Insectivorous, Afro-Palearctic migrant birds provide cross-border ecosystem services, but many are declining rapidly. The complex life cycle of migrant birds makes their conservation difficult, but understanding where they spend time during the breeding season can help indicate where those actions will be most effective. We used the spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata), a declining, Afro-Palearctic, migratory insectivore and habitat generalist, as a model to examine how river density and land-cover change were associated with loss and colonization during the breeding season of 2 × 2-km national atlas survey areas from 1990 to 2010. Greater river density was associated with a lower probability of loss (odds ratio [OR] 0.8) between survey periods and a higher probability of colonization (OR 1.25). Loss was associated with increases in urban land cover (OR 1.17), and, unexpectedly, colonization was negatively associated with increases in woodland (OR 0.91) and standing freshwater (OR 0.94). Our results suggest that habitat creation is unlikely to provide sufficient benefits for some insectivorous birds within the time needed for population recovery. Thus, efforts should focus on the protection and improvement of established habitats. River density was strongly associated with the persistence of the spotted flycatcher, and this finding highlights that understanding the benefits of freshwater habitat for terrestrial species should be a priority for conservation management.

Cross-system fluxes of aquatic insects rich in omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 LC-PUFAs), specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), may subsidise insectivorous vertebrates that are suffering due to terrestrial insect declines. The benefits of high ω-3 LC-PUFA diets, such as improved growth and immunocompetence, have previously been demonstrated for riparian insectivores. Understanding the potential for aquatic insects to benefit a range of species is necessary for informing land management practices. Using the spotted flycatcher (Muscicapa striata), a habitat-generalist, insectivorous bird as a model, we tested how blood plasma ω-3 LC-PUFA concentrations and the ratio of ω-6:ω-3 fatty acids were related to the body condition of 14 adults and 84 chicks in the wild. We measured how variation in ω-3 LC-PUFAs and ω-6:ω-3 was related to river proximity, to test whether they were related to aquatic insect availability. We assessed how these relationships may extend beyond the individual level by monitoring flying insect availability throughout two breeding seasons and testing its ability to predict reproductive success. EPA was positively correlated with body condition in chicks and adults and declined with distance from a river. Conversely, ω-6:ω-3 was negatively correlated with body condition and increased with distance from a river. Breeding success was positively correlated with aquatic insect availability, suggesting that access to a high ω-3 LC-PUFA diet has the potential to mitigate declines in generalist insectivores. Our results highlight how the maintenance or creation of high-quality freshwater habitats may be promoted in a conservation context for non-riparian species.

Global solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity is growing exponentially, and it is projected to become the dominant renewable energy source by 2050. A significant proportion of PV capacity is deployed as ground-mounted solar parks (SPs), incurring significant land use change, with implications for hosting ecosystems. Despite the rapid deployment of SPs, understanding of their environmental impacts and consequences for ecosystem services (ESs) remains poor. Here, we use a systematic literature review to identify environmental impacts of SPs and derive implications for ES, beyond the benefits that SPs confer over other means of electricity generation. We found 622 pieces of evidence from 167 articles demonstrating a wide range of both positive and negative impacts of SPs on ES, with responses varying with climate, ecosystem type and SP life cycle phase. Dominant positive outcomes included enhanced soil quality regulation in dry climates, and enhanced water cycle support, soil erosion regulation and pollination regulation during the operational phase. Conversely, savanna and grassland ecosystems and the construction phase were more commonly associated with negative outcomes. Further, negative climate regulation outcomes tended to occur in desert ecosystems. Crucially, we highlight significant knowledge gaps, with ⩽20 pieces of evidence for half of all ES, including vital services such as pollination regulation, likely to be impacted by SP land use change. The outcomes of this review could inform site location and management decisions which maximise ecosystem co-benefits and avoid detrimental impacts, providing valuable insight for emerging environmental policies. Ultimately, understanding of the impact of SPs on ES could aid an energy system transition that mitigates the climate and ecological crises.

