Landscape Ecol https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01187-2 (0123456789().,-volV)( 0123456789().,-volV) RESEARCH ARTICLE Space-use patterns of Malay civets (Viverra tangalunga) persisting within a landscape fragmented by oil palm plantations Meaghan N. Evans . Carsten T. Mu¨ller . Peter Kille . Gregory P. Asner . Sergio Guerrero-Sanchez . Mohd Soffian Abu Bakar . Benoit Goossens Received: 24 June 2020 / Accepted: 26 December 2020 Ó The Author(s) 2021 Abstract Objectives We explored the influence of landscape Context Agricultural land use is expanding and is a characteristics on the fine-scale space-use patterns of a major driver of the biodiversity crisis. Land use model generalist carnivore, the Malay civet (Viverra planning initiatives seeking to optimize wildlife tangalunga), within degraded tropical forests and oil conservation are hindered by a lack of baseline data palm plantations. quantifying species’ tolerance to human-modified Methods We collected over 20,000 GPS locations landscapes. from 21 male civets in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo to evaluate the species’ space-use patterns and habitat utilization processes. We used movement-based mod- eling to determine home ranges, and combined the Supplementary Information The online version of this results with high-resolution remotely sensed habitat article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01187-2) contains characteristics. We developed resource utilization supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. functions to determine individual and population- M. N. Evans (&) Á S. Guerrero-Sanchez Á B. Goossens level functional responses to proximity to plantation Danau Girang Field Centre, Wisma Muis, Block B, 5th edge, distance to water, terrain ruggedness, forest Floor, 88100 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia structure, and functional diversity. e-mail: [email protected] Results Civets foraged within oil palm plantations, M. N. Evans Á C. T. Mu¨ller Á P. Kille Á yet all animals utilized forests. Home ranges scaled S. Guerrero-Sanchez Á B. Goossens (&) with proportion of plantation within both total and School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, core ranges. Resource utilization functions reported Cardiff CF10 3AX, UK individualism in the species’ responses to habitat e-mail: [email protected] characteristics. At the population-scale, civets consis- G. P. Asner tently and more intensely used habitats closer to Center for Global Discovery and Conservation Science, plantation edges and taller tree canopies. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USA Conclusions Although plantations did not pose an M. S. A. Bakar inhospitable matrix, oil palm agriculture is a less Sabah Wildlife Department, Wisma Muis, Block B, 5th suitable habitat than remnant forests for civets. Floor, 88100 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia Proximity measures and forest structure influenced the spatial behaviors of this adaptable generalist, B. Goossens Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University, highlighting the importance of protected areas. We Cardiff CF10 3BA, UK 123 Landscape Ecol recommend land-sparing and -sharing approaches to and conservationists gain explicit and mechanistic facilitate carnivore persistence across oil palm insights into the habitat requirements of species degraded landscapes. persisting alongside agriculture (Nathan et al. 2008; van Moorter et al. 2016). These insights, in turn, Keywords Resource utilization function Á Home inform more effective management actions, such as range Á Oil palm plantation Á Agriculture Á Landscape establishment of protected areas (Desmet 2018), fragmentation Á Malay civet implementation of land-sharing schemes within agri- culture itself (Perfecto and Vandermeer 2008), or creation of functionally optimized wildlife corridors (Chetkiewicz and Boyce 2009). Introduction Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) agriculture is a significant driver of tropical forest loss and degrada- Land cover change is extensive, with over 40% of tion (Phalan et al. 2013). Relative to highly diverse global terrestrial land converted to human-dominated primary forests, the establishment of oil palm planta- uses (Foley et al. 2005; Ellis and Ramankutty 2008). tions results in marked declines in species’ abun- Mammalian carnivore populations are in decline dances, assemblage complexity, and fundamental worldwide (Ripple et al. 2014), and agricultural land ecosystem functions (Dislich et al. 2017). Forest use is highlighted as a significant driver of extinction specialists with restricted dietary niches or behaviors events (Dobrovolski et al. 2013). As a guild, carni- cannot adapt to agricultural conversion (Foster et al. vores are considered particularly sensitive to land- 2011). As