Remote Identification of Wildlife Species Richness Along Linear Disturbance Corridors in Endau-Rompin (Peta) National Park, Johor, Malaysia. Kugan RAJU. 1* and Noordyana HASSAN. 1,2*
1 Department of Geoinformation, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
2 Geoscience and Digital Earth Centre (INSTeG), Research Institute of Sustainable Environment (RISE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), 81310 UTM Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
Abstract
Ecotourism and forest management activities have caused an increase in the number of linear disturbance corridors, such as roads, trails, and logging routes within protected rainforests. Species richness near these types of corridors is crucial because these areas may influence wildlife presence due to environmental factors. While previous studies have examined detection rates and diel activity of wildlife, there are less studies that have investigated how natural and anthropogenic factors influence species richness using remote sensing. Therefore, in the present study, we identify the species richness of wildlife and examine the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on species richness along linear disturbance corridors in Endau-Rompin (Peta) National Park, Malaysia by using camera traps and remote sensing derived information. Camera trap data were collected along paved and unpaved roads inside the national park with each unit operating continuously over 250 days. Species richness was calculated using the Habitat and Biodiversity Modeler (HBM). Natural and anthropogenic variables were extracted using Sentinel-2 data. Additionally, human activity indexes extracted from camera traps at each location were used as direct field-based indicators for anthropogenic variables. The relationship between environmental factors and species richness was computed using statistical analyses. The result is expected to show that species richness varied across paved and unpaved roads. Locations with higher vegetation productivity exhibited higher species richness while locations with higher human activity had lower species richness. Species richness was slightly high at locations near unpaved road compared to paved road which indicate anthropogenic factors influence wildlife diversity along linear disturbance corridors. In conclusion, both natural and anthropogenic factors significantly influence wildlife species richness along linear disturbance corridors within protected rainforests. The results obtained from this study would be useful for the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) to inform conservation planning within protected areas.
Keywords: alpha diversity, remote sensing, species richness.