Environmental noise can severely impair acoustic communication, thereby affecting key behaviors such as predator avoidance,1,2 territory defense,3,4 and reproduction.5,6,7 Persistent noise in some habitats is thought to have favored the emergence of multimodal communication systems.8,9,10 Multimodal signals, which integrate information across several sensory channels, can enhance signal detection and improve message clarity in challenging environments.11 The capacity to flexibly adjust signaling strategies in response to noise is considered critical to the resilience and evolutionary success of communication systems.12,13 However, direct evidence for noise-induced shifts between sensory modalities-termed "multimodal shift"-remains scarce.11 Although river noise has been linked to the evolution of multimodal displays14,15 and shifts16 in torrent frogs, examples from other taxa are lacking. Here, we investigate how the white-throated dipper (Cinclus cinclus), a riverine songbird, modulates both acoustic and visual signaling along noisy rivers. We find that the dippers adjust their songs to the ambient noise level. In addition, they use conspicuous blinking with white-feathered eyelids to compensate for acoustic masking in high-noise environments. Blinking rate was linked to local river noise, aggressive behavior, and conspecific presence. Calibrated field measurements revealed a negative correlation between song amplitude and blinking rate, consistent with a noise-driven multimodal shift. This indicates that song plasticity operates in tandem with visual signaling, showing that animals can dynamically reallocate investment across modalities in response to fluctuating environmental pressures. The fine-tuning of both signal performance and modality underscores the critical role of noise interference and signal flexibility in the evolution of complex communication systems.

In wild mammals, early postnatal growth strongly affects offspring survival and fitness, but little is known about the causes and consequences of variation in prenatal growth. We investigated whether gestational weight gains vary according to maternal traits and social and environmental conditions, and how prenatal growth affects the fates of the resulting offspring, using an exceptionally large sample of repeated pregnant body weight records from individually recognizable wild meerkats (Suricata suricatta). Pregnant meerkats' body weights remained stable during the first half of gestation and then increased linearly until they gave birth. Gestational weight gains were more rapid under favourable environmental conditions and when mothers were experimentally food-supplemented, suggesting that nutrition strongly determines prenatal growth. While social conditions and reproductive competition shape postnatal growth in many social vertebrates (including meerkats), these factors had a limited effect on prenatal growth, and adjustment to gestation lengths were modest and unrelated to social factors. Pups that grew faster in utero were heavier when they emerged from the birth burrow yet this rapid growth was not associated with shortened leukocyte telomeres, and they were consequently more likely to survive to adulthood. Broadly, we identified pronounced variation in gestational weight gains, which is largely driven by food availability and strongly predicts offspring birth weights and survival. Our findings also highlight constraints in the flexibility of prenatal growth and gestation lengths in this species, which may limit adjustments in response to prevailing social conditions, and enhance selection for flexibility in postnatal growth.

The evolution of sociality is one of the major evolutionary transitions in the history of life and a key step in this transition is the occurrence of kin associations. Yet, the question of what demographic processes and environmental factors generate kin-structured populations and drive kin-directed cooperation remains open. In this review, we synthesise 30 years of studies of the long-tailed tit Aegithalos caudatus, which has a kin-selected cooperative breeding system with redirected help: failed breeders may help to raise offspring of conspecifics, typically relatives, breeding nearby. We describe the use of ecological, demographic, genetic and behavioural approaches to reveal: (a) how kin-structured populations (here 'kin neighbourhoods') arise; (b) why the prevalence of cooperation varies among populations and individuals; and (c) how variation in dispersal and opportunities for cooperation influence individual fitness. The kin neighbourhoods of long-tailed tits arise from three processes. First, natal dispersal is limited and sex-biased so many individuals, especially males, recruit as breeders close to their natal site. Second, neither dispersal nor migration necessarily disrupts kin associations because long-tailed tits often move with close relatives. Third, a small effective population size driven by high nest predation rates enhances within-population relatedness. Together, these processes set the scene for kin-directed helping behaviour by causing spatial clustering of relatives. The prevalence of cooperation within kin neighbourhoods depends on several factors, both at the population-level (annual nest predation rate and length of the breeding season) and individual-level (relatedness, familiarity, sex and condition). However, limited information on prior social association and the reliability of kin discrimination cues hampers our current understanding of individual helping decisions. Finally, variation in dispersal within and between sexes affects the probability of interacting with kin, the likelihood of cooperation, and accrual of the direct and indirect components of inclusive fitness. We use this comprehensive understanding of the factors driving cooperative behaviour in long-tailed tits to highlight gaps in knowledge and suggest future avenues for research in this system, and to make general inferences about the role of dispersal, demography and kinship in social evolution.

