Context

Agricultural expansion is a leading cause of deforestation and habitat fragmentation globally. Policies that support biodiversity and facilitate species movement across farmland are therefore central to sustainability efforts and wildlife conservation in these human-modified landscapes.

Objectives

We investigated the conservation impact of several potential management scenarios on animal populations and movement in a human-modified tropical landscape, focusing on the critically endangered Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus.

Methods

We used an individual-based modelling platform to simulate population dynamics and movements across four possible landscape management scenarios for a highly modified oil palm-dominated landscape in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.

Results

Scenarios that maximised the retention of natural forest remnants in agricultural areas through sustainability certification standards supported stable orangutan populations. These populations were up to 45% larger than those supported under development-focused scenarios, where forest retention was not prioritised. The forest remnants served as corridors or stepping-stones, increasing annual emigration rates across the landscape, and reducing orangutan mortality by up to 11%. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that this outcome was highly contingent on minimising mortality during dispersal.

Conclusions

Management that promotes maximising natural forest cover through certification, such as that promoted by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, can maintain viable orangutan populations over the lifespan of an oil palm plantation and facilitate movement among otherwise isolated populations. However, minimising hunting and negative human–orangutan interactions, while promoting peaceful co-existence between apes and people, will be imperative to insure positive conservation outcomes.

中文翻译：

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人类改造景观中的猩猩运动和种群动态：政策和管理的影响

语境

农业扩张是全球森林砍伐和栖息地破碎化的主要原因。因此，支持生物多样性和促进物种跨农田迁移的政策对于这些人为改造的景观中的可持续性努力和野生动物保护至关重要。

目标

我们调查了几种潜在的管理方案对人类改造的热带景观中动物种群和运动的保护影响，重点是极度濒危的婆罗洲猩猩，Pongo pygmaeus。

方法

我们使用基于个体的建模平台来模拟马来西亚婆罗洲沙巴高度改良的油棕主导景观的四种可能景观管理场景中的种群动态和移动。

结果

通过可持续性认证标准最大限度地保留农业区天然林残余物的情景支持了稳定的猩猩种群。这些种群比以发展为重点的情景下支持的种群多 45%，在这些情景中，森林保留不是优先事项。森林残余物充当走廊或踏脚石，增加了整个景观的年度迁徙率，并将猩猩死亡率降低了 11%。敏感性分析表明，这一结果在很大程度上取决于在传播过程中将死亡率降至最低。

结论

通过认证促进天然森林覆盖最大化的管理，例如可持续棕榈油圆桌会议所提倡的，可以在油棕种植园的整个生命周期内维持有活力的猩猩种群，并促进其他孤立种群之间的流动。然而，在促进类人猿与人之间和平共处的同时，尽量减少狩猎和人与猩猩的负面互动，对于确保积极的保护成果至关重要。