DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rbnzs7h6z
title: Data from: A standardized assessment of forest mammal communities reveals consistent functional composition and vulnerability across the tropics

description: Understanding global diversity patterns has benefitted from a focus on
 functional traits and how they relate to variation in environmental
 conditions among assemblages. Distant communities in similar environments
 often share characteristics, and for tropical forest mammals, this
 functional trait convergence has been demonstrated at coarse scales
 (110-200 km resolution), but less is known about how these patterns
 manifest at fine scales, where local processes (e.g., habitat features and
 anthropogenic activities) and biotic interactions occur. Here, we used
 standardized camera trapping data and a novel analytical method that
 accounts for imperfect detection to assess how the functional composition
 of terrestrial mammal communities for two traits – trophic guild and body
 mass – varies across 16 protected areas in tropical forests and three
 continents, in relation to the extent of protected habitat and
 anthropogenic pressures. We found that despite their taxonomic
 differences, communities generally have a consistent trophic guild
 composition, and respond similarly to these factors. Insectivores were
 found to be sensitive to the size of protected habitat and surrounding
 human population density. Body mass distribution varied little among
 communities both in terms of central tendency and spread, and
 interestingly, community average body mass declined with proximity to
 human settlements. Results indicate predicted trait convergence among
 assemblages at the coarse scale reflects consistent functional composition
 among communities at the local scale, suggesting that broadly similar
 habitats and selective pressures shaped communities with similar trophic
 strategies and responses to drivers of change. These similarities provide
 a foundation for assessing assemblages under anthropogenic threats and
 sharing conservation measures.Understanding global diversity patterns has
 benefitted from a focus on functional traits and how they relate to
 variation in environmental conditions among assemblages. Distant
 communities in similar environments often share characteristics, and for
 tropical forest mammals, this functional trait convergence has been
 demonstrated at coarse scales (110-200 km resolution), but less is known
 about how these patterns manifest at fine scales, where local processes
 (e.g., habitat features and anthropogenic activities) and biotic
 interactions occur. Here, we used standardized camera trapping data and a
 novel analytical method that accounts for imperfect detection to assess
 how the functional composition of terrestrial mammal communities for two
 traits – trophic guild and body mass – varies across 16 protected areas in
 tropical forests and three continents, in relation to the extent of
 protected habitat and anthropogenic pressures. We found that despite their
 taxonomic differences, communities generally have a consistent trophic
 guild composition, and respond similarly to these factors. Insectivores
 were found to be sensitive to the size of protected habitat and
 surrounding human population density. Body mass distribution varied little
 among communities both in terms of central tendency and spread, and
 interestingly, community average body mass declined with proximity to
 human settlements. Results indicate predicted trait convergence among
 assemblages at the coarse scale reflects consistent functional composition
 among communities at the local scale, suggesting that broadly similar
 habitats and selective pressures shaped communities with similar trophic
 strategies and responses to drivers of change. These similarities provide
 a foundation for assessing assemblages under anthropogenic threats and
 sharing conservation measures.
description: Mammal detections from camera trpping data from 16 regions (r)
 across the tropics, plus environmental covariates. See paper in Ecography
 for further details.
description: All details in main manuscript and supplementary
 information.