In the move to decarbonise energy supplies to meet Net Zero targets, ground-mounted solar farms have proliferated around the world, with uncertain implications for hosting ecosystems. We provide some of the first evidence on the effects of ground-mounted solar panels on plant and soil properties in temperate agricultural systems. We sampled 32 solar farms in England and Wales in summer 2021. Plant cover and aboveground biomass, as well as soil nutrients and physiochemical properties, were quantified on land underneath solar panels, in the gaps between rows of solar arrays, and in control land (pasture) adjacent to three solar farms. Plant cover and aboveground biomass were significantly lower under solar panels than in the gaps between solar arrays and in pastures. Soil compaction was 14.4% and 15.5% higher underneath solar panels than in gaps and pastures, respectively. Soil organic carbon was 9% lower under solar panels than in gaps, while particulate organic matter was 29.1% and 23.6% lower under solar panels than in gaps and pastures, respectively. Soil mineral nitrogen was 30.5% higher under solar panels than in gaps, while soil (plant-available) phosphorus was approximately 60% higher in solar farm soils than in pasture soils. Reductions in solar radiation and changes to microclimate caused by solar panels may be driving lower plant productivity and growth, with consequences for nutrient cycling and soil properties. However, impacts must be considered in light of the previous land use and the total land area under solar panels, in the gaps between solar arrays, and around the margins of the solar farm. Our findings can inform solar farm design and management options (e.g. increase the proportion of land unaffected by solar panels, enhance plant cover under solar panels) to ensure the long-term provision of ecosystem services (e.g. soil carbon storage) within this fast-growing land use.

In many birds, productivity can be boosted by producing more than one brood during the breeding season. This multi-brooding strategy may become more common as a response to environmental change, especially in those species for which the timing of breeding is advancing or the breeding season is lengthening. Understanding the factors affecting the likelihood and outcome of multi-brooding is therefore crucial for predicting population change. Here, we investigate double-brooding in a declining riverbird species, the White-throated Dipper Cinclus cinclus. Using data collected between 2013 and 2021 from a long-term study population in the UK, we found that double-brooding was common, with an average of 29% of pairs per year having a second brood, and that reproductive output was significantly higher in double-brooded pairs than single-brooded pairs. The best predictor of double-brooding was the timing of breeding for the first brood; the earlier this occurred, the higher the likelihood of having a second brood. This suggests that seasonal changes in environmental conditions and food resources may determine opportunities for breeding. The probability of double-brooding was also higher in older males, indicating that individual quality probably plays a role too, although there was no effect of female age. Clutch size and the number of chicks fledged were lower in second broods than in first broods, and the best predictor of breeding success in second broods was nestbox use. The probability of young fledging was almost twice as high in boxes, suggesting that nestbox provision may be an important conservation measure. Together, these results provide evidence that double-brooding is driven by favourable environmental conditions, but further work is needed to better understand individual and adaptative variation in this response.

We present a genome assembly from a juvenile male Cinclus cinclus (the white-throated dipper; Chordata; Aves; Passeriformes; Cinclidae). The genome sequence has a total length of 1,170.80 megabases. Most of the assembly (93.88%) is scaffolded into 39 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 18.67 kilobases in length.

Many migratory bird species have undergone recent population declines, but there is considerable variation in trends between species and between populations employing different migratory routes. Understanding species-specific migratory behaviours is therefore of critical importance for their conservation. The Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos is an Afro-Palaearctic migratory bird species whose European populations are in decline. We fitted geolocators to individuals breeding in England or wintering in Senegal to determine their migration routes and breeding or non-breeding locations. We used these geolocator data in combination with previously published data from Scottish breeding birds to determine the distributions and migratory connectivity of breeding (English and Scottish) and wintering (Senegalese) populations of the Common Sandpiper, and used simulated random migrations to investigate wind assistance during autumn and spring migration. We revealed that the Common Sandpipers tagged in England spent the winter in West Africa, and that at least some birds wintering in Senegal bred in Scandinavia; this provides insights into the links between European breeding populations and their wintering grounds. Furthermore, birds tagged in England, Scotland and Senegal overlapped considerably in their migration routes and wintering locations, meaning that local breeding populations could be buffered against habitat change, but susceptible to large-scale environmental changes. These findings also suggest that contrasting population trends in England and Scotland are unlikely to be the result of population-specific migration routes and wintering regions. Finally, we found that birds used wind to facilitate their migration in autumn, but less so in spring, when the wind costs associated with their migrations were higher than expected at random. This was despite the wind costs of simulated migrations being significantly lower in spring than in autumn. Indeed, theory suggests that individuals are under greater time pressures in spring than in autumn because of the time constraints associated with reproduction.

