Southeastern mountain Taeromys (Taeromys arcuatus)

Mohamed bin Zayed Species project number 0925478

Background The Island of Sulawesi hosts an extremely rich mammalian fauna including several endemic species with restricted range (Schipper et al. 2008). Unfortunately data available to accurately evaluate the status of a number of these species are extremely poor therefore many are currently listed as “Data Deficient” by the IUCN (2008). The Island has been explored by few expeditions most of which were carried out in the Western or Central part of the Island. Most of the “threatened” or “data deficient” mammals of Sulawesi inhabit montane forest, an important ecoregion (AA00124, WWF 2001) threatened by deforestation. The goal of this project is to provide all the necessary information for re-evaluating the conservation status of four target mammalian species (Taeromys arcuatus; Taeromys microbullatus Maxomys dollmanni, Rattus salocco) currently listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN and that are believed to inhabit the Eastern part of the Island. The strength of this project is that we aim to combine extensive field surveys with state of the art sampling design and modelling techniques (occupancy models), in order to be able to address the issue of false absences and develop a robust monitoring program for the target species (See Mackenzie et al. 2002 and Mortelliti & Boitani 2008 for more information). Justification The crucial importance of such a project may be synthesized in the two following statements: 1) Unless more data is gathered it will not be possible to re-assess accurately the status of the four target species. 2) the possibility of combining field expeditions with the application of state of the art statistical techniques is a challenge that will surely benefit data gathering approaches in remote areas. . Objectives 1) Extend the information on the distribution limits of Taeromys arcuatus, Taeromys microbullatus, Rattus salocco, Maxomis dollmani in southeast Sulawesi and gather basic species-habitat information. 2) Reassess the conservation status of Taeromys arcuatus, Taeromys microbullatus, Rattus salocco, Maxomis dollmani currently listed as Data Deficient by the IUCN. 3) Implementation of a sampling protocol to evaluate the presence/absence of the target species • Implementation of a monitoring program for the 4 target species structured in two key-actions: • a) monitoring the distribution • b) monitoring the abundance of the species in order to assess population trends The project will be structured in three phases (see “activities later”) and will be carried out by the Project responsible in collaboration with local zoologists from LIPI (Research Center for Biology, Indonesian Science Institute), local students and workers, and students from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” where the Global Mammal Assessment is now based. References MacKenzie, D.I., Nichols, J.D., Lachman, G.B., Droege, S., Royle, J.A. & Langtimm, C.A. (2002). Estimating site occupancy rates when detection probabilities are less than one. Ecology, 83, 2248-2255. Mortelliti, A. & Boitani, L. (2007). Estimating species' absence, colonization and local extinction in patchy landscapes: An application of occupancy models with rodents. Journal of Zoology, 273, 244-248. Schipper, J. et al. The status of the world's land and marine mammals: diversity, threat, and knowledge. Science 322, 225-230.