Borneo Nature Foundation carried out camera trapping across eight sites between 2010-2014 in Central and East Kalimantan involving 160 camera traps, 40 research assistants, hundreds of hours of data entry and animal identification, and now our data are published.
We obtained over 20,000 images of animals from over 35 species of birds, mammals and reptiles and we worked with 6 other research groups, national parks and universities – a great collaborative effort.
Camera traps are an invaluable tool for conservation, even just a few units can provide information difficult to obtain by humans alone. The cryptic and/or nocturnal species often hide from humans and are difficult to see. Camera traps can give us information on what animals are in a forest, what times the animals are active, and a glimpse into their behaviour. Camera traps also produce stunning photos and videos of the animals in their natural habitat.
By combining data from all the sites we surveyed, we show how mammalian species assemblages can provide reliable information about how disturbance affects a forest. This enables us to use the large mammal community structure at each site to assess the impacts of human disturbance and habitat variables.
The paper is open access and can be downloaded here: Mammalian communities as indicators of disturbance across Indonesian Borneo