We present a genome assembly from a juvenile male Cinclus cinclus (the white-throated dipper; Chordata; Aves; Passeriformes; Cinclidae). The genome sequence has a total length of 1,170.80 megabases. Most of the assembly (93.88%) is scaffolded into 39 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 18.67 kilobases in length.

Multi-purpose land use is of great importance for sustainable development, particularly in the context of increasing pressures on land to provide ecosystem services (e.g. food, energy) and support biodiversity. The recent global increase in land-take for utility-scale ground-mounted solar farms (hereafter referred to as solar farms) to meet Net Zero targets presents an opportunity for enhanced delivery of ecosystem services, especially in temperate ecosystems where solar farm development often results in land use change away from comparatively intensive agricultural land management. Solar farms have long operational lifespans, experience low levels of disturbance during operation and can be managed for ecosystem services beyond low-carbon electricity generation, including food production and biodiversity conservation. Here, we briefly synthesise the mechanisms by which solar farm development and operation may impact natural capital and ecosystem services, and provide policy recommendations for policymakers and the solar farm sector. Solar farms can deliver environmental benefits for hosting ecosystems while minimising negative impacts, with outcomes depending on location, construction techniques, and land management practices. However, the historical misalignment between climate, nature, and land use policies has hindered efforts to simultaneously address the climate and biodiversity crises through land use change for solar farms. For instance, existing public financial incentives in the UK that encourage landowners and developers to manage land for biodiversity largely exclude land with solar farms. Policy implications: We call for public policymakers to identify appropriate opportunities to amend existing national laws that address climate and biodiversity separately to improve integration of multiple aspects of the climate-nature-land use nexus into policymaking by: (1) formulating ecological and socio-economic indicators and metrics that are appropriate to underpin the development, implementation, and assessment of public policies; (2) adopting a cross-sectoral and cross-government approach to form public policies; (3) ensuring solar farms can access public financial incentives that encourage sustainable land use; (4) implementing land use policies that incentivise funding from non-government sources (e.g. private sector) into nascent nature markets; (5) embedding solar farms in biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning policies and decision-making; and (6) building equity and clarity into responsibilities and benefits for all actors involved. We call for public policymakers to identify appropriate opportunities to amend existing national laws that address climate and biodiversity separately to improve integration of multiple aspects of the climate-nature-land use nexus into policymaking by: (1) formulating ecological and socio-economic indicators and metrics that are appropriate to underpin the development, implementation, and assessment of public policies; (2) adopting a cross-sectoral and cross-government approach to form public policies; (3) ensuring solar farms can access public financial incentives that encourage sustainable land use; (4) implementing land use policies that incentivise funding from non-government sources (e.g. private sector) into nascent nature markets; (5) embedding solar farms in biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning policies and decision-making; and (6) building equity and clarity into responsibilities and benefits for all actors involved.image

Disturbance by humans and climatic change are thought to be two important factors contributing to ongoing declines in migratory bird species, especially during the breeding season when they may impact productivity. Ground-nesting species with precocial offspring are likely to be susceptible to both disturbance and extreme weather events, but more work is needed to understand these processes. Here, we investigate the factors affecting reproductive success in the common sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos), a declining, ground-nesting migratory wader. We colour-ringed individuals and monitored nests over three years to study the impact of disturbance, habitat and rainfall on hatching success and fledging success. First, we investigated whether the distance of nests from footpaths and rivers, and the amount of vegetation cover, predicted hatching success. We also recorded the distance at which incubating adults flushed from the nest in response to an approaching observer. Second, we investigated whether fledging success was associated with rainfall in the period following hatching. We found that hatching success was higher when nests were further away from footpaths, but only when nests were also far from rivers. Also, individuals on nests that were far from footpaths left their nests more readily when approached by observers, particularly when their nests had less vegetation cover. Further, our data showed that adults sitting tightly on nests, and having large amounts of vegetation cover around them, had higher hatching success. Finally, our results showed that fledging success was correlated with heavy rainfall in the week after hatching. This suggests that extreme rainfall events are likely to have important consequences for chick survival. Further work is needed to determine the interacting effects of human disturbance and predation events on both hatching and fledging success, particularly in the face of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events.

