Projected development in Borneo and Sumatra will greatly reduce connectivity for an apex carnivore

Żaneta Kaszta; Samuel A Cushman; Andrew Hearn; Sean Sloan; William F Laurance; Iding A Haidir; David W Macdonald

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170256

Projected development in Borneo and Sumatra will greatly reduce connectivity for an apex carnivore

Sci Total Environ. 2024 Mar 25:918:170256. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170256. Epub 2024 Jan 20.

Authors

Żaneta Kaszta¹, Samuel A Cushman², Andrew Hearn², Sean Sloan³, William F Laurance⁴, Iding A Haidir⁵, David W Macdonald²

Affiliations

¹ Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, 617 S Beaver, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, USA. Electronic address: zaneta.kaszta@biology.ox.ac.uk.
² Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
³ Department. of Geography, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC V9R 5S5, Canada.
⁴ Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Australia.
⁵ Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Wildlife Work Indonesia - Regional Asia, Jakarta 102010, Indonesia.

PMID: 38253102
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170256

Abstract

The islands of Borneo and Sumatra are strongholds for biodiversity and home for many endemic species. They also have experienced amongst the highest deforestation rates globally. Both islands are undergoing massive, rapid infrastructure development, leading to further deforestation and habitat fragmentation. Here, we identify priority areas for continued functional forest connectivity across Borneo and Sumatra, using spatial models of clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi, a forest indicator species) movement, and impacts thereto from existing and future infrastructure development. We specifically measure and map the anticipated impacts on forest functional connectivity of three major infrastructure development projects (Pan Borneo Highway, Trans-Sumatran Toll Road, and the new Indonesian capital city of Nusantara). We found that core clouded leopard habitats are already highly fragmented in Sumatra, constituting only ∼13 % of the island, with potential dispersal corridors still linking some habitat fragments. In Borneo, clouded leopard core habitats cover 34 % of the island, with one large central core area and several much smaller satellite cores, which are largely unprotected (15 % protected, compared to 42 % in Sumatra). The largest negative effect on habitat connectivity was predicted for Nusantara (66 % of the total connectivity loss predicted for all three infrastructure projects), reverberating across the entirety of Borneo with the strongest effects in East Kalimantan. The Pan Borneo Highway accounted for 28 % of the total connectivity loss, affecting every province in Borneo and Brunei, with 6 % of this decrease located within protected areas. The Trans-Sumatran Toll Road had the smallest negative effect on connectivity (6 %) but only when excluding the already built segments, which, when included, produce a total negative impact similar to that of the Pan Borneo Highway.

Keywords: Clouded leopard; Core habitat; Dispersal corridor; Nusantara; Pan Borneo Highway; Trans-Sumatra Toll Road.

MeSH terms

Animals
Borneo
Conservation of Natural Resources*
Ecosystem
Felidae*
Indonesia