Abstract booklet - gtö – Society for Tropical Ecology

126 PARALLEL SESSION HALL H III | HOTSPOT WALLACEAPARALLEL SESSION HALL H III | HOTSPOT WALLACEA127PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF BORNEAN CARNIVORESAndreas Wilting 1 , Heribert Hofer 1 , Jörns Fickel 11Inst. f. Zoo & Wildl. Res., Berlin, DE, wilting@izw-berlin.deCarnivores are among the most threatened of the world’s mammals. Asrecognized by the IUCN Species Survival Commission, southeast Asianmammals are of particular conservation concern and face an acceleratedextinction crisis. The limited information about carnivores in southeast Asiagreatly complicates conservation efforts. We therefore investigated (1) theevolutionary history of southeast Asian carnivores using molecular genetictools (to elucidate the past), (2) the consequences of different types of forestexploitation on the distribution of carnivores using different field techniques,mainly camera-trapping (to understand the present), and (3) the distributionof carnivores across the whole island of Borneo using predictive distributionmodelling (to assist future conservation efforts). Here we show new insightson the phylogeography of some carnivores (clouded leopards Neofelis sp.,common palm civet Paradoxurus hermaphrodites, leopard cat Prionailurusbengaensis and fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus) which suggest that theirdistribution cannot be explained solely by existing land bridges betweenthe islands during the last glacial maxima. Field data from over two years ofintensive camera-trapping provide first insights about habitat selection andspecies-specific abilities to cope with changing environments. These resultsare used to explain the phylogeographic past and are the basis for predictivedistribution models to identify priority areas for future conservation.Merian Award Winner 2011THURSDAY 10:45 Hall H IIITHURSDAY 10:45 Hall H IIIgtöSociety for Tropical Ecology | Gesellschaft für Tropenökologie e.V. Status and future of tropical biodiversity | Frankfurt, 21 - 24 February 2011gtö