Abstract Natural capital and ecosystem services have emerged as fundamental concepts of ecosystem management strategies in the past two decades, particularly within major international land assessment frameworks, including the UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and the Intergovernmental Science‐Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services' Global Assessment Report. Despite the recent development of several analytical methods and models to quantify changes in natural capital and ecosystem services resulting from land use change, incorporating them into the land planning process can be challenging from a practical point of view without guidance on standard methods. In an attempt to decarbonize energy supply systems to meet internationally agreed targets on climate change, solar energy production, in the form of ground‐mounted solar parks, is emerging as one of the dominant forms of temporary land use for renewable energies globally. We propose 19 directly measurable indicators associated with 16 ecosystem services within three major stocks of natural capital (biodiversity, soil and water) that are most likely to be impacted by the development of solar parks. Indicators are supported by well‐established methods that have been widely used in pure and applied land use research within terrestrial ecosystems. Moreover, they can be implemented flexibly according to interest or land management objectives. Whilst not intended as a precise recipe for how to assess the effects of solar park development on hosting ecosystems, the protocol will guide the solar energy industry and all actors involved, be they researchers, practitioners, ecological consultancies or statutory bodies, to implement a standardized approach to evaluate temporal and spatial changes in natural capital and ecosystem services resulting from solar park development and operation, with the ultimate aim of generating comparable and reproducible data on ecosystem impact assessment across the solar energy sector.

Commercial tree plantations of fast-growing species have become increasingly important in Southeast Asia to meet global demand for wood and wood fiber products. There is a growing need to understand more about their value for wildlife and how they can be managed for biodiversity. We evaluated the effects of landscape attributes on mammal communities in a timber concession consisting of 83 % secondary forest and 17 % tree plantations in northern Sabah, Malaysia. Using camera traps, we compared mammalian species assemblages of secondary forest and commercial tree plantation stands and identified habitat predictors associated with total mammal species detections and species richness in the landscape mosaic. We used 87 camera stations deployed for 23 days across two major land-use types: 62 sites in secondary forest (previously logged natural forest) and 25 sites in tree plantations. We evaluated variation in species richness in these two major land-use categories and assessed the effects of natural and anthropogenic predictors on variation in total mammal detections and species richness. We detected at least 23 large and medium-sized mammal species over 2035 trap nights. Fourteen of those species were classified as threatened or near-threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Rarefaction did not reveal differences in mammal species richness or diversity between camera sites placed in tree plantations and secondary forests, likely because most camera sites in tree plantations were close to secondary forest and comprised < 30 % of all sites. However, generalized linear models indicated lower mammal diversity as proportions of tree plantation and proximity to human settlements increased. Total mammal records, including those of threatened mammals, increased with greater proportions of secondary forest. Retention of larger tracts of secondary forest around plantation areas appears to be important to maintain mammalian species richness and contributes to the conservation value of commercial timber plantations. These findings may assist in the management of mammals of conservation concern and implementation of adaptive management plans to enhance biodiversity conservation in commercial plantations.

Increases in marine traffic represent a growing issue for marine wildlife, posing threats through the impacts of ship strikes and noise pollution. Baleen whales are especially vulnerable to these impacts, yet regional and species-specific information on exposure to such threats is lacking. This study uses AIS and observational data to provide the first assessment of baleen whale exposure to vessel traffic on the NW coast of Spain. Overlap with vessel traffic was detected for all areas where whales were sighted, indicating that these species may be at risk of vessel exposure and its associated impacts. Level of exposure to vessel traffic experienced by whales was species-specific, with risk of exposure appearing highest for minke whales. Vessel exposure also displayed intra- and inter-annual variability and a significant influence of feeding behaviour highlighting the need for dynamic management tools to minimise interactions between baleen whales and marine traffic off the Galician Coast.

Soils are a key natural capital asset. Soil health, defined as the capacity of a soil to function as a living system, is a vital component of wider ecosystem processes and functioning, including the flow of multiple ecosystem services. Land use change is an important factor influencing declines in soil health globally. To meet demand for low carbon energy, ground-mounted solar parks (SPs) have expanded rapidly in recent decades, incurring significant land use change, with predictions that UK solar capacity could quadruple by 2050. There is potential for both positive and negative impacts of SPs on soil health - SPs present a relatively unique land use change, in that large areas of land remain physically undisturbed but are shaded by panels. This shading can alter microclimate metrics under panels, including air and soil temperature, soil moisture, photosynthetically active radiation and humidity, which may impact indicators of soil health. Further, the majority of SPs in the UK are developed on former agricultural land, often intensively managed. Arable land use is one of the most detrimental to overall soil health, whilst there is significant evidence supporting the benefits of taking agricultural land out of cultivation, including increased soil carbon, reduced erosion, compaction, and pollution. Considering the land use requirements and microclