Living on the edge: Rapid assessment of the mammal community in a coffee forest in south‐western Ethiopia

The highlands of Ethiopia are within the Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot and contain some of the largest remaining patches of nearly undisturbed moist forest (Mittermeier et al., 2004). This region of Ethiopia is known as the evolutionary origin of coffee (Coffea arabica), and the production of the crop remains important to this day. Coffee is traditionally grown in forests, in the shade of native trees (Senbeta & Denish, 2006), and is managed mostly using traditional practices that maintain a diverse and complex forest structure (Aerts et al., 2011). Traditionally managed coffee forests have the potential to benefit biodiversity by creating buffer areas, providing forest habitat for wildlife and plant species, and by slowing down deforestation rates for agricultural production (Caudill, DeClerck, & Husband, 2014; Hylander, Neomissa, Delrue, & Enkosa, 2013). However, in recent decades, intensification of coffee production has been encouraged by national policies through the use of improved varieties, increasing coffee density, and reducing the diversity of shade trees, leading to simplification of forest structure and diversity (Tadesse, Zavaleta, & Shennan, 2014a). In addition, despite the presence of coffee, ongoing expansion of agricultural land in the region increases deforestation rates, leading to forest fragmentation and increasing forest edge density (Tadesse, Zavaleta, Shennan, & FitzSimmons, 2014b). Thus, while Ethiopia's coffee forests could potentially benefit biodiversity conservation, the combined threats of forest simplification and forest fragmentation can have severe impacts on species diversity (Hundera et al., 2013; Hylander et al., 2013). To date, the conservation potential of Ethiopia's coffee forests has been assessed mostly for birds (Buechley et al., 2015; Rodrigues et al., 2018) and plants (Senbeta, Schmitt, Woldemariam, Boehmer, & Denich, 2014), including in the context of intensified coffee production (Aerts et al., 2011; Gove, Hylander, Nemomisa, & Shimelis, 2008). Yet, very little information is available for mammals or other taxa. Mammals, however, are particularly sensitive to changes in forest extent and quality because many require large areas of nearnatural forest habitat. At the same time, mammals can cause serious damage to people's livelihoods in terms of crop loss, livestock predation and human injury, which may intensify as a consequence of changes to their habitat. Given the current threats facing coffee forest landscapes, there is a critical need to assess which mammal species are still present in the region to inform future research and conservation priorities. Here, we present the first results of a rapid assessment of the mammal community present at the edge of coffee forests in south-western Ethiopia. Rapid assessments of biodiversity are a useful approach to collect biodiversity data in poorly studied regions, when time and financial resources are limited (Silveira, Jácomo, & Diniz-filho, 2003). Camera trapping is a widely used method to perform rapid assessments of the diversity of medium-sized and large mammals (Tobler, Carrillo-Percastegui, Pitman, Mares, & Powell, 2008; Yasuda, 2004). It is noninvasive and costeffective, especially for cryptic species with elusive behaviour and nocturnal habits (Munari, Keller, & Venticinque, 2011). We recognise that a more comprehensive assessment, over longer periods of time, and including locations deep within the forest, would be desirable. Hence, we offer our findings as a starting point that can help inform future management and research priorities.