Wilting Andreas, Fischer Frauke, Abu Bakar Soffian, Linsenmair K Eduard
Theodor-Boveri Institute of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology, Institute of Biosciences, University of Würzburg, 97074 Würzburg, Germany.
BMC Ecol. 2006 Nov 8;6:16. doi: 10.1186/1472-6785-6-16.
The continued depletion of tropical rainforests and fragmentation of natural habitats has led to significant ecological changes which place most top carnivores under heavy pressure. Various methods have been used to determine the status of top carnivore populations in rainforest habitats, most of which are costly in terms of equipment and time. In this study we utilized, for the first time, a rigorous track classification method to estimate population size and density of clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa) in Tabin Wildlife Reserve in north-eastern Borneo (Sabah). Additionally, we extrapolated our local-scale results to the regional landscape level to estimate clouded leopard population size and density in all of Sabah's reserves, taking into account the reserves' conservation status (totally protected or commercial forest reserves), their size and presence or absence of clouded leopards.
The population size in the 56 km2 research area was estimated to be five individuals, based on a capture-recapture analysis of four confirmed animals differentiated by their tracks. Extrapolation of these results led to density estimates of nine per 100 km2 in Tabin Wildlife Reserve. The true density most likely lies between our approximately 95 % confidence interval of eight to 17 individuals per 100 km2.
We demonstrate that previous density estimates of 25 animals/100 km2 most likely overestimated the true density. Applying the 95% confidence interval we calculated in total a very rough number of 1500-3200 clouded leopards to be present in Sabah. However, only 275-585 of these animals inhabit the four totally protected reserves that are large enough to hold a long-term viable population of > 50 individuals.
热带雨林的持续枯竭和自然栖息地的碎片化导致了重大的生态变化，这使得大多数顶级食肉动物面临巨大压力。人们已采用各种方法来确定雨林栖息地中顶级食肉动物种群的状况，其中大多数在设备和时间方面成本高昂。在本研究中，我们首次利用一种严格的足迹分类方法来估计婆罗洲东北部（沙巴）塔宾野生动物保护区云豹（云豹属）的种群数量和密度。此外，我们将局部尺度的结果外推到区域景观水平，以估计沙巴所有保护区的云豹种群数量和密度，同时考虑到保护区的保护状况（完全保护或商业森林保护区）、面积以及云豹的有无。
基于对四只通过足迹区分的确认动物的捕获 - 重捕分析，估计56平方公里研究区域内的种群数量为五只个体。将这些结果外推得出塔宾野生动物保护区每100平方公里的密度估计值为9只。真实密度很可能在我们每100平方公里8至17只个体的大约95%置信区间内。
我们证明之前每100平方公里25只动物的密度估计很可能高估了真实密度。应用我们计算出的95%置信区间，我们总共粗略估计沙巴大约有1500 - 3200只云豹。然而，其中只有275 - 585只动物栖息在四个完全受保护且面积足够大以维持超过50只个体的长期可存活种群的保护区内。
