We examined the vertical stratification of forest wildlife, from the ground up to the canopy layer, within a 2-hectare permanent plot of lowland evergreen rainforest on the Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve. Our aim was to determine the species richness of the different forest layers and evaluate their ecosystem services. Understorey, sub-canopy and canopy sampling were conducted during July 2016, March to April 2017 and February to March 2018, respectively. We were able to record a total of 68 species, consisting of 11 amphibians, 15 reptiles, 25 birds and 17 mammals. Increasing species richness with increasing vertical stratification was observed for both reptiles and mammals. For birds, the peak richness was observed in the sub-canopy and then decreased in the canopy. A decreasing trend was observed with amphibians wherein the peak species richness was observed in the understorey. Increasing vertical stratification influenced vertical habitat use and species richness. For the similarity index, the same pattern was observed for all species groups. Highest similarity was observed between the sub-canopy and the canopy and the least similarity was observed between the understorey and canopy. These results indicate that the understorey and the canopy host different species groups, thus, sampling of the understorey alone, often done in biodiversity surveys, may lead to the underestimation of species richness in an area.

中文翻译：

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富士山低地常绿森林的下层至冠层脊椎动物区系。菲律宾马克林森林保护区

我们研究了在山上2公顷的永久性低地常绿雨林中，从地面到树冠层的森林野生动物的垂直分层。马克林森林保护区。我们的目标是确定不同森林层的物种丰富度并评估其生态系统服务。分别在2016年7月，2017年3月至2017年4月和2018年2月至2018年3月进行了地下层，子顶棚和顶棚采样。我们能够记录总共68种，包括11种两栖动物，15种爬行动物，25种鸟类和17种哺乳动物。爬行动物和哺乳动物均观察到垂直分层增加物种丰富度的现象。对于鸟类，在子冠层中观察到峰值富集，然后在冠层中降低。在两栖动物中观察到下降的趋势，其中在底层中观察到峰值物种丰富度。垂直分层的增加影响了垂直栖息地的使用和物种丰富度。对于相似性指数，所有物种组均观察到相同的模式。在子冠层和冠层之间观察到最高的相似性，而在底层和冠层之间观察到最小的相似性。这些结果表明，下层和冠层具有不同的物种组，因此，通常在生物多样性调查中对下层进行单独采样可能会导致对该地区物种丰富度的低估。在子冠层和冠层之间观察到最高的相似性，而在底层和冠层之间观察到最小的相似性。这些结果表明，下层和冠层具有不同的物种组，因此，通常在生物多样性调查中对下层进行单独采样可能会导致对该地区物种丰富度的低估。在子冠层和冠层之间观察到最高的相似性，而在底层和冠层之间观察到最小的相似性。这些结果表明，下层和冠层具有不同的物种组，因此，通常在生物多样性调查中对下层进行单独采样可能会导致对该地区物种丰富度的低估。