Environment Institute and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia.
Conserv Biol. 2010 Jun;24(3):795-802. doi: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01434.x. Epub 2010 Feb 11.
Little is known about the effects of anthropogenic land-use change on the amphibians and reptiles of the biodiverse tropical forests of Southeast Asia. We studied a land-use modification gradient stretching from primary forest, secondary forest, natural-shade cacao agroforest, planted-shade cacao agroforest to open areas in central Sulawesi, Indonesia. We determined species richness, abundance, turnover, and community composition in all habitat types and related these to environmental correlates, such as canopy heterogeneity and thickness of leaf litter. Amphibian species richness decreased systematically along the land-use modification gradient, but reptile richness and abundance peaked in natural-shade cacao agroforests. Species richness and abundance patterns across the disturbance gradient were best explained by canopy cover and leaf-litter thickness in amphibians and by canopy heterogeneity and cover in reptiles. Amphibians were more severely affected by forest disturbance in Sulawesi than reptiles. Heterogeneous canopy cover and thick leaf litter should be maintained in cacao plantations to facilitate the conservation value for both groups. For long-term and sustainable use of plantations, pruned shade trees should be permanently kept to allow rejuvenation of cacao and, thus, to prevent repeated forest encroachment.
人们对于人为土地利用变化对生物多样性丰富的东南亚热带森林中的两栖类和爬行类动物的影响知之甚少。我们在印度尼西亚中苏拉威西岛研究了一条土地利用变化梯度，该梯度从原始森林、次生林、天然遮荫可可人工林、人工遮荫可可人工林到开阔地延伸。我们确定了所有栖息地类型的物种丰富度、丰度、周转率和群落组成，并将这些与环境相关因素（如冠层异质性和落叶层厚度）相关联。两栖类物种丰富度沿着土地利用变化梯度呈系统下降，但爬行类动物的丰富度和丰度在天然遮荫可可人工林中达到峰值。干扰梯度上的物种丰富度和丰度模式在两栖动物中最好由冠层覆盖和落叶层厚度来解释，而在爬行动物中则最好由冠层异质性和覆盖来解释。与爬行动物相比，两栖动物在苏拉威西岛受到森林干扰的影响更为严重。可可种植园应保持异质的树冠覆盖和厚厚的落叶层，以促进这两个群体的保护价值。为了长期和可持续地利用种植园，应永久保留修剪过的遮荫树，以促进可可树的更新，从而防止森林的反复侵占。
