New trail camera research in the Democratic Republic of Congo reveals a forest teaming with mammal life from the treetops to the forest floor.
Researchers discovered 47 different mammal taxa, including primates, carnivores, pangolins, rodents and more. Cameras detected 32 taxa on the forest floor, 23 in the forest understory and 22 in the canopy.
“The cameras essentially gave us a way to turn a single point in the forest into a vertical column of observation,” said Daniel Alempijevic, the lead author of one of two studies on the topic, in a press release.
In a study published recently in the Journal of Mammalogy, the researchers documented how using cameras both on the forest floor and in the tree canopy helped paint a better picture of the diversity of wildlife there. In a companion study published in Ecology, they got more into the relationships they discovered between some of these creatures.
These relationships included behavior such as bats approaching other mammals, possibly to feed on insects attracted to them.
“Growing up in this region, I’ve always understood that the forest is more than a landscape—it is home to an extraordinary diversity of life that we are still only beginning to understand,” said Junior Amboko, the co-author of both studies and a PhD student in Florida Atlantic University’s Department of Biological Sciences, in a press release. “Being able to document that hidden biodiversity is deeply meaningful to me, especially because what we learn today can help ensure these forests and the species that depend on them are here for generations to come.”
