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The United Nations recently agreed to major expansions of global protected areas (PAs) to slow biodiversity declines1. However, although reserves often reduce habitat loss, their efficacy at preserving animal diversity and their influence on biodiversity in surrounding unprotected areas remain unclear2–5. Unregulated hunting can empty PAs of large animals6, illegal tree felling can degrade habitat quality7, and parks can simply displace disturbances such as logging and hunting to unprotected areas of the landscape8(a phenomenon called leakage). Alternatively, well-functioning PAs could enhance animal diversity within reserves as well as in nearby unprotected sites9(an effect called spillover). Here we test whether PAs across mega-diverse Southeast Asia contribute to vertebrate conservation inside and outside their boundaries. Reserves increased all facets of bird diversity. Large reserves were also associated with substantially enhanced mammal diversity in the adjacent unprotected landscape. Rather than PAs generating leakage that deteriorated ecological conditions elsewhere, our results are consistent with PAs inducing spillover that benefits biodiversity in surrounding areas. These findings support the United Nations goal of achieving 30% PA coverage by 2030 by demonstrating that PAs are associated with higher vertebrate diversity both inside their boundaries and in the broader landscape.

Natural climate solutions are being advanced to arrest climate warming by protecting and enhancing carbon capture and storage in plants, soils and sediments in ecosystems. These solutions are viewed as having the ancillary benefit of protecting habitats and landscapes to conserve animal species diversity. However, this reasoning undervalues the role animals play in controlling the carbon cycle. We present scientific evidence showing that protecting and restoring wild animals and their functional roles can enhance natural carbon capture and storage. We call for new thinking that includes the restoration and conservation of wild animals and their ecosystem roles as a key component of natural climate solutions that can enhance the ability to prevent climate warming beyond 1.5 °C.

Mammalian spatial and temporal activity patterns can vary depending on foraging behavior or the perception of predation or competition risk among species. These behaviors may in turn be altered by human influences such as defaunation. Herein, we evaluate whether frugivores avoid areas with high visitation rates by potential predators or competitors, and whether this avoidance changes in areas with different degrees of defaunation. We installed 189 cameras under fruit trees in six areas of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil, that differ in the abundance of top predators and large frugivores. Small predators and small frugivores were more frequent at night while large frugivores were more frequent during the day, but small frugivores visited and spent less time at fruiting trees on brighter nights, unlike large predators and large frugivores. Small frugivores also were less frequent in areas with high visitation by large frugivores and more frequent in highly defaunated areas. Our results suggest that the dynamics among mammalian functional groups varied according to diel patterns, potential competitors, and defaunation. We highlight the importance of understanding how species interactions are changing in areas exposed to strong human impacts to mitigate the indirect effects of defaunation.

Half of megapode bird species occur in New Guinea and adjacent islands, and almost all of the species are endemic to this region. Despite rapid regional development and deforestation in New Guinea, little is known about the population ecology of these birds, many of which are threatened or endangered. We used camera traps to assess impacts of anthropogenic disturbance and introduced predators on the occurrence and local abundance of red-legged brushturkey Talegalla jobiensisin lowland forests of Nimbokrang, Papua, and the wattled brushturkey Aepypodius arfakianusin the Arfak mountains, West Papua, Indonesia. In hierarchical occupancy models, detection rates were higher in logged forest for both brushturkey species. Occurrence rates of brushturkeys were not affected by logging, hunting pressure, or pig abundance. However, as degradation of megapode habitat is increasing across New Guinea, it is predicted that concurrent pressures from two or more of these threats could affect the distribution and populations of brushturkeys.

The age and sex differences in the plumages of Bornean Lophura pheasants are poorly known and limit accurate documentation of the ecology, distribution, phenology and conservation status of these elusive and threatened forest taxa. Remotely triggered camera-traps, however, offer a potentially untapped resource. We studied camera-trap footage (825 still images and 91 videos) and 88 museum specimens of the three species of Lophura pheasants from Borneo (L bulweri, L. ignita and L. pyronota) to clarify the criteria for identifying, ageing and sexing them. We provide updated descriptions of plumage for each taxon, while accounting for age and sex. We illustrate that every species can be identified, aged and sexed (even from grey-scale records) through a combination of wattle shape, crest size, body and tail colouration, taikbody ratio, contrasting markings on underparts, upperparts and upperwing-coverts, and spur size. Additional clues can be obtained from colour records, such as wattle and leg colouration. Moult phenology of the three species appears similar, with a single complete moult between juvenile and adult plumages which takes place over a lengthy period. In young male L. bulweri, however, retrix moult occurs after the body moult, possibly due to the energy cost of moulting its ornamentation. Phenology data indicate that breeding seasons for all three species are either prolonged or dependent on environmental conditions, although very little information was found for L. pyronota. Our analyses will improve the identification of Bornean Lophura pheasants in camera-trap and field studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]