Pantropical assessment of mammals and birds reveals significant declines within protected areas

Lydia Beaudrot, Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, Luke Frishkoff, Department of Biology, University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX, Daniel Karp, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, CA, Rahel Sollmann, Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, Patrick A. Jansen, Center for Tropical Forest Science-Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory, Fernanda Santos, Department of Mastozoology, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil, Krisna Gajapersad, Conservation International Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname, Patricia Alvarez-Loayza, Center for Tropical Conservation, Duke University, Durham, NC, Kelly Boekee, Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama, Wilson R. Spironello, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil, Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, School of Geography, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Mengla, Malaysia, Mahandry Hugues Andrianarisoa, Centre ValBio, Ranomafana National Park, Ranomafana, Madagascar, Francesco Rovero, Tropical Biodiversity Section, MUSE-Museo delle Scienze, Trento, Italy, Douglas Sheil, Ecology and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway, Tim O'Brien, Global Conservation Programs, Wildlife Conservation Society, New York, NY, Steig E. Johnson, Department of Anthropology and Archaelogy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada, Marcela Lima, Universidade Federal do Pará, Charles Kayijamhe, International Gorilla Conservation Programme, Santiago Espinosa, Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador, Chris Hallam, University of Melbourne, Julia Salvador, Wildlife Conservation Society, Badru Mugerwa, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and Jorge Ahumada, TEAM Network, Moore Center for Science, Conservation International

Background/Question/Methods
Tropical forests contain disproportional amounts of the world’s biodiversity, but are being lost at rapid rates. At the same time, our ability to gauge how tropical species are responding to sources of global change is drastically hampered by lack of knowledge. There is an urgent need for greater understanding of the status of tropical species and their responses to anthropogenic impacts so that conservation efforts can be targeted accordingly. We present the second pantropical analysis of community-level trends for mammals and birds at 16 sites throughout the tropics using systematic, standardized annual camera trap surveys of more than 500 populations monitored by the Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring (TEAM) Network. To assess changes in terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity over time, we used a dynamic multispecies occupancy model. This approach accounted for variability in detection within and between species.
Results/Conclusions
We found significant declines in tropical forest birds within the majority of monitored protected areas; no protected areas had significant bird increases. Tropical forest mammals declined significantly in two protected areas while one protected area had significant mammal increases. We assessed these results in the context of land use change and hunting pressure. These results provide quantitative evidence of the extent of tropical vertebrate defaunation within protected forests that has heretofore been described as a cryptic phenomenon. This research expands upon previous results that documented negative relationships between intensive human land used and species richness, species diversity and functional diversity in a subset of TEAM Network sites. Protected areas in the tropics have suffered less deforestation than their immediate surroundings, yet deforestation outside of protected areas may reduce their capacity to protect biodiversity. Our data-driven results based on systematic monitoring support conclusions based on expert opinion that the effectiveness of tropical protected areas is linked to environmental conditions outside protected areas.