Small logging roads do not restrict movements of forest rats in Bornean logged forests

Selective logging is driving the proliferation of roads throughout tropical rainforests, particularly narrow, unpaved logging roads. However, little is known about the extent of road edge effects or their influence on the movements of tropical understory animal species. Here, we used forest rats to address the following questions: (1) Does the occupancy of rats differ from road edges to forest interior within logged forests? (2) Do roads inhibit the movements of rats within these forests? We established trapping grids along a road edge-to-forest interior gradient at four roads and in three control sites within a logged forest in Sabah, Malaysia. To quantify the probability of road crossing, rats were captured, translocated across a road, and then recaptured on subsequent nights. We caught 216 individuals of eight species on 3024 trap nights. Rat occupancy did not differ across the gradient from road edge to interior, and 48 percent of the 105 translocated individuals crossed the roads a...