- Currently thought about near threatened on the IUCN Red List, the obscure marbled cat might at higher danger from environment disruption than formerly believed, a brand-new research study says.
- The research study authors advise intensifying the types’ preservation status to the threatened classification of susceptible.
- Their findings are based upon evaluation of camera-trap information from throughout the types’ variety, which discovered the little cat is an interior forest expert and might alter its daytime habits to prevent human beings.
- The authors state other semi-arboreal felids, such as the margay, might be likewise affected.
Think of a tropical jungle being cleared for an oil palm plantation, and the very first animal that enters your mind is most likely an orangutan. But there’s another tree-dwelling types, not almost too understood, for which the loss of these very same forests might be more disastrous than formerly believed.
In truth, a brand-new research study reveals that marbled cats (Pardofelis marmorata), semi-arboreal felines belonging to southern Asia, are so impacted by conversion of forests to oil palm plantation that it suggests intensifying the types’ preservation status from near threatened to susceptible.
The research study, released in the journal Ecosphererecommends other forest-dependent felids, such as the margay (I saw a leopard), might be likewise impacted. By contrast, some little wild cats that invest more time on the ground than up in trees can adjust much better to these human-altered environments.
The scientists examined camera-trap images from throughout Southeast Asia to compare the marbled cat’s environment usage with that of the more versatile leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). They discovered that the marbled cat “responds poorly to habitat clearing and oil palm plantations,” according to Alexander Hendry, very first author of the paper with the University of Queensland, Australia.
“The marbled cat was the ideal candidate to test our hypothesis that semi-arboreal animals would be more sensitive to rainforest degradation, such as selective logging, edges, fragmentation, and agricultural incursions,” Hendry informed Mongabay in an email interview. Camera-trap information validated that it is an “interior forest specialist,” trusting forest connection, according to the scientists.
Multiple types can adjust to oil palm plantation environments, consisting of the leopard cat, which utilizes them as hunting premises to prey upon rodents (though this includes other issues, such as the danger of illness transmission and direct exposure to chemicals, such as rodenticides).
“[T]he fact that the terrestrial but otherwise similar leopard cat shows the opposite response suggests the semi-arboreal nature of the marbled cat is likely a factor that contributes to their inability to adapt to disturbed landscapes,” Hendry said.
The findings likewise recommend the marbled cat might adjust its habits in reaction to human activity. Normally active throughout the daytime, on a couple of celebrations the types was caught on cam throughout golden hours when near disrupted locations, “likely to avoid times when humans are around,” Hendry said. Consequently, “marbled cats may have less time to hunt and travel than they would normally, or may encounter new competitors and predators.”
Together, these findings led the researchers to conclude that the types is likely more at danger than formerly believed due to environment modification and the growth of oil palm plantations.
For Wai-Ming Wong, director of Panthera’s little cats program, the research study is “a good example of using by-catch data to provide insights into understudied species.” He said he concurs with the suggestion to upgrade the marbled cat’s listing to susceptible, a “threatened” classification in the IUCN Red List, in line with likewise forest-dependent types, such as the leopard (Neofelis spp.).
“The habitat for marbled cats and indeed other forest-dependent species like the clouded leopard (also vulnerable) are in significant decline, and while there are still large swaths of intact forests across Sumatra and to some degree Borneo, their habitat in mainland [Southeast Asia] is highly degraded and isolated,” Wong informed Mongabay in an email.
“Marbled cat records are scarce but this is true of many small cats,” Jim Sanderson, creator and director of the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation, informed Mongabay in an email, including that “a paucity of records” does not always suggest they are more susceptible.
“The problem for wild cats and other wildlife in [Southeast Asia] is massive habitat loss, widespread uncontrolled poaching, and insufficient conservation actions to mitigate threats,” he said. “Only the leopard cat is doing well because of the spread of rats as a result of the cancer of palm oil plantation replacing natural habitats.”
Semi-arboreal cats at risk?
The research study authors state their conclusions might likewise use to other semi-arboreal types such as the margay, discovered throughout Latin America, which is likewise presently thought about near threatened.
During the margay’s last IUCN Red List evaluation, it was specified that the types might receive uplisting to susceptible in the future. Tadeu De Oliveria, a scientist and conservationist with Pro Carnivoros, who led the evaluation, said the scenario might have altered based upon much better understanding of its ecology.
“I’ve seen footage of margays moving on tree branches, but whenever they are traveling or hunting, they are on the ground,” De Oliveria, informed Mongabay in a video interview. “They do have high arboreal capability, however they are not arboreal per se.
“From what we know of margay ecology, the animal is adaptable and not as sensitive to disturbance,” De Oliveria continued, including that while the cats seem depending on forest cover and connection, they are seen in disrupted locations such as logged forests.
“Our main point from the paper was that margays and marbled cats as semi-arboreal species are likely to be less adaptable and more threatened than terrestrial cats that share their habitat,” Hendry said. He kept in mind that other research studies have actually discovered that little cat types in Latin America, such as the jaguarandi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) and ocelot (leopard leopard), can adjust to plantations, while this isn’t always the case for the margay.
De Oliveria said he concurs that plantations are “totally different than logging or other forms of forest disturbance.”
“Replacing the natural cover with palm oil, or whatever plantation it is, does not benefit them at all and negatively impacts them,” he said, including that a reassessment of the margay remains in the pipeline.
Similarly, Hendry and his team aim to lead the next reassessment of the marbled cat’s status. A persistent challenge, which extends to other small cat species, is their enigmatic nature and lack of targeted research, leaving several knowledge gaps in their wider ecology.
While the species’ “semi-arboreal nature” likely contributes to its inability to adapt, Hendry noted, there’s also limited scientific data on much of the marbled cat’s wider ecology. Key open questions include how often they hunt or travel in trees compared to on the ground, and whether they prey primarily on arboreal or terrestrial species.
But this lack of data should not stand in the way of conservation measures, Sanderson said. “More research is not needed to know habitat loss and poaching are major threats negatively impacting all wildlife,” he wrote. “We do not need ‘more research’; we need action [and] threat reduction programs.”
In addition to recommending an escalation of the marbled cat’s conservation status, the scientists identified the Bornean state of Sabah, Peninsular Malaysia, and northwestern Myanmar as possible core areas for protection of the species.
“One of the takeaways here would be stressing the importance of maintaining connectivity between isolated habitat patches in these human-dominated and agricultural landscapes,” Wong said, adding that setting aside areas of high conservation value to serve as wildlife corridors is part of the criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
This is especially important for “forest dependent wildlife like the marbled cat, to be able to disperse into the wider landscape,” Wong said, “thus aiding their survival both on the individual and population levels.”
Banner image: Like the marbled cat, the margay is thought to be semi-arboreal. Evidence suggests it may adapt to some levels of disturbance but not to plantations. A previous study from Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, found that the margay is mostly nocturnal and “its densities are positively influenced by forest cover and negatively influenced by human disturbance,” yet it seems “able to persist under moderate levels of human modification.” A review of its IUCN Red List status is also due to be undertaken. Image by Proyecto Asis through Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Citations:
Hendry, A., Amir, Z., Decoeur, H., Mendes, C. P., Moore, J. H., Sovie, A., & Luskin, M. S. (2023). Marbled cats in Southeast Asia: Are diurnal and semi‐arboreal felids at higher danger from human disruptions? Ecosphere, 14(1). doi:10.1002/ecs2.4338
Mendes-Oliveira, A. C., Peres, C. A., Maués, P. C., Oliveira, G. L., Mineiro, I. G., De Maria, S. L., & Lima, R. C. (2017). Oil palm monoculture causes extreme disintegration of an Amazonian forest mammal animals. PLOS ONE, 12(11), e0187650. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0187650
Pardo, L. E., Edwards, W., Campbell, M. J., Gómez-Valencia, B., Clements, G. R., & Laurance, W. F. (2021). Effects of oil palm and human existence on activity patterns of terrestrial mammals in the Colombian Llanos. Mammalian Biology, 101(6), 775-789. doi:10.1007/s42991-021-00153-y