such, species that do persist within the scape changes due to traits such as long lifespans, slow monoculture are often generalists (be it in dietary or reproduction rates, high trophic positions, large home habitat terms), pests, or invasive (Rembold et al. ranges, and low metapopulation densities (Keinath 2017). Given the forecasted increases in global et al. 2017). The full extent of carnivore responses to agricultural degradation (Tilman et al. 2001), it is human modified landscapes is, however, dependent on crucial to understand how generalists utilize these the ecology of the focal species (Ryall and Fahrig landscapes and what actions, if any, may be taken to 2006). Within the guild, generalists display elevated facilitate biodiversity retention (Sodhi et al. 2010). plasticity to land use modifications compared to The island of Borneo is a biodiversity hotspot specialists (Gehring and Swihart 2002), with a range (Myers et al. 2000), yet is experiencing one of the of species adapting to life across gradients of human highest deforestation rates due to oil palm agriculture disturbance (e.g. Bouyer et al. 2014; Jerosch et al. (Gaveau et al. 2019). A total of 25 small- to medium- 2017; Suraci et al. 2019). sized carnivore species are found in Borneo, repre- The ecological consequences of land use changes senting one of the richest co-existing extant guilds in are a function of the interplay between a species’ the world (Ross et al. 2017). The guild includes a adaptability and the configuration of altered land- spectrum of forest specialist and generalist species; the scapes. Following human modification, the size, island has been highlighted as a region of carnivore shape, composition, and connectivity of remaining conservation priority (Schipper et al. 2008). Effective natural habitats affect carnivores by either limiting or management of the guild, however, is hindered by a facilitating animal movement (Crooks et al. 2011). As paucity of knowledge regarding the ecology and an example, agricultural land flanked by or containing behaviors of these species, particularly tolerance and remnant habitat patches displays enhanced carnivore fine-scale responses to human-modified landscapes occupancy (Santos et al. 2016). Persistence can be (Mathai et al. 2016). Studies report limited carnivore further facilitated by the degree of functional impe- flexibility to oil palm plantations, such as distinct dance posed by the agricultural land use itself; if the avoidance by GPS collared Sunda clouded leopards matrix is permeable to, or can be successfully utilized (Neofelis diardi; Hearn et al. 2018). Most research by a species, a population’s survival probability thus concludes the guild will only be sustained with further increases (Ferreira et al. 2018). Through the strict land-sparing conservation efforts (e.g. Yue et al. quantification of carnivore movements within hetero- 2015; Wearn et al. 2017). However, documentation of geneous landscapes, scientists, resource managers, several generalist species in close proximity to and 123 Landscape Ecol within oil palm plantations suggests there are more beginning of the region’s large-scale forest degrada- nuanced processes facilitating carnivore persistence tion (McMorrow and Talip 2001). The wet tropical (Jennings et al. 2015; Evans et al. 2016a). One such climate and alluvial soils are highly suitable for oil species is the Malay civet (Viverra tangalunga), a palm cultivation (Pirker et al. 2016), and the estab- 3–7 kg ground-dwelling, nocturnal, and predomi- lishment of large-scale plantations began in the early nantly solitary carnivore recorded in a range of habitat 1980s. The majority of the forests in the Floodplain types, including within oil palm plantations (Duck- have been converted into oil palm plantations (Francis worth et al. 2016). With advancements in animal 2017), and the Kinabatangan estates account for 28% tracking technologies, an unprecedented quantity and of Sabah’s total cultivated area of oil palm crop quality of spatiotemporal movement data can be (Abram et al. 2014). The remaining patches of natural directly collected from the species (Evans et al. land cover flanking the river comprise a mixture of dry 2016b). This opportunity facilitates the explicit study lowland, semi-inundated, swamp, and riparian forests of carnivore functional responses to degraded and interspersed with small grasslands. As of 2014, over heterogeneous landscapes, which will provide insights 98% of the remaining forested areas in the Floodplain into ecological mechanisms of carnivore persistence. were within 1 km of a forest edge (Francis 2017). We quantified the spatial movements and habitat Within this mosaic landscape is the 27,000 ha use of Malay civets, a generalist carnivore persisting Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. The Sanc- within the degraded