Biodiversity patterns of tropical freshwater fish following selective timber extraction: A case study from Sabah, Malaysia

Abstract

The removal of tropical forest cover during timber extraction represents an extreme form of disturbance, with potentially far-reaching effects on fish biodiversity. Fish populations were quantified in streams running through a mosaic of unlogged and selectively-logged areas in Sabah, East Malaysia to assess these effects. A diverse assemblage of more than thirty species of fish were found in both sets of streams with little or no evidence of loss of biodiversity in streams in logged forest, although shifts in dominance were recorded from slow-water communities. Additional data were provided by monitoring fish populations before selective logging operations and for eighteen months subsequently. Increases in diversity and species number were recorded from one site for 15 months from the start of sampling, but two other sites showed little change. Explanations for the persistence of the fish community in the face of high disturbance pressure include high rates of colonisation and movement from undisturbed areas and/or avoidance or tolerance of disturbance effects. © 1998 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.