Binturong ecology and conservation 225 Future research could examine the influence of the verti-
cal structure of forests on habitat associations (Deere et al., 2020; Stobo-Wilson et al., 2021). This could be especially im- portant in helping species to find their ideal microclimates and for potential niche partitioning through vertical strat- ification, which may partly explain the high diversity of civets and many other arboreal mammals in Asia (Shanahan & Compton, 2001; Thiel et al., 2021). Data on these habitat layers are now available from the Global Ecosystem Dynamic Investigation (Dubayah et al., 2020). There is also a need for more systematic assessments of bin- turong hunting. The species’ occurrence in fragmented and degraded habitats may correlate with areas of higher hunt- ing pressure (Duckworth et al., 2012). We found that a large portion of the forested range of binturongs is unprotected and unsuitable for their habitation, raising concerns of fur- ther population declines. Given that binturongs persist in degraded habitats, it is imperative for future research to identify those populations most at risk from hunting and to propose strategies to minimize this risk. For example, restoration of fig trees and lianas in degraded habitats (Campbell et al., 2015; Cottee-Jones et al., 2016) could sup- port arboreal locomotion and shelter, along with the plants providing fruits for the species and other wildlife (Shanahan et al., 2001; Lambert&Halsey, 2015;Nakabayashi&Ahmad, 2018; Debruille et al., 2020). Binturong seed dispersal in de- graded forests and edges may help offset the deleterious im- pacts of pigs, which are abundant in these habitats and are seed and seedling predators (Luskin et al., 2019; Luskin et al., 2021). Binturongs may also support the prey base for carni- vores, including apex predators and medium-sized felids (Amir et al., 2022; Decœur et al., 2023). If binturongs can adopt behaviours to avoid people, for example by becoming more nocturnal and elusive in forest canopies (Whitworth et al., 2016), this could reduce their detection by hunters. Our findings suggest that binturongs can persist in
degraded and disturbed forests, probably throughmodulating their diel activity to become more nocturnal, and thus main- tain their seed dispersal services in the widespread degraded forests of Asia. This provides hope for the restoration of plant and animal communities, especially via keystone plants (figs) and their dispersers (binturongs). Conversely, binturongs in degraded areas could face greater threat from hunting. Borneo and Sumatra are areas with highly suitable bintu- rong habitat and the highest binturong detection rates in camera-trapping studies, but the lowest proportions of protected forest (6.6%and 7.6%, respectively).
Acknowledgements This research was funded by the ForestGEO programme of the Smithsonian Institution, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, the University of Queensland and the Committee for the Research and Exploration award #9384-13 of the National Geographic Society. MSL was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award DECRA #DE210101440. We thank the members of the Ecological Cascades
Lab at the University of Queensland and the anonymous reviewers for comments on the text.
Author contributions Study design: MSL; data collection: JHM, MSL; data preparation: ZA, CPM, JHM, MSL; data analysis: AH, ZA, MSL; writing: AH, MSL; revision: all authors.
Conflicts of interest None.
Ethical standards This research abided by the Oryx guidelines on ethical standards and did not involve experimentation with animals or collection of specimens. We received ethical clearance for camera trapping from the University of California, Berkeley, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), and the University of Queensland (UQ). The camera-trap images of people were securely stored and not published or distributed, abiding by the ethical clearance from these institutions.
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Oryx, 2024, 58(2), 218–227 © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605322001491
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