🤯 Did You Know (click to read)
Borneo contains extensive mountain ranges, including peaks over 4,000 meters high.
Borneo’s interior includes mountainous regions that shape forest distribution and animal movement. Elevation gradients influence vegetation type and prey availability. The Sunda clouded leopard primarily occupies lowland and hill forests, where canopy structure supports its hunting strategy. Steep terrain and ecological transitions can reduce connectivity between suitable habitats. Combined with deforestation in accessible lowlands, these natural gradients fragment effective range. Topography thus interacts with human land use to constrain distribution. Even within a single island, geography segments populations. Mountains become ecological filters.
💥 Impact (click to read)
Highland forests differ structurally from lowland dipterocarp forests favored by many prey species. Movement across steep ridges demands additional energy. When lowland corridors are cleared, mountainous terrain may not compensate as viable passage. The predator’s range narrows between altitude and agriculture. Physical landscape features compound anthropogenic fragmentation.
Conservation planning must consider elevation corridors linking suitable habitats. Protecting diverse forest types ensures ecological flexibility. The Sunda clouded leopard’s persistence depends on navigating both human and geological boundaries. Terrain shapes survival as much as policy.
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