar 1987, Karanth & Sunquist 1992, Coggins, 2003) point out that abandoned farmland in a successional stage carries the highest densities of tiger prey species. ...
... Koupreys were illustrated and described in primary school textbooks that were being used in the Khmer Rouge camp. Wharton (1968) has also suggested that there has been a long association between kouprey and man in northern Kampuchea since this species may be dependent on the fire-climax habitats produced by slash-and-burn cultivation. ...
The continuing war in Kampuchea has made it difficult for zoologists to assess the status of endangered species in the remoter parts of the country. Two of the world's rarest mammals, the kouprey and the Javan rhinoceros, may still survive there. The author visited the area in April 1986 and, in interviews with people in two refugee camps on the Thai border, gained the impression that the effects of the war on wildlife were not as drastic as had been expected.
... It is not far fetched to assume that the first Aboriginal colonists of Australia were skilled in using fire (Jones, 1979 ;Head, 1989 ;Kohen 1996). Indeed, it has been suggested that the spread of cattle (Bos) species throughout Southeast Asia was facilitated by anthropogenic burning which created suitable habitats (Wharton, 1969). Certainly, the strong similarities of floras within the Old World tropics would have meant that the first colonists were familiar with most of the plant genera, and many of the plant species, in northern Australia (Golson, 1971 ;Bowman, Wilson & Dunlop, 1988 ;Liddle et al., 1994). ...
One of the most complex and contentious issues in Australian ecology concerns the environmental impact of Aboriginal landscape burning. This issue is not only important for the development of a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and evolution of the Australian biota, but is central to the formulation of appropriate strategies for the conservation of the nation's biodiversity. Ethnographic evidence leaves little doubt that Aboriginal burning played a central role in the maintenance of the landscapes subsequently colonized by Europeans. Both 19th century European colonists and anthropologists in the 20th century documented the indispensability of fire as a tool in traditional Aboriginal economies, which have aptly been described as ‘fire‐stick farming’. Aborigines used fire to achieve short‐term outcomes such as providing favourable habitats for herbivores or increasing the local abundance of food plants, but it is not clear whether or not Aborigines had a predictive ecological knowledge of the long‐term consequences of their use of fire. A large body of ecological evidence suggests that Aboriginal burning resulted in substantial changes in the geographic range and demographic structure of many vegetation types. Aboriginal burning was important in creating habitat mosaics that favoured the abundance of some mammal species and in the maintenance of infrequently burnt habitats upon which the survival of specialized fauna depends. Aboriginal fire regimes were probably critical for the maintenance of at least one species of tree ( Callitris intratropica ) in the monsoon tropics.
The question of the original impact of humans on the Australian environment is fundamentally speculative because of vague, disputed time frames proposed for the waves of colonization and shifting settlement patterns of Aborigines in the late Quaternary period. There is an inherent circular argument concerning the cause and effect of climate change, vegetation change, and burning through the late Quaternary. Charcoal and pollen evidence from long sedimentary cores is ambiguous and cannot be used to demonstrate unequivocally the initial impact of Aboriginal people on the landscapes of Pleistocene Australia. The sparse available evidence does not support the hypotheses that Aboriginal burning was primarily responsible for the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna; was critical for the maintenance of habitats of small mammals that have become extinct following European colonization; initiated widespread accelerated soil erosion rates in either the Pleistocene or Holocene; or forced the evolutionary diversification of the Australian biota. Burning may have caused the extinction of some fire‐sensitive species of plants and animals dependent upon infrequently burnt habitats, and it must have maintained structurally open vegetation such as grasslands and also extended the range of fire‐adapted species, such as Eucalyptus , into environments climatically suitable for rain forest. Palaeoecological research concerning prior impacts of Aborigines must give way to focused studies of the role of different anthropogenic fire regimes in contemporary ecosystems that have not been destroyed by European colonization. Such research is crucial for comprehending the role of Aboriginal burning in the maintenance of Australia's unique, rich biodiversity.
CONTENTS
Summary
385
I.
Introduction
386
II.
Aborigines and fire
386
III.
Ecological perspectives
390
IV.
Palaeoecological perspectives
394
V.
General conclusions
404
Acknowledgements
405
References
405
... The importance of open habitat structures to foraging white-shouldered ibis suggests grazing will be important in providing suitable foraging habitat. Historically, dry dipterocarp forests supported substantial populations of large herbivores, including Asian elephant Elephas maximus, wild water buffalo B. bubalis, gaur Bos gaurus and abundant banteng Bos javanicus (Wharton, 1968). Asian elephant were extirpated in the study site in the 1970s (Desai et al., 2002) and although gaur and banteng were detected during fieldwork, both were scarce. ...
We present the first scientific study of white-shouldered ibis Pseudibis davisoni habitat preferences in dry dipterocarp forest. Foraging sites included seasonal pools, forest understorey grasslands and fallow rice fields, with terrestrial sites used more following rainfall. Habitat and anthropogenic effects in logistic models of foraging site selection were examined by multimodel inference and model averaging. White-shouldered ibis preferred pools with greater cover of short vegetation (<25 cm) and less of the boundary enclosed, and forest sites with greater cover of bare substrate and lower people encounter rate. At forest sites, livestock density was positively related to bare substrate extent and thus may improve suitability for foraging ibis. At pools, livestock removed tall vegetation between the early and late dry season indicating their importance in opening up foraging habitats after wet season growth. However, by the late dry season, pools with greater livestock density had less short vegetation, the habitat favoured by ibis. Conservation strategies for white-shouldered ibis must consider a range of habitats, not just seasonal wetlands, and should incorporate extensive grazing and associated burning practises of local communities. Further understanding of the effects of these practices on vegetation, prey abundance and prey availability are therefore needed for effective conservation of this species. This will also develop our understanding of potentially beneficial anthropogenic influences in tropical environments.
... In addition, large mammals flourish, with elephants, wild cattle, deer, and wild pigs all feeding in the abandoned fields; tigers, leopards, and other predators are in turn attracted by the herbivores. Wharton (1968) has provided convincing evidence that the distribution of the major large mammals of Southeast Asia is highly dependent on shifting cultivation. Mature tropical forests conceal most of their edible products high in the canopy beyond the reach of the terrestrial herbivores, while forest clearings bring the forest's productivity down to where it can be reached by hungry browsers. ...
Many agroforestry systems are found in places that otherwise would be appropriate for natural forests, and often have replaced
them. Humans have had a profound influence on forests virtually everywhere they both are found. Thus ‘natural’ defined as
‘without human influence’ is a hypothetical construct, though one that has assumed mythological value among many conservationists.
Biodiversity is a forest value that does not carry a market price. It is the foundation, however, upon which productive systems
depend. The relationship between agroforestry and the wild biodiversity contained in more natural forests is a complicated
one, depending on the composition of the agroforestry system itself and the way it is managed. Complex forest gardens are
more supportive of biodiversity than monocrop systems, shade coffee more than sun coffee, and systems using native plants
tend to be more biologically diverse. Nonnative plants, especially potentially invasive alien species, threaten biodiversity
and need to be avoided. The relationship between forests, agroforestry and wild biodiversity can be made most productive through
applying adaptive management approaches that incorporate ongoing research and monitoring in order to feed information back
into the management system. Maintaining diversity in approaches to management of agroforestry systems will provide humanity
with the widest range of options for adapting to changing conditions. Clear government policy frameworks are needed that support
alliances among the many interest groups involved in forest biodiversity.
... The older fields contain a high proportion of fruit trees which are attractive to primates, squirrels, hornbills, and a variety of other animals. Wharton (1968) has provided convincing evidence that the distribution of the major large mammals of southeast Asia is highly dependent on shifting cultivation, because mature tropical forests conceal most of their edible products high in the canopy beyond the reach of the terrestrial herbivores, while forest clearings bring the forest's productivity down to where it can be reached by hungry browsers. The earlier successional stages are also faster-growing, and therefore more productive, than the later stages of the cycle as the forest becomes more mature. ...
The biodiversity of forested regions today is the result of complex historical interactions among physical, biological, and social forces over time, often heavily influenced by cycles of various sorts. Fire, agriculture technology, and trade have been particularly powerful human influences on forests. Virtually all of our planet's forests have been affected by the cultural patterns of human use, and the resulting landscape is an ever-changing mosaic of unmanaged and managed patches of habitat, which vary in size, shape, and arrangement. Because chance factors, human influence and small climatic variation can cause very substantial changes in vegetation, the biodiversity for any given landscape will vary substantially over any significant time period- and no one variant is necessarily more natural than the others. This implies that biodiversity conservation efforts may need to give greater attention to ecosystem processes than to ecosystem products. A review of historical evidence shows that past civilizations have tended to over-exploit their forests, and that such abuse of important resources has been a significant factor in the decline of the over-exploiting society. It appears that the best way to maintain biodiversity in forest ecosystems in the late 20th Century is through a combination of strictly protected areas (carefully selected on the basis of clearly defined criteria), multiple-use areas managed by local people, natural forests extensively managed for sustainable yield of logs and other products and services, and forest plantations intensively managed for the wood products needed by society. This diversity of approaches and uses will provide humanity with the widest range of options, the greatest diversity of opportunities, for adapting to the cyclical changes which are certain to continue.
Cambodia has the most fires per area in Southeast Asia, with fire activity have significantly increased since the early 2000s. Wildfire occurrences are multi-factorial in nature, and isolating the relative contribution of each driver remains a challenge. In this study, we quantify the relative importance of each driver of fire by analyzing annual spatial regression models of fire occurrence across Cambodia from 2003 to 2020. Our models demonstrated satisfactory performance, explaining 69 to 81% of the variance in fire occurrence. We found that deforestation was consistently the dominant driver of fire across 48 to 70% of the country throughout the study period. Although the influence of low precipitation on fires has increased in 2019 and 2020, the period is not long enough to establish any significant trends. During the study period, wind speed, elevation, and soil moisture had a slight influence of 6–20% without any clear trend, indicating that deforestation continues to be the main driver of fire. Our study improves the current understanding of the drivers of biomass fires across Cambodia, and the methodological framework developed here (quantitative decoupling of the drivers) has strong potential to be applied to other fire-prone areas around the world.
Rice Oryza sativa ecosystems provide foraging and nesting habitat for a variety of birds. Myanmar is a major rice-producing nation and yet bird use of rice ecosystems remains largely unstudied. We present the results of a case study of avian species richness in a traditional rice ecosystem at Limpha Village in upper Myanmar. The rice field at Limpha occupies 17.5 ha where a single crop is produced each year without chemical inputs (fertilizer and pesticides). Village lands are contiguous with the buffer zone of Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary. We conducted bird surveys of the rice field during dry and wet seasons (2013–20) and documented the occurrence of 85 species (exclusive of Buttonquail these included 58 resident species, 20 migratory species, six species with both resident and migratory populations in upper Myanmar), including 10 species of conservation concern. Species richness was greatest during the dry season when an influx of Palearctic migrants was present. We ranked 52 species as Common, 23 as Uncommon, and 10 as Rare. Most birds used the rice field as foraging rather than breeding habitat. Insectivore was the most common feeding guild (43 species), followed by Omnivore (22 species), Carnivore (12 species), Granivore (6 species), Frugivore (1 species), and Nectarivore (1 species) guilds. We observed eight species associated with domestic Water Buffalo Bubalus bubalis and 15 species foraging at active fires or in burned areas in the rice field. Piles of rice straw are important foraging sites for several species. Low intensity agricultural practices, habitat heterogeneity, and proximity to the nearby swamp, forest, & Chindwin River are probably responsible for the relatively high avian species richness at Limpha. Future agricultural intensification could negatively impact avian species richness in the Limpha rice field. Our findings suggest that traditional rice agriculture is compatible with conservation objectives in the buffer zone of Htamanthi Wildlife Sanctuary. Our study, however, requires replication before generalizations can be made concerning the value of traditional rice ecosystems to avian conservation in Myanmar.
A pollen analysis of the Angkor Thom moat deposits was conducted to determine the environmental background of the growth and decline of the Khmer dynasty. The horizon of vegetation change was discovered at approximately 155 cm depth, at which there was a decrease in tree pollen grains accompanied by a rapid increase in herb pollen grains. The age of this sediment is from 645 ± 30 BP to 640 ± 30 BP, and this vegetation change corresponds to the peak of the Khmer dynasty. Furthermore, it was revealed that Poaceae plants changed from a wild species to a cultivated species based on morphological studies of Poaceae pollen. It is believed that paddy fields expanded around Angkor archaeological sites and the with harvested rice were then brought into the capital city of the Khmer Empire.
Late in the dry season, the skies of tropical Asia are heavy with smoke from thousands of small fires set by farmers following an age-old way of life: shifting cultivation.
For many reasons modern habitat management means to keep parts of the landscape in certain successional stages. Besides mowing, grazing or chemical means, controlled fire is a cheap natural management factor. The effects of controlled burning depend on different abiotic factors and on the kind of fire (headfire, backfire, spotfire, etc.). Due to wide range scientific studies in other countries there exist thousands of publications dealing with fire effects on animals, plants and soil. There is enough background to study and to practice controlled fire to manage different regions of western Germany.
Man-made grasslands dominated by Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv. in forested areas of lowland Nepal are commonly cut and/or burned annually. Changes in grass forage quality following different treatments of cutting and burning and axis deer (Axis axis) response to such habitat manipulations were investigated. Samples of matured grass were collected in December 1990, February and April 1991 from three experimental sites: cut, burned, cut-and-burned. Four locations on cut-and-burned grassland were repeatedly sampled at 12-d intervals from January to April 1992. Numbers of axis deer were recorded during the dry season of 1991/1992 on grassland plots receiving the following treatments: cut, cut-and-burned, and uncut/unburned (controls). Based on grass quality differences between December and February and between December and April, cut-and-burned treatments gave the greater increase in forage quality. N was significantly higher on cut-and-burned plots than on cut plots both in February and in April, while Na, K and P was significantly higher in February. On plots cut-and-burned in January, Ca concentrations were relatively low while the P content fell below required levels for domestic stock towards the end of the dry season in April. Na concentrations were below the minimum required levels for both domestic and wild ruminants during the whole period. When an entire grassland was cut, deer density increased gradually. When the same area was subsequently burned, the daily deer density increased much more rapidly. Axis deer preferred burned plots compared to plots neither cut nor burned and to cut plots. Plots burned in late February had higher densities of axis deer than plots burned 1.5 mo earlier. When nearby recently burned plots were available, deer density was reduced on plots burned earlier.
One of the most complex and contentious issues in Australian ecology concerns the environmental impact of Aboriginal landscape burning. This issue is not only important for the development of a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and evolution of the Australian biota, but is central to the formulation of appropriate strategies for the conservation of the nation's biodiversity. Ethnographic evidence leaves little doubt that Aboriginal burning played a central role in the maintenance of the landscapes subsequently colonized by Europeans. Both 19th century European colonists and anthropologists in the 20th century documented the indispensability of fire as a tool in traditional Aboriginal economies, which have aptly been described as 'fire-stick farming'. Aborigines used fire to achieve short-term outcomes such as providing favourable habitats for herbivores or increasing the local abundance of food plants, but it is not clear whether or not Aborigines had a predictive ecological knowledge of the long-term consequences of their use of fire. A large body of ecological evidence suggests that Aboriginal burning resulted in substantial changes in the geographic range and demographic structure of many vegetation types. Aboriginal burning was important in creating habitat mosaics that favoured the abundance of some mammal species and in the maintenance of infrequently burnt habitats upon which the survival of specialized fauna depends. Aboriginal fire regimes were probably critical for the maintenance of at least one species of tree (Callitris intratropica) in the monsoon tropics. The question of the original impact of humans on the Australian environment is fundamentally speculative because of vague, disputed time frames proposed for the waves of colonization and shifting settlement patterns of Aborigines in the late Quaternary period. There is an inherent circular argument concerning the cause and effect of climate change, vegetation change, and burning through the late Quaternary. Charcoal and pollen evidence from long sedimentary cores is ambiguous and cannot be used to demonstrate unequivocally the initial impact of Aboriginal people on the landscapes of Pleistocene Australia. The sparse available evidence does not support the hypotheses that Aboriginal burning was primarily responsible for the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna; was critical for the maintenance of habitats of small mammals that have become extinct following European colonization; initiated widespread accelerated soil erosion rates in either the Pleistocene or Holocene; or forced the evolutionary diversification of the Australian biota. Burning may have caused the extinction of some fire-sensitive species of plants and animals dependent upon infrequently burnt habitats, and it must have maintained structurally open vegetation such as grasslands and also extended the range of fire-adapted species, such as Eucalyptus, into environments climatically suitable for rain forest. Palaeoecological research concerning prior impacts of Aborigines must give way to focused studies of the role of different anthropogenic fire regimes in contemporary ecosystems that have not been destroyed by European colonization. Such research is crucial for comprehending the role of Aboriginal burning in the maintenance of Australia's unique, rich biodiversity.
This chapter provides new insights into the tiger's ability and flexibility to persist in current and changing landscapes. These insights come from a variety of sources, including long-term telemetry studies of tigers in southern Nepal and the Russian Far East, sites with vastly different ecological conditions, as well as from long-term monitoring of tiger and prey populations in Nagarahole National Park, India, and from dietary studies and prey density estimates at other sites in India. The development of camera-trapping techniques has also provided the first reliable density estimates of tiger populations in the lowland tropical rainforests of Thailand, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, and Laos. This chapter synthesizes these studies to describe tiger behavior and ecology. It describes the tiger's basic skill set, and then reviews predatory behavior and ecology, followed by population ecology. Finally, this chapter concludes with some thoughts about research directions and development of new methods of enumerating prey density and assessing tiger diets in these habitats.
The invasions of introduced species into five reserves in tropical savannas and dry woodlands are described. Vascular plants are the group having the most introduced species; invasions are least important in dry, regularly burned savannas, more important in moist, derived savannas (where scrambling shrubs are invading) and most important in wetlands (where trees, shrubs, herbs and aquatic macrophytes are invading). Control, which should be initiated early in an invasion, is being implemented for only a few species. Water-dispersed plants and herbaceous weeds are generally impossible to control using current technology. Biological control measures are urgently required for some invasive shrubs (e.g. Chromolaena odorata). Introduced vertebrates are generally less important, but exceptions are large mammalian herbivores in Australia and several near-native ungulates in southern Africa. Predation apparently limits the number of successful vertebrate invasions. Introduced mammalian pathogens have had severe ecological effects in Africa. Invertebrate invasions require more research.
Gaur (Bos gaurus) and banteng (Bos javanicus) populations throughout South-east Asia have declined severely because of hunting and habitat fragmentation. Important remnant populations persist in Xe Pian national protected area in southern Lao P.D.R., where sign-based surveys were carried out between 1996 and 1998 to determine their distribution, abundance, and patterns of habitat use. Xe Pian is comprised of a largely intact lowland mosaic of semi-evergreen, mixed deciduous, and dry dipterocarp forest types. Gaur used a broader diversity of these habitat types than banteng, attaining moderate densities in homogeneous semi-evergreen forest as well as expanses of deciduous dipterocarp and mixed deciduous forests. Mixed deciduous forest was the least abundant forest type but was commonly used by gaur. Banteng showed a strong affiliation with drier and more open habitats, especially dry dipterocarp, forest, despite increased vulnerability to hunting in these areas in the past. Banteng were not found within large expanses of semi-evergreen forest. Their distribution within Xe Pian was therefore more restricted than gaur, though they were relatively more numerous within two isolated corners of the protected area. Signs of calves and juveniles indicated that both species retained breeding populations in Xe Pian. Remaining herds were small - composed of two to five individuals - but bamboo understories in semi-evergreen forest were a food source that attracted larger congregations of gaur in the rainy season. The banteng population in Xe Pian is globally significant for conservation, while that of gaur is nationally significant. The existence of extensive high quality habitat and on-going collaboration of local people lends hope that Xe Pian's wild cattle will increase, given protection from hunting.
The habitat utilisation by ungulates in a newly created tiger sanctuary of the southwestern Nepalese Terai is analysed. While most of the Royal Karnali-Bardia Wildlife Reserve is covered by a rather homogeneous belt of moist subtropical deciduous forest, one section of the reserve supported a wide variety of habitat types. In this area, flood plain, savannah, and several riverine forest associations intergraded with stands of the dominant Shorea robusta forest. Free-living mammals responded to this ecological heterogeneity, permitting an analysis of habitat preferences by the following species: chital Axis axis, nilgai Boselaphus tragocamelus, hog deer Axis porcinus, barking deer Muntiacus muntjak, swamp deer Cervus duvauceli, sambar Cervus unicolor, and two primate species, common langur Presbytis entellus, and rhesus monkeys Macaca mulatta. Differences in feeding and anti-predator strategies offered a degree of ecological separation between most of the ungulates studied. Changes in plant distribution and phenology affected ungulate food habits, energy budgets, movements, and seasonal distribution. A special feeding relationship between certain ungulates and langur and rhesus monkeys was observed. The sambar, an ungulate capable of exploiting a feeding niche in continuous climax forest, appears to be best adapted to the habitat types which dominate most of Karnali-Bardia, while only 30% of the reserve could be considered prime habitat for the chital, the most abundant grazing ungulate in the reserve. Proposals to improve habitat conditions for grazing ungulates through an experimental programme integrating controlled burns, water hole development, and the creation of openings in continuous climax forest are examined.
The vegetation of a newly created tiger sanctuary in south-western Nepal is described in detail. Six major vegetational associations were identified. It was found that several subtypes of Shorea robusta forest covered over 70% of the land area of the reserve. Open grassland, savannah, and riverine forest accounted for the rest. Modifying factors which have altered vegetational composition and wildlife habitat are discussed. The most serious of these influences have been man's activities in relation to clearing for cultivation, grazing of domestic stock, and uncontrolled burning. A model of successional patterns observed within the Karnali-Bardia Wildlife Reserve is proposed.
Home range and habitat use of Malayan gaur Bos gaurus were studied from 1977 to 1979 in the Lepar Valley, Pahang, Malaysia during a period of extensive logging and agricultural development in the area. Home range size determined by radio telemetry was 29·9 km2 for a yearling male, 52·1 km2 for a yearling female, and 137·3 km2 for an adult male. The greatest distance across a home range measured 20·8 km. Physiographical features such as rivers, mineral licks, agricultural fringe, and forest clearings appeared to greatly influence home range size and shape. Disturbed habitats such as secondary forest and agricultural estates received the greatest use. Areas within 500 m of agricultural fringe, within 500 m of major rivers, and below 61 m elevation were heavily used by gaur, often to a proportionately greater extent than their availability in home ranges. Disturbance factors had varying effects on gaur. Areas adjacent to roads were avoided by the adult male and yearling female but selected for by the yearling male. Human habitation did not appear to greatly affect use patterns; areas adjacent to settlements were not avoided but were used less than those at intermediate distances. Limited logging and agricultural development appeared to benefit gaur by creating early seral habitats. Detrimental impacts associated with development included fragmentation and isolation of the Lepar population into subpopulations, destruction of important habitat, and poaching. Measures recommended to lessen impacts of development include creating wildlife reserves, maintaining early seral habitats within wildlife and forest reserves, preserving natural mineral licks, leaving forested corridors across cropland, and protecting populations from illegal hunting.
From January 2005 to December 2007 field surveys were conducted in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam to assess the status of banteng Bos javanicus birmanicus. The population of banteng was estimated to be 74–103. It has declined by at least 50% since the mid- 1990s and the species is likely to go extinct in Vietnam in the near future. Remaining herds are small, although recruitment still exists. Large portions of the species' range in the early 1990s are no longer occupied and the maximum area of occupancy of the species in Vietnam is c. 2,670 km2. Only five disconnected populations persist. The most important are in Yok Don National Park (30–44 individuals) and Ea So Nature Reserve (23–31). However, our surveys suggest that these populations are exposed to risks of disease outbreak and will only be viable if there is active management to facilitate recovery. Interviews carried out at the survey sites indicate that the status of banteng in Vietnam is determined by commercial poaching in response to demand for trophies. Future conservation actions need to target poor governance, the root cause of banteng decline, which precludes effective management of protected areas in Vietnam and places several species of large mammals at risk of extinction nationally.
Conflicts between local people and managers of protected areas (PAs) have often undermined conservation goals in Asia. Since the 1970s, conservation planners have tried to address these problems by incorporating rural development into PA planning. More recently, many conservationists have argued for increasing community involvement in PA management, and for allowing traditional resource uses inside PAs. Based on research in Thailand I make three arguments regarding obstacles to implementing the new approach.
In Thailand, laws governing Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks enacted in the early 1960s were premised on the idea that human use and nature preservation were incompatible. Rapid expansion of these PAs in recent years has produced endemic conflict with rural people claiming resources inside PAs. To address this problem, the Thai Royal Forestry Department has cooperated with NGOs providing development assistance to rural people living in buffer zones outside of some PAs. I argue that this approach has met limited success because the main source of conflict is not poverty but claims on resources inside PAs.
The second argument is that the Forestry Department has resisted changes to laws making local use inside PAs illegal because these laws are important for consolidating the Department's control over territory and in justifying increasing budgetary allocations. In addition, by redefining itself as an organization devoted to strict defence of forests, the Department has obtained the support of many urban environmentalists. The third argument is that the community forest approach taken by a recent draft Community Forest Bill is an important first step in that it implicitly recognizes community property. At the same time, this approach will also fail to address key problems because it is based on a notion of the traditional village, and does not allow for the commercial nature of rural forest use or the household-based nature of forest tenure.
I suggest that the new expansion of PAs be halted, that land claimed by rural households be taken out of PAs, and that the government recognize community management rights in areas that remain classified as protected. More generally, the goals of conservation would be better achieved by replacing an approach based on the rapid expansion of PAs with one promoting conservation outside PAs.
The habitat preference and impact of banteng ( Bos javanicus ) and pigs ( Sus scrofa ) in Gurig National Park, on Cobourg Peninsula, Northern Territory, was investigated by systematically sampling twelve habitats. Animal signs (banteng and pig scats) and impacts (area of rooted, trampled or pugged ground and number of rubbed tree trunks) were recorded in 696 quadrats, each 5 × 20 m. Significant differences among habitats in sign and impact were detected. Pig rooting was concentrated on wetland communities, particularly sedgelands. Banteng sign focused on monsoon forest and coastal plains, where they caused less obvious damage than pigs. There was little evidence of either ungulate in the eucalypt communities, which are the most widespread of all habitats on the peninsula.
In monsoon forests, banteng densities were approximately 70 per km ‐2 , Banteng, unlike pigs and buffalo, have remained near their point of introduction over the last 140 years, possibly because of the unique habitat mosaic consisting of grasslands abutting monsoon forest.
The island of Sumbawa, in the eastern part of the Indonesian archipelago (Fig. l), encompasses a wide and interesting variety of agroecosystems, by which is meant the complex of relationships between specific human communities, their systems of agriculture, and the environments in which these systems are practised. The juxtaposition of such agroecosystems presents a good opportunity to reexamine some of the prevailing views of agricultural development (and underdevelopment), environmental degradation, and the role of local government in the development process. This paper will commence with a description of each of the principal agroecosystems on the island -- namely swidden agriculture, permanent field dryland agriculture, irrigated rice cultivation, and grassland hunting and grazing -- and an analysis of some of their more problematic aspects. This will be followed by a general discussion of the relationship between human populations, agriculture, and land cover in Sumbawa, which with one or two possible exceptions seems to be in accord with Boserup’s (1965) thesis. Finally the current effects of government policies on these relationships will be assessed.
The Gaur Bos gaurus ranges from India to peninsular Malaysia. Its distribution, status and conservation in the Indian subcontinent are reviewed here on the basis of available information, both published papers and unpublished census reports of forest departments, and field survey data from north-eastern India and parts of Bhutan and Nepal. The Gaur is found in three disjunct regions, south-western India, central India and north-eastern India (including Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh). Within these regions the distribution is highly fragmented and includes a number of small non-viable isolated populations. The habitat in north-eastern India is still contiguous with that in Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh and to some extent with Nepal. Although the estimated population of the Gaur is 23 000–34 000, it is declining alarmingly. Populations outside the protected areas may not last long. An action plan has been proposed for its conservation.
The population composition and density of wild and domestic ungulates in selected areas of Chitawan Valley, Nepal, are estimated and compared with other regions. Species considered include Axis axis, Axis porcinus, Cervus unicolor, Muntiacus muntjak, Sus scrofa, Rhinoceros unicornis, and domestic cattle, water buffalo, sheep, and goats. Rhinoceros constituted the bulk of the wild ungulate biomass in the riverine forest and grassland within the Royal Chitawan National Park. Species differed in their occurrence in various vegetation types and these differences afforded a degree of ecological separation. Counts indicated that juvenile mortality for most wild ungulates was high and seemed related to both nutritional and predatory factors. Suggestions for increasing the precision of counts of wild ungulates in monsoonal forest areas are included and conservation implications are discussed.
Aim To provide insights concerning changes in fire regime in north‐eastern Cambodia over the course of the Holocene, and discuss implications of these long‐term data for fire management in the present day.
Location Southern Ratanakiri Province, north‐eastern Cambodia. The lake sites sampled here are embedded in a mosaic of mostly open, strongly deciduous dipterocarp forest, with patches of riparian, semi‐evergreen and evergreen forests.
Methods Background information on the environmental and cultural setting comes from informal and semi‐structured interviews of local villagers to determine present‐day burning patterns and customs. Primary data come from analysis of changes in charcoal concentration within sediments from small, closed basin lakes. Charcoal data are compared with changes in pollen and sediment physical characteristics, and to present‐day local customs, to infer or speculate on changes in human use of fire.
Results Interviews with local people reveal two general types of human‐induced fires, one type for swidden cultivation in denser forests, the other type for clearance of ground layer vegetation in more open forests. A 9300‐year sediment record of microscopic charcoal deposition shows strongest fire activity ending by 8000 years ago, and the remainder of the early Holocene reflecting a strong summer monsoon and low fire activity. Beginning c . 5500 years ago, forest disturbance and fire activity increased. A subtle change in the record at c . 3500 years ago and more marked change at c . 2500 years ago suggest that fire frequency, and maybe human control over fire, became more important during that period and continuing up to the present.
Main conclusions With this type of empirical data from only one site, it is impossible to make accurate conclusions about long‐term human impacts from burning. However, this record does show that present‐day charcoal input from fire activity is among the lowest for the last 9300 years. Considered together with other changes in the record and with present‐day customs, there is a suggestion that anthropogenic fire is an adaptation to the monsoonal environment, and may be conservative of forest cover in open forest formations. This long‐term perspective on the role of indigenous land‐use customs in landscape evolution should be considered in forest management and biological conservation, as it differs significantly from the traditional rationale for policies of fire suppression in tropical forests.
The urgency of the tropical biodiversity crisis continues to be a major justification for wildlife research and its funding. To examine the benefits of this research for on-the-ground conservation, we focused on Borneo, where conservation has a long history and we have direct experience. We compiled, categorized and evaluated 284 publications from a broad variety of sources, 153 from peer-reviewed journals. We found that few studies address threats to species and fewer still provide input for or guidance to effective management. We consider various reasons for these shortcomings. Research is seldom judged on its relevance to pragmatic problem solving. Furthermore, many research programs lack the necessary long-term vision and organizational structure for useful applied research. We consulted conservation leaders about our conclusions and all responses suggest that our concerns are not unique to Borneo but reflect wider problems. We conclude that conservation research across most of the tropics is failing to address conservation needs. We make a number of recommendations based on our findings. Conservation biologists should place a higher priority on addressing practical conservation needs and goals.
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