Publisher : Biodiversity and Conservation - Springer
Place of publication :
Publication year : 2020
Thematic : Conservation
Language : English
Note
Globally, the occurrence of terrestrial vertebrates in mangrove forests is poorly documented, with little empirical data available. This knowledge gap is, at least in part,
explained by the challenging survey conditions typically found in these environments. As
an ecological understanding of ecosystems is essential to guide conservation management
actions, a lack of baseline biodiversity surveys can leave ecosystems vulnerable to
degradation. To address this, we developed and tested a rapid assessment protocol for tidal
regions (RAPTR), that uses a range of techniques to detect mammals, reptiles and
amphibians in mangrove habitat subject to daily tidal inundation. Our approach uses seven
commonly used fauna detection techniques (live traps, camera traps, nocturnal transects,
hair tubes, artificial terrestrial and arboreal refuges, and high-frequency acoustic monitoring). RAPTR was implemented over four consecutive nights at each of the 10 sites
spanning temperate to tropical mangrove regions of Australia. We detected 65 species of
terrestrial vertebrates, of which 42 species have not previously been reported in mangroves. We demonstrated that all techniques were robust to tidal inundation, and that four
consecutive trap nights were sufficient to detect all taxonomic groups and most species in
temperate regions, but that additional nights may be required in subtropical and tropical
regions. We recommend RAPTR be used as a biodiversity assessment protocol to identify
terrestrial vertebrates in mangroves to fill critical knowledge gaps about these important
ecological communities, and one which can potentially be applied to other tidal ecosystems. Such a strategy would further our understanding of the ecological role mangroves
play as habitat for terrestrial fauna, and help identify management strategies to aid the
conservation of these declining ecosystems.
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Keywords : Environmental refugees
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
