Changing Populations of Birds and Mammals in North Sulawesi
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Changing populations of birds and mammals in North Sulawesi Timothy G. O'Brien and Margaret F. Kinnaird The issues of habitat loss and hunting are of paramount importance to wildlife conservation in Asia. In Sulawesi, Indonesia, these problems are having a serious impact on the vertebrate fauna. Using line-transect methods, the densities of 11 species of large birds and mammals were compared between 1979 and 1994 in the Tangkoko-DuaSudara Nature Reserve in North Sulawesi. During those 15 years, populations ofanoa Bubalus depressicornis, bear cuscus Phalanger ursinus, crested black macaque Macaca nigra, maleo Macrocephalon maleo and red junglefowl Gallus gallus declined by 50-95 per cent while populations of Sulawesi pig Sus celebensis, Tabon scrubfowl Megapodius cumingii, Sulawesi tarictic hornbill Penelopides exarhatus and red-knobbed hornbill Aceros cassidix increased by 5-100 per cent. We considered hypotheses for these changes: habitat loss outside the reserve, habitat degradation inside the reserve, and hunting. Only hunting adequately explained the pattern of changing densities observed. Unless protection from hunting is enforced for these species, we may soon witness the demise of these unique animals in North Sulawesi and possibly throughout the island. Introduction decades Sulawesi has lost over 67 per cent of productive wet lowland forest habitat Habitat loss, isolation and degradation are (Whitten et al, 1987). Although commercial perhaps the most pernicious problems affect- logging for export ceased to be important by ing wildlife populations around the world 1981, logging for commercial and local use has (Harris, 1984; Ehrlich, 1988). Land clearance continued and directly threatens endemic for agriculture or timber adjacent to forests re- species such as the anoa Bubalus depressicornis sults in degraded habitats that are often aban- and babirusa Babyrousa babirussa. Land clear- doned and allowed to regenerate, creating ance for agriculture has converted additional secondary forest, scrub or grasslands. The forest land on slopes too steep for logging value of these degraded lands to forest (Whitten et al, 1987). wildlife is variable; some forest species may Hunting of wildlife for commercial markets use them, others may not. Associated with and personal consumption is common among these anthropogenic habitat disturbances are the Christian people of North Sulawesi and additional pressures on wildlife. Commercial bush meat is commonly available in the mar- and subsistence hunting (Redford and kets. The price of bush meat, moreover, is Robinson, 1985; Redford, 1992; Srikosamatara comparable to that of domestic meat, suggest- et al., 1992) as well as agricultural-pest control ing that bush meat is neither especially valued place many wildlife species at risk. nor more economical than domestic meat. The Indonesian island of Sulawesi provides The Tangkoko-DuaSudara Nature Reserve a perfect case study of the effects of habitat (Tangkoko) of North Sulawesi was formerly loss, degradation and forest isolation on the core of a much larger, contiguous forest wildlife communities. Over the last two block that included the Wiau Protection Forest 150 ©1996FFI Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.126, on 25 Sep 2021 at 16:49:16, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300021530 CHANGING POPULATIONS OF BIRDS AND MAMMALS IN NORTH SULAWESI with corridors to the nearby Mt Klabat forest Sulawesi (MacKinnon and MacKinnon, 1981). In the late 1970s, K. and J. MacKinnon conducted sur- Sulawesi is the largest and most central island veys of large birds and mammals and con- of Wallacea, the biogeographical transition cluded that the density of large vertebrates zone between the Asian region to the west and was higher in Tangkoko than in any other the Australasian region to the east. Sulawesi's area in Indonesia. They rated Tangkoko as the fauna has a high degree of endemism: 34 per most important conservation area in Sulawesi cent of the bird species and 98 per cent of non- and an extremely valuable area for the main- volant mammals are endemic (Whitten et ah, tenance of biodiversity in Indonesia. 1987). These include endangered species such Today, much of the Wiau Protection Forest as the maleo Macrocephalon maleo, a bird that has been converted to coconut farms and Mt incubates its eggs in volcanic sands, the Klabat forest has been reduced to a remnant at babirusa or pig deer, and the anoa, a dwarf the top of the mountain. Tangkoko is effec- buffalo. The diversity of macaques Macaca tively isolated and the entire forest complex spp. is unrivalled elsewhere in Asia. In spite of has been reduced to less than half its original its interesting biogeographical position, little extent. The combination of habitat loss, hunt- has been written about the natural history of ing and previous census data provided an op- this important island and most of its endemic portunity to assess the impact of human fauna. disturbance over a defined time period. In this paper we discuss changes over 15 years in population densities of selected large birds and mammals of Tangkoko in response to these pressures. N / Batuputih (g^ J / Sulawesi Sea /S Tangkoko / ( Duasudara ^ / Nature Reserve SULAWESI /C^~^^ \ G. Tangkoko Wian \ • vviau \ G. Batuangus y Protection Forest V^ Kasuari ^p^/ ^ ,0, QS> ! Duasudara / ^Pinangunian 1.6"N ( + + 1 ^v G- Duasudara / (J *W- \ Danowudu v__ J 7 / ® Pinokalan Bitung ) Girian /— \ Lembeh Island \ f } (Scale 1:100000) 125.4°E Figure 1. Map of Tangkoko-DuaSudara Nature Reserve in Sulawesi, Indonesia. © 1996 FFI, Oryx, 30 (2), 150-156 151 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.126, on 25 Sep 2021 at 16:49:16, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300021530 T. G. O'BRIEN AND M. F. KINNAIRD Tangkoko-DuaSudara Nature Reserve Methods The Tangkoko-DuaSudara Nature Reserve lies Data were collected on 11 species of birds and at the northernmost tip of Sulawesi (1°34'N/ mammals (Table 1) from April 1993 to March 125°14'E; Figure 1). Tangkoko was first estab- 1994, using line transects (Burnham et al., lished as a forest reserve by the Dutch colonial 1980) for estimating wildlife densities. Each government in 1919 and was retained in the month, two observers walked four transects, nature reserve system after Indonesia gained once in the morning and once in the after- independence. The reserve covers 8867 ha and noon. Transect lengths ranged from 4.65 to 5.9 its altitude ranges from sea level to 1350 m. km and the total length of transects walked There are three volcanoes in the reserve; a tuft was 42 km per month. For each animal or cone (450 m) that resulted from an eruption in group of animals encountered records were 1839, Mt Tangkoko (1100 m) and the twin made of the numbers observed, their perpen- peaks of DuaSudara (1351 m). The reserve has dicular distance from the transect, time and several villages on its borders, inhabited by elevation. people who cultivate coconut and other crops Population densities for the north slope of and hunt within the reserve. the reserve were estimated using three differ- A special feature of the reserve is the broad ent line-transect estimation techniques, range of habitats within a relatively small depending on the quality of data available for area. There are seven recognized vegetation a species. The DISTANCE program (Laake et communities (MacKinnon and MacKinnon, ah, 1993) was used to make monthly, variable- 1981) including fire-maintained Imperata width transect estimates for common species grasslands, early secondary forest on old farm (encountered more than 20 times a month on sites, Casuarina forest, beach forest, lowland average). Monthly fixed-width transect esti- rain forest, submontane forest and elfin moss mates were made for rare species (encoun- forest. Recent fires and extensive treefalls re- tered fewer than 20 times a month). Finally, sult in a complex mosaic of successional stages single, fixed-width estimates were made for of forest communities, all within 6 km, from the rarest species (observed fewer than 20 the ocean to the volcano summits (M. F. times a year). Monthly estimates were aver- Kinnaird and T. G. O'Brien, unpubl. data). aged for overall density estimates. Table 1. Selected large mammals English name Scientific name Endemic Hunted and birds of Tangkoko- DuaSudara Nature Reserve, Anoa Y Y Bubalus depressicornis showing which are endemic and Sulawesi pig Sus celebensis Y Y which are exploited by humans Javan rusa Cervus timorensis N Y Crested black macaque Macaca nigra Y Y Bear cuscus Phalanger ursinus N Y Babirusa* Babyrousa babirussa Y Y Maleo Macrocephalon maleo Y Eggs Tabon scrubfowl Megapodius cumingii N Eggs Red junglefowl Gallus gallus N Y Red-knobbed hornbill Aceros cassidix Y Y Sulawesi tarictic hornbill Penelopides exarhatus Y N * MacKinnon and MacKinnon (1981) unsure of presence in reserve. N, not endemic; Y, exploited. 152 © 1996 FFI, Oryx, 30 (2), 150-156 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.126, on 25 Sep 2021 at 16:49:16, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605300021530 CHANGING POPULATIONS OF BIRDS AND MAMMALS IN NORTH SULAWESI between 1978 and 1994 are assumed to reflect real changes in animal populations. Results and discussion Changes in population density over 15 years were variable for the 11 species examined (Table 2; Figure 2). In general, mammal popu- lations experienced the most dramatic changes in population densities; with the exception of the Sulawesi pig, none of the mammals have maintained former densities. Bird populations fared better: two populations declined but three increased.