DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3908128
title: Importance of riparian reserves and other forest fragments for small mammal diversity in disturbed and converted forest landscapes

description: <b>Description: </b>The primary objective of this study was to document the species richness, community composition of the small mammals in riparian remnants within oil palm plantation and in degraded forests. The purpose is to assess the value of retaining riparian remnants within oil palm plantation and logged forest habitats for small mammals conservation. <br>Main questions <br>1. Is there a difference in species richness and community composition of small mammals in riparian remnants within oil palm and logged forests? <br>2. What effects do maintaining riparian remnants in oil palm and logged forests have on small mammal diversity? <br>3. Does the structure and width of riparian remnants in oil palm and logged forests affect small mammal species diversity? <br>4. How does the structure of riparian reserves could be managed to improve the extent to which they retain small mammals communities in oil palm and logged forests?<br>Methods<br>Sampling will be conducted at several sites representing four habitat treatments: (1) riparian reserves in old growth forests as control treatment (at Maliau Basin Conservation Area); (2) riparian reserves of different widths in logged forests (SAFE project area); (3) riparian remnants of different widths in oil palm (south of SAFE project area); and (4) oil palm without any riparian remnants (south of SAFE project area). In addition, sampling was conducted in other forest remnants within oil palm habitats. Each habitat treatment will be represented by three sites serving as replicates. <br>Used a grid trapping of 4 x 12 grid points (23m spacing) for sampling the small mammals. We shall establish one grid at each site with 48 trap stations. Two wire-mesh cage traps (28 x 15 x 12.5 cm), baited with oil palm fruits, will be placed at each station. Trapping of small mammals and searchers for amphibians will be conducted in four sampling sessions. In each session we will visit randomly four sites representing the four habitat treatments. Each sampling session at each site will last for four months. Overall, each habitat treatment will be sampled three times over a 12 months period. The following variables will be collected for each sampling site to characterize the habitat structure: canopy cover, number of large and small logs, number of large and small trees, percentage leaf litter cover and other variables that may influence the distribution and abundance of small mammals.<b>Project: </b>This dataset was collected as part of the following SAFE research project: <b>Importance of riparian reserves and other forest fragments for mammal and amphibian diversity in disturbed and converted forest landscapes</b><b>Funding: </b>These data were collected as part of research funded by: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (Grant)This dataset is released under the CC-BY 4.0 licence, requiring that you cite the dataset in any outputs, but has the additional condition that you acknowledge the contribution of these funders in any outputs.<b>Permits: </b>These data were collected under permit from the following authorities:Sabah biodiversity council (Research licence Local)<b>XML metadata: </b>GEMINI compliant metadata for this dataset is available here<b>Files: </b>This consists of 1 file: UMS_Small_mammal_data.xlsx<b>UMS_Small_mammal_data.xlsx</b>This file contains dataset metadata and 1 data tables:<b>Data</b> (described in worksheet Data)Description: small mammal presence and absenseNumber of fields: 29Number of data rows: 140Fields: <b>landuse</b>: Habitat type (Field type: categorical)<b>site</b>: Location of sampling (Field type: location)<b>plot</b>: Plot name (Field type: categorical)<b>day</b>: Day of sampling (Field type: categorical)<b>Callosciurus notatus</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Echinosorex gymnurus</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Haeromys margarettae</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Lariscus hosei</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Leopoldamys sabanus</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Maxomys alticola</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Maxomys baeodon</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Maxomys ochraceiventer</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Maxomys rajah</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Maxomys surifer</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Maxomys whiteheadi</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Niniventer cremoriventer</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Rattus exulans</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Rattus rattus</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Rattus tiomanicus</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Sundamys muelleri</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Sundasciurus hippurus</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Sundasciurus lowii</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Sundasciurus tenuis</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Trichys fasciculata</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Tupaia glis</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Tupaia gracilis</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Tupaia minor</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Tupaia tana</b>: Number of species caught (Field type: abundance)<b>Grand Total</b>: Total (Field type: numeric)<b>Date range: </b>2015-03-01 to 2019-04-30<b>Latitudinal extent: </b>4.5000 to 5.0700<b>Longitudinal extent: </b>116.7500 to 117.8200<b>Taxonomic coverage: </b><br> All taxon names are validated against the GBIF backbone taxonomy. If a dataset uses a synonym, the accepted usage is shown followed by the dataset usage in brackets. Taxa that cannot be validated, including new species and other unknown taxa, morphospecies, functional groups and taxonomic levels not used in the GBIF backbone are shown in square brackets. - Animalia <br> - - Chordata <br> - - - Mammalia <br> - - - - Rodentia <br> - - - - - Sciuridae <br> - - - - - - <i>Callosciurus</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Callosciurus notatus</i> <br> - - - - - - <i>Lariscus</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Lariscus hosei</i> <br> - - - - - - <i>Sundasciurus</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Sundasciurus hippurus</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Sundasciurus lowii</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Sundasciurus tenuis</i> <br> - - - - - Hystricidae <br> - - - - - - <i>Trichys</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Trichys fasciculata</i> <br> - - - - - Muridae <br> - - - - - - <i>Maxomys</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Maxomys alticola</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Maxomys baeodon</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Maxomys ochraceiventer</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Maxomys rajah</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Maxomys surifer</i> <br> - - - - - - <i>Rattus</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Rattus exulans</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Rattus rattus</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Rattus tiomanicus</i> <br> - - - - - - <i>Sundamys</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Sundamys muelleri</i> <br> - - - - - - <i>Haeromys</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Haeromys margarettae</i> <br> - - - - - - <i>Niviventer</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Niviventer cremoriventer</i> <br> - - - - - - <i>Chrotomys</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Chrotomys whiteheadi</i> (as homotypic_synonym: <i>Maxomys whiteheadi</i>)<br> - - - - - - <i>Leopoldamys</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Leopoldamys sabanus</i> <br> - - - - Erinaceomorpha <br> - - - - - Erinaceidae <br> - - - - - - <i>Echinosorex</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Echinosorex gymnura</i> <br> - - - - Scandentia <br> - - - - - Tupaiidae <br> - - - - - - <i>Tupaia</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Tupaia glis</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Tupaia gracilis</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Tupaia minor</i> <br> - - - - - - - <i>Tupaia tana</i> <br>