Canopy structure drives orangutan habitat selection in disturbed Bornean forests.

ABSTRACT: The conservation of charismatic and functionally important large species is becoming increasingly difficult. Anthropogenic pressures continue to squeeze available habitat and force animals into degraded and disturbed areas. Ensuring the long-term survival of these species requires a well-developed understanding of how animals use these new landscapes to inform conservation and habitat restoration efforts. We combined 3 y of highly detailed visual observations of Bornean orangutans with high-resolution airborne remote sensing (Light Detection and Ranging) to understand orangutan movement in disturbed and fragmented forests of Malaysian Borneo. Structural attributes of the upper forest canopy were the dominant determinant of orangutan movement among all age and sex classes, with orangutans m

SUBMITTER: Davies AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5547644 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature