Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Natural licks are required for large terrestrial mammals in a degraded riparian forest, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

  • Note and Comment
  • Published:
Ecological Research

Abstract

Although the importance of natural licks for terrestrial mammals is widely acknowledged, we report here for the first time its importance for large terrestrial mammals in a degraded riverine forest in Borneo. Our results clearly demonstrated that various mammals, including bearded pig, sambar deer, and endangered orang-utans, were using the natural lick, though large arboreal/avian herbivore/omnivore animals were not attracted to the natural lick. In addition, the diversity of mammal species recorded in this study was lower than those recorded in the dry lowland forest. Possible reasons for this difference between the different forest types are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

References

  • Abram NK, Xofis P, Tzanopoulos J, MacMillan DC, Ancrenaz M, Chung R, Peter L, Ong R, Lackman I, Goossens B, Ambu L, Knight AT (2014) Synergies for Improving Oil Palm Production and Forest Conservation in Floodplain Landscapes. PLoS One 9:e95388. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0095388

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ancrenaz M, Goossens B, Gimenez O, Sawang A, Lackman-Ancrenaz I (2004) Determination of ape distribution and population size using ground and aerial surveys: a case study with orang-utans in lower Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia. Anim Conserv 7:375–385. doi:10.1017/s136794300400157x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ancrenaz M, Gimenez O, Ambu L, Ancrenaz K, Andau P, Goossens B, Payne J, Sawang A, Tuuga A, Lackman-Ancrenaz I (2005) Aerial surveys give new estimates for orangutans in Sabah, Malaysia. PLoS Biol 3:e3. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030003

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ancrenaz M, Hearn AJ, Ross J, Sollmann R, Wilting A (2012) Handbook for wildlife monitoring using camera-traps. BBEC Publications, Kota Kinabalu

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayotte JB, Parker KL, Gillingham MP (2008) Use of Natural Licks by Four Species of Ungulates in Northern British Columbia. J Mammal 89:1041–1050. doi:10.1644/07-mamm-a-345.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brightsmith DJ, Munoz-Najar RA (2004) Avian Geophagy and Soil Characteristics in Southeastern Peru. Biotropica 36:534–543. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.2004.tb00348.x

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnham KP, Anderson DR (2002) Model selection and multimodel inference: A practical information-theoretic approach, 2nd edn. Springer, Verlag

    Google Scholar 

  • Chapman CA, Chapman LJ (2002) Foraging challenges of red colobus monkeys: influence of nutrients and secondary compounds. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 133:861–875. doi:10.1016/s1095-6433(02)00209-x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons LH, Stark NM (1979) Elemental composition of a natural mineral lick in Amazonia. Biotropica 11:311–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goossens B, Setchell JM, Abulani DMA, Jalil MF, James SS, Aris SH, Lakim MH, Seventri AD, Sariningsih SS, Ancrenaz M (2002) A boat survey of primates in the lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. In: Mohamed M, Takano A, Goossens B, Indran R (eds) Lower Kinabatangan scientific expedition. Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, pp 37–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Holdø RM, Dudley JP, McDowell LR (2002) Geophagy in the African elephant in relation to availability of dietary sodium. J Mammal 83:652–664. doi:10.1644/1545-1542(2002)083%3C0652:GITAEI%3E2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klaus G, Klaus-Hügi C, Schmid B (1998) Geophagy by large mammals at natural licks in the rain forest of the Dzanga National Park, Central African Republic. J Trop Ecol 14:829–839. doi:10.1017/s0266467498000595

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krishnamani R, Mahaney WC (2000) Geophagy among primates: adaptive significance and ecological consequences. Anim Behav 59:899–915. doi:10.1006/anbe.1999.1376

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Matsubayashi H, Lagan P, Majalap N, Tangah J, Sukor JRA, Kitayama K (2007a) Importance of natural licks for the mammals in Bornean inland tropical rain forests. Ecol Res 22:742–748. doi:10.1007/s11284-006-0313-4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsubayashi H, Lagan P, Sukor JRA, Kitayama K (2007b) Seasonal and daily use of natural licks by sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) in a Bornean tropical rain forest. Tropics 17:81–86

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsubayashi H, Ahmad AH, Wakamatsu N, Nakazono E, Takyu M, Majalap N, Lagan P, Sukor JRA (2011) Natural-licks use by orangutans and conservation of their habitats in Bornean tropical production forest. Raffles Bull Zool 59:109–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Matsuda I, Tuuga A, Higashi S (2009) Ranging Behavior of Proboscis Monkeys in a Riverine Forest with Special Reference to Ranging in Inland Forest. Int J Primatol 30:313–325. doi:10.1007/s10764-009-9344-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Matsuda I, Tuuga A, Bernard H, Sugau J, Hanya G (2013) Leaf selection by two Bornean colobine monkeys in relation to plant chemistry and abundance. Sci Rep 3:1873. doi:10.1038/srep01873

    CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Payne J, Davies G (1987) A faunal survey of Sabah IUCN/WWF Malaysia project 1692. IUCN/WWF Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, p 279

    Google Scholar 

  • Payne J, Davies G (2013) Conservation of Rain Forest Mammals in Sabah: long Term Perspectives. Raffles Bull Zool 29:187–201

    Google Scholar 

  • Pielou EC (1966) Shannon’s formula as a measure of specific diversity: its use and misuses. Am Nat 104:463–465

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ping X, Li C, Jiang Z, Liu W, Zhu H (2011) Sexual difference in seasonal patterns of salt lick use by south China sika deer Cervus nippon. Mamm Biol (Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde) 76:196–200. doi:10.1016/j.mambio.2010.11.001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2013) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank the Economic Planning Unit of the Malaysian Government, the Sabah Biodiversity Centre, the Sabah Wildlife Department, the Sabah Forestry Department staff, and our research assistants (Asnih, Shah, and Hartiman) in Sabah, Malaysia, for support. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments. This study was partly financed by the HOPE and Human Evolution Project from KUPRI, the National Geographic Society (#9254-13, US) to IM, Nagao Environmental Foundation Japan to HB and Grants-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research (#24657170, JP) to IM, for Young Scientist (#26711027 & #21770261, JP) to IM, Scientific Research (#25291100, JP) to G. Hanya, and for Strategic Young Researcher Overseas Visits Program for Accelerating Brain Circulation to KUPRI, from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and was conducted in compliance with animal care regulations and applicable Malaysian laws. Lastly, the authors would like to thank Enago (www.enago.jp) for the English language review.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

    Ikki Matsuda

  2. Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project, Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia

    Marc Ancrenaz

  3. Sabah Wildlife Department, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

    Marc Ancrenaz & Augustine Tuuga

  4. Coastal, Marine and Disaster Prevention Department, National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Kanagawa, Japan

    Yoshihiro Akiyama

  5. Sabah Forestry Department, Sabah Forest Research Centre, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

    Noreen Majalap

  6. Institute for Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia

    Henry Bernard

Authors
  1. Ikki Matsuda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marc Ancrenaz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Yoshihiro Akiyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Augustine Tuuga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Noreen Majalap
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Henry Bernard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ikki Matsuda.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 93 kb)

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Matsuda, I., Ancrenaz, M., Akiyama, Y. et al. Natural licks are required for large terrestrial mammals in a degraded riparian forest, Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia. Ecol Res 30, 191–195 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-014-1219-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-014-1219-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation