Topic Introduction

The animals that are evident when entering a tropical forest depend very much on the type of forest, the time of the day, the season, the weather conditions and your observation skills. Savanna ecosystems are often the easiest place to see vertebrates and are the classic location for wildlife ‘safaris’. This is because most of the mammals that people are interested in seeing are large and are often out in the open. Birds are also obvious and the low stature of the trees and discontinuous canopy means that birds are easily observed. Reptiles are a bit more difficult to see, but are usually encountered.

The situation is very different when entering a rainforest. It is often quite dark, even at mid-day. The abundance of vegetation makes it difficult to see animals, especially as many of them occupy the canopy and cannot be clearly seen. However, they can often be heard, requiring knowledge of bird calls. Fortunately, acquiring this knowledge is becoming increasingly feasible as more and more recordings are being made available. Animals tend to be fairly quiet in the rainforest, and are often shy and retiring.

In all forests, many vertebrates are nocturnal, or at least crepuscular, making them extremely difficult to observe. Camera trapping has helped reveal the presence of species not previously known in some areas, and is particularly useful for nocturnal and very shy mammals. Many frogs are most active at night, and many species have distinctive calls. This enables the presence of many species to be detected. With bats, many species can be identified by their echolocation, but not all bats use it. For example, the majority of megabats do not use echolocation.

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

• Describe broad patterns of vertebrate diversity in the Tropics.
• Explain the difference between placental mammals, marsupials and monotremes.
• Identify those parts of the world with particularly high species richness amongst the vertebrates.
• Describe the strategies used by vertebrates to deal with fluctuations in resource abundance.
• Explain why new species are still being described.

Topic Readings

Required Readings

• Ghazoul, J. and Sheil, D. 2010. Tropical Rain Forest Ecology, Diversity, and Conservation. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 516 pp. Section 4.1

Optional Readings

• Wilson, D.E. and Mittermeier, R.A. 2009. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 1: Carnivores. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Editions. 727 pp.
• Wilson, D.E. and Mittermeier, R.A. 2011. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hoofed Mammals. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Editions. 885 pp.
• Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B. and Wilson, D.E. 2013. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 3: Primates. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Editions. 951 pp.
• Stoner, K.E., Timm, R.M. 2011. Seasonally dry tropical forest mammals: Adaptations and seasonal patterns. In: Dirzo, R., Young, H.S., Mooney, H.A., Ceballos, G. (eds.) Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests: Ecology and Conservation. Washington, DC, USA: Island Press. 85-106.
• Wilson, D.E. and Mittermeier, R.A. 2015. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 5: Monotremes and Marsupials. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Editions. 799 pp.
• Wilson, D.E., Lacher, T.E., Jr., and Mittermeier, R.A. 2016. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 6: Lagomorphs and Rodents I. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Editions. 987 pp.
• Wilson, D.E., Lacher, T.E., Jr., and Mittermeier, R.A. 2017. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 7: Rodents II. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Editions. 1008 pp.
• Wilson, D.E. and Mittermeier, R.A. 2018. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 8: Insectivores. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Editions. 709 pp.
• Wilson, D.E. and Mittermeier, R.A. 2019. Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 9: Bats. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Editions. 1008 pp.

Fundamental Concepts

PPT Presentations

4.1. Vertebrates - An Introduction.pptx Download 4.1. Vertebrates - An Introduction.pptx

Self-check Quiz

After viewing topic presentations, take this self-check quiz to check your own progress. This quiz is designed to see how well you remember some of the more important issues presented in the topic. There are five questions, and each has a potential of 4 answers, only one of which is correct. When you are ready, click the link Self-check Quiz 4.1 to start taking the quiz.

Pre-readings and Discussion (For certification)

Once you have read Section 4.1 of Ghazoul, J. and Sheil, D. 2010. Tropical Rain Forest Ecology, Diversity, and Conservation, choose to post one thought provoking question related to the material that you have read, and remember to answer/respond to at least one other student’s question on the discussion board Online Discussion Module 4.

Graded Assignments (For certification)

Six Sentence Answer #5

If you are not familiar with the Six Sentence Answer (6SA) format, please refer to the course pages on graded assessments to see details of the 6SA exercise. You should not attempt to do this assessment until you have read and fully understood the requirements. 

The Case

So far, we presented the situation that you are a member of a major international forest consultancy firm that specializes in doing surveys of forests around the world. You have access to field teams and the latest surveying equipment, include LiDAR. Your company has taken on a contract with the UN-REDD (United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries) to survey the forests on a very large island in South-East Asia, and you not only have the full cooperation of the government but they are also asking your company for advice on a range of issues.

By now, you have a produced a map of the island’s forests, and assessed the growing stock. Your field teams have done on-the-ground surveys to develop the allometric equations that you needed to produce estimates of the carbon stored in different types of forest on the island. You have found major differences, as you might expect, between the moist tropical forests on the west of the island and the dry forests in the rain shadow of the volcano on the east of the island. You have identified that the trees in the tropical moist forest are much smaller than those on the island of Borneo, located only a few hundred kilometres to the west and you have found a plausible explanation for this.

The government is now interested in developing ecotourism on the island. They have decided to build an interpretative walk through a section of rain forest on the west of the island. They are still at the initial stages of planning, and have asked your company to help them. One of their first questions is what botanical features of the tropical rain forest they should illustrate using a series of interpretative boards. Using the 6SA format, please indicate how they might prioritize the many different features of a tropical rain forest.

Remember to follow the structure of the 6SA outlined in the section on graded assessments.

Formatting:

• Double-space the text.
• 12-point font in New Times Roman or Calibri. 
• Put your name (Family or last name, followed by your first name), student number, the title “Topic 3.1 assignment”, and the date at the top of the first page.
• Name the e-file: your Family or last name_your first name_ Topic 3.1_Assignment.doc (or .docx). Example: Innes_John_Topic 3.1_Assignment (or .docx).
• Standard English usage, clear writing style.
• The assignment should be submitted through Canvas before the deadline.

Topic Summary

This topic provides an introduction to the topics dealing with vertebrates in tropical forests. Most concerns about biodiversity in tropical forests related to the plants or to the vertebrates, with much less emphasis being placed on invertebrates (even though they are more numerous, in terms of species numbers) than either plants or vertebrates. People relate more to vertebrates than invertebrates, and there is much greater interest in vertebrates. However. There are marked variations in vertebrate species richness in the different tropical regions, and these are examined in the next topics.

Topic Self-review (For self learning)

To review what you have learned in the topic, you are encouraged to use the following reflection questions as a study guide to do a self-review for the topic:

• How have plate tectonics affected the distribution of vertebrate faunas in different tropical regions?
• Where would you expect to find placental mammals?
• In what ways have vertebrates adjusted to cope with seasonal variations in resource availability in some tropical forests?
• What differences exist in the behaviours of vertebrates in tropical moist and tropical seasonally dry forests?
• What is the relative importance of torpor and hibernation amongst tropical vertebrates?
• How do vertebrates in seasonally dry forests conserve water?
• How is parturition adapted to seasonally dry conditions?
• How important is migration amongst tropical vertebrates?
• Where would you have the highest chance of discovering new vertebrate species?