Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) mediate large-scale edge effects in a lowland tropical rainforest in Peninsular Malaysia.

ABSTRACT: Edge-effects greatly extend the area of tropical forests degraded through human activities. At Pasoh, Peninsular Malaysia, it has been suggested that soil disturbance by highly abundant wild pigs (Sus scrofa), which feed in adjacent Oil Palm plantations, may have mediated the invasion of Clidemia hirta (Melastomataceae) into the diverse tropical lowland rain forest. To investigate this hypothesis, we established three 1 km transects from the forest/Oil Palm plantation boundary into the forest interior. We recorded the distribution of soil disturbance by wild pigs, C. hirta abundance, and environmental variables. These data were analyzed using a hierarchical Bayesian model that incorporated spatial auto-correlation in the environmental variables. As predicted, soil disturbance by wild pigs

SUBMITTER: Fujinuma J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3355099 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature