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Sikundur Monitoring Post Annual Report for 2015

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Sikundur Monitoring Post Annual Report for 2015 James Askew Sikundur Monitoring Post Annual Report for 2015 SUMATRAN ORANGUTAN CONSERVATION PROGRAMME 0 Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2 II. Climatological & Phenological Monitoring ................................................................................... 4 III. Habitat Monitoring .............................................................................................................................. 7 IV. Orangutan Observations ................................................................................................................ 10 V. Student Projects from 2015 ............................................................................................................ 19 -Habitat Structure ................................................................................................................................. 19 -Orangutan/Primate Vocalizations ..................................................................................................... 20 -Gibbon, Siamang, and Leaf Monkey Surveys ................................................................................ 21 -Orangutan Nest Surveys ................................................................................................................... 22 -Liana Use by Orangutans at Sikundur ............................................................................................. 23 VI. Ongoing Projects ............................................................................................................................. 24 -Camera Trap Study of Biodiversity .................................................................................................. 24 -Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Technology ................................................................................ 25 VII. Coming Up In 2016 ......................................................................................................................... 26 VIII. References Cited ............................................................................................................................ 28 IX. How to Get Involved ........................................................................................................................ 30 1 I. Introduction Throughout their range, Sumatran orangutans are threatened by two often related factors, habitat loss and poaching/hunting. Deforestation in Sumatra, a product of ongoing human extractive industries (e.g., development of infrastructure, expansion of large-scale agriculture, logging concessions, mining, and small-scale localized encroachment), is primarily attributed to inadequate cross-sectorial land use planning, desire for short-term economic growth, and a lack of environmental law enforcement (Wich et al. 2011a). Most worrisome is that Sumatra’s lowland and swamp forests, areas known to house the highest densities of orangutans (Wich et al. 2008, in press), also have the highest rates of deforestation in Indonesia (Laumonier et al. 2010; Margono et al. 2012). While more difficult to quantify (i.e., relative to forest loss), poaching/hunting is an additional threat to the survival of Sumatran orangutans, and is largely associated with access to forested areas, a byproduct of deforestation/habitat fragmentation and population growth (Wich et al. 2011a). Interestingly, virtually all long-term monitoring studies of Sumatran orangutans, and indeed all data in recent population viability analyses of the species (Marshall et al. 2009), have utilized ‘high-density’ orangutan populations situated in primary peat- swamp forest (Suaq Balimbing, Aceh Province) and primary lowland rainforest (Ketambe, Aceh Province). These two sites are regarded as “prime habitats” for Sumatran orangutans (Husson et al. 2009) and historically have suffered relatively lower levels of human disturbance. Accordingly, we lack knowledge of Sumatran orangutans in less productive and/or more degraded landscapes, and thus also lack a complete grasp of their behavioral, demographic, ecological, and physiological variability, factors vital to understanding their future population viability (Marshall et al. 2009). The Sikundur Monitoring Post is located in the Langkat District of North Sumatra Province, within the Gunung Leuser National Park (TNGL) and larger Leuser Ecosystem National Strategic Area [Fig. 1]. It consists of previously logged lowland dipterocarp tropical rainforest, and even so, is one of the few remaining lowland areas that still maintains suitable forest habitat for the Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan. As such, the importance of the Sikundur Monitoring Post and its relevance to long-term Sumatran orangutan conservation must be underscored. The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP) started orangutan and habitat monitoring at Sikundur in the second half of 2012 and is now in its fifth year of operation there. Building off of 2014’s successes, the 2015 field season at Sikundur was full of many new developments and a tremendous amount of progress. These include an increase in orangutan follows and new focal individuals, additions to the long-term climatological and phenological datasets, more intensified habitat monitoring efforts, and a continuation of ongoing projects (e.g., camera trapping, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle [UAV] studies, and student research projects). The purpose of this short report will be to highlight some of these activities and emphasize Sikundur’s importance to orangutan conservation and also the conservation of Sumatra’s unique biodiversity. 2 Fig. 1. The location of the Sikundur Monitoring Post in relation to the Gunung Leuser National Park and the Leuser Ecosystem National Strategic Area. 3 II. Climatological & Phenological Monitoring At the Sikundur Monitoring Post, the average monthly rainfall during August 2013 – December 2015 was 251.7 mm, with a monthly range of 12.4-535.4 mm [Fig. 2]. Average yearly rainfall at Sikundur is 2,895.9 mm, albeit this only includes data points for 2014 and 2015. In general, higher levels of rainfall occur during May, August- October, and December, whereas low levels of rainfall occur during January-April, June- July, and November. Both February and March have recorded rainfall levels below 100 mm, indicating extreme rainfall lows. Average monthly temperatures from within the field station were 27.4° C, with a monthly range of 26.1-29.7° C [Fig. 2]. During the observation period, temperature highs were recorded for the months February-July, whereas temperature lows were recorded for the months of January and August-December. In general, there is a correlation between monthly temperature and rainfall, with increases in temperature correlating with rainfall after a lag of two months. Fig. 2. The average monthly rainfall and temperature for the Sikundur Monitoring Post from August 2013 – December 2015. The average percent of liana and tree stems (>10 cm diameter at breast height) that were bearing fruit in our 20 phenological plots was 2.8% for the period of June 2013 – December 2015, with a range of 0.3-13.0% [Fig. 3-4]. High fruiting values were generally observed during May-October; however, consistent levels of high fruit productivity were most apparent during August and September. Conversely, consistent 4 fruit lows are present during January-April and then again during November-December [Fig. 3-4]. Extreme high fruiting values were observed for June-September 2014. We are hesitant to suggest that a masting event occurred during this period, given that the phenology dataset included in this study encompasses only 31 months; however, the aforementioned period is above Wich and van Schaik’s (2000) masting requirement of 1.96 standard deviations above the mean. The range of fruiting values observed from 2013-2015 indicates that there is a considerable level of fruiting variability at the Sikundur study site. It is interesting to note that the average fruiting score for Sikundur (i.e., 2.8%) falls nearest the percent fruiting score range of a number of Bornean field sites (3.0-6.8%); however conversely, it is well outside the published range of percent fruiting scores of two Sumatran (6.9-30.57%) sites, Ketambe and Suaq Balimbing (Wich et al. 2011b). Even when two additional unpublished Sumatran station data points (i.e., Batang Toru, 6.6% and Jantho, 4.9%) are added to these values, Sikundur has one of the lowest fruit productivity values for both Borneo and Sumatra [Fig .5]. Thus, the Sikundur Monitoring Post has lower fruit productivity than that of previously studied Sumatran orangutan field sites, indicating that Sumatra is far less homogeneous than currently thought and that a portion of remaining orangutan habitat in Sumatra is far less productive than previously thought. This is clearly visualized in Fig. 5, where the Bornean trend line is relatively flat, compared to the steep trend incline of that of the Sumatran sites. Fig. 3. The average monthly rainfall and percent of liana/tree stems with fruit for the Sikundur Monitoring Post from June 2013 – December 2015. 5 Fig. 4. The average monthly percent of liana/tree stems with fruit for the Sikundur Monitoring Post from June 2013 – December 2015, including the mean (black dashed line) and +1 (blue line) / +2 (red line) standard deviations from the mean. Fig. 5. A comparative look at fruit productivity at a number of Bornean and Sumatran field stations.
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