The impact of selective logging on sympatric civet species in Borneo.

Abstract

Selective logging is the predominant method of commercial timber exploitation in South East Asia. Its effects upon mammalian carnivores have seldom been addressed, despite the vulnerability of these animals at the top of many food chains. The authors investigated the effects of logging by comparing the abundance of sympatric civet species, which display feeding strategies ranging from strict carnivory to frugivory, in primary and selectively logged rain forest in the Malaysian state of Sabah in northern Borneo. All species occurred in disturbed forest, but the overall density of civets in logged forest (6.4 individuals per sq km) was found to be significantly lower than in primary forest (31.5 individuals per sq km). This reflected a marked reduction in the abundance of civets from the predominantly carnivorous subfamilies Viverrinae and Hemigalinae.