Data from: Human disturbance impacts on rainforest mammals are most notable in the canopy; especially for larger-bodied species

Aim: Community-level assessments of how biodiversity responds to disturbance within forest habitats are often biased towards terrestrial-based surveys. However, recent research suggests that arboreal communities of several indicator groups (ants, amphibians, beetles and butterflies) are more susceptible to human disturbance than their terrestrial counterparts; but what about wildlife at higher trophic levels? We assess responses to disturbance, from forest floor to canopy, of a key conservation flagship group: medium to large rainforest mammals. Location: The Manu Biosphere Reserve, southeast Peru. Methods: We deploy both arboreal and terrestrial camera traps, to directly compare the response of arboreal and terrestrial mammal communities to rainforest degradation and disturbance. Results: We show that the arboreal mammal community is more susceptible to habitat disturbance than the terrestrial community. Furthermore, the largest-bodied arboreal species, which are major seed dispersers, showed the greatest negative response to forest disturbance. The strongest predictors of occupancy probability for arboreal communities were focal tree connectivity and canopy cover, whereas surrounding forest loss and canopy height were there strongest predictors of terrestrial community occupancy; although these also had effects similar in size and magnitude on the arboreal community. Main conclusions: Conservation conclusions drawn from camera-based studies focused on the terrestrial realm likely underestimate the impact of rainforest degradation to arboreal communities and on arboreal rainforest biodiversity in general. We highlight the importance of developing arboreal research methods, capable of investigating conservation implications of anthropogenic disturbance across all vertical strata, for accurate conservation assessments and improving rainforest management and restoration strategies.Arboreal occupancy dataframe (6 day interval)Site x Species matrix of arboreal camera trap records, where the numbers denote the number of "independent" captures obtained within a given six day window.occ_data_arb_6d.txtTerrestrial occupancy dataframe (6 day interval)Site x Species matrix of terrestrial camera trap records, where the numbers denote the number of "independent" captures obtained within a given six day windowocc_data_ter_6d.txtArboreal survey effortThe number of six-day intervals acquired at each arboreal camera station.occ_effort_arb_6d.txtTerrestrial survey effortThe number of six-day intervals acquired at each terrestrial camera station.occ_effort_ter_6d.txtSpecies CodesSpecies codes and metadata relating to the mammals included in the occupancy data frames.species_data.txtCamera Station CovariatesThe covariate data for each camera station. Where: STATION = station number; YEAR = survey year; SITE = study site; CAM.HEIGHT = height from the ground in m for arboreal cameras; CC = mean canopy cover (%); SHRUB = mean shrub density; CONN = estimated tree connectivity; TREE.DENSITY = surrounding tree density; CAN.HEIGHT = mean canopy height for the surrounding canopy layer; CAM.BEARING = camera bearing; ASL = meters above seas level; RIV.DIST = euclidean distance to the nearest navigable river; FOREST.LOSS = surrounding canopy loss; COMM.DIST = euclidean distance to the nearest community; UNIQUE = unique station identifier (arboreal strata); UNIQUE.TER = unique station identifier (terrestrial); SurveyName = survey code for occupancy analysis; FACTOR1 = first principal component of disturbance features; FACTOR2 = second principal component of disturbance features.station_covariates.txtJags codeThe code for the Royle Nichols multi season occupancy model.MSRoyleNicholsMSOccJAGS_X_YEAR.tx