Impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in Sri Lanka
We tested whether species endemic to Sri Lanka were less able than non-endemics to tolerate disturbed habitats. Small mammals were surveyed in four habitat types along a disturbance gradient (unlogged forest, selectively logged forest, cultivated areas and areas abandoned after cultivation) within a...
Published in: | Journal of Tropical Ecology |
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Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press (CUP)
2005
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266467405002695 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0266467405002695 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0266467405002695 2024-03-03T08:48:27+00:00 Impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in Sri Lanka Wijesinghe, Mayuri R. de L. Brooke, M. 2005 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266467405002695 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0266467405002695 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Journal of Tropical Ecology volume 21, issue 6, page 661-668 ISSN 0266-4674 1469-7831 Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics journal-article 2005 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467405002695 2024-02-08T08:41:39Z We tested whether species endemic to Sri Lanka were less able than non-endemics to tolerate disturbed habitats. Small mammals were surveyed in four habitat types along a disturbance gradient (unlogged forest, selectively logged forest, cultivated areas and areas abandoned after cultivation) within and around the Sinharaja rain forest in south-west Sri Lanka. Twenty 90-m×40-m plots were live trapped in each of these habitat types. Twelve taxa: nine rodents ( Srilankamys ohiensis, Rattus rattus kelaarti, R. r. kandianus, Mus mayori, M. cervicolor, Bandicota indica, Funambulus layardi, F. sublineatus and F. palmarum ) and three insectivores ( Crocidura miya, Suncus zeylanicus and Feroculus feroculus ) were recorded. Of these, five were endemic to Sri Lanka at the species level (species confined to the island) and six at subspecies level (subspecies confined to the island; other subspecies occurring on the Indian subcontinent). Species richness of small mammals decreased with the magnitude of forest disturbance. The endemic species selectively utilized sites within the forest whilst the majority of the other taxa used both forest and non-forest habitat types or were restricted to the latter. Bird surveys were carried out in the same plots, using sightings and calls. Sixty-six bird species were recorded, of which 21 were endemic species. Twenty endemic bird species preferentially used sites within the forest. The findings suggest that the forest-dwelling endemic species of both small mammal and bird encounter difficulties in tolerating modified landscapes, whilst other taxa are less affected. This highlights the vulnerability of endemic species to forest conversion. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Cambridge University Press Indian Journal of Tropical Ecology 21 6 661 668 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Cambridge University Press |
op_collection_id |
crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
spellingShingle |
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics Wijesinghe, Mayuri R. de L. Brooke, M. Impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in Sri Lanka |
topic_facet |
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics |
description |
We tested whether species endemic to Sri Lanka were less able than non-endemics to tolerate disturbed habitats. Small mammals were surveyed in four habitat types along a disturbance gradient (unlogged forest, selectively logged forest, cultivated areas and areas abandoned after cultivation) within and around the Sinharaja rain forest in south-west Sri Lanka. Twenty 90-m×40-m plots were live trapped in each of these habitat types. Twelve taxa: nine rodents ( Srilankamys ohiensis, Rattus rattus kelaarti, R. r. kandianus, Mus mayori, M. cervicolor, Bandicota indica, Funambulus layardi, F. sublineatus and F. palmarum ) and three insectivores ( Crocidura miya, Suncus zeylanicus and Feroculus feroculus ) were recorded. Of these, five were endemic to Sri Lanka at the species level (species confined to the island) and six at subspecies level (subspecies confined to the island; other subspecies occurring on the Indian subcontinent). Species richness of small mammals decreased with the magnitude of forest disturbance. The endemic species selectively utilized sites within the forest whilst the majority of the other taxa used both forest and non-forest habitat types or were restricted to the latter. Bird surveys were carried out in the same plots, using sightings and calls. Sixty-six bird species were recorded, of which 21 were endemic species. Twenty endemic bird species preferentially used sites within the forest. The findings suggest that the forest-dwelling endemic species of both small mammal and bird encounter difficulties in tolerating modified landscapes, whilst other taxa are less affected. This highlights the vulnerability of endemic species to forest conversion. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wijesinghe, Mayuri R. de L. Brooke, M. |
author_facet |
Wijesinghe, Mayuri R. de L. Brooke, M. |
author_sort |
Wijesinghe, Mayuri R. |
title |
Impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in Sri Lanka |
title_short |
Impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in Sri Lanka |
title_full |
Impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in Sri Lanka |
title_fullStr |
Impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in Sri Lanka |
title_full_unstemmed |
Impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in Sri Lanka |
title_sort |
impact of habitat disturbance on the distribution of endemic species of small mammals and birds in a tropical rain forest in sri lanka |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0266467405002695 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0266467405002695 |
geographic |
Indian |
geographic_facet |
Indian |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
Journal of Tropical Ecology volume 21, issue 6, page 661-668 ISSN 0266-4674 1469-7831 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0266467405002695 |
container_title |
Journal of Tropical Ecology |
container_volume |
21 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
661 |
op_container_end_page |
668 |
_version_ |
1792505319121747968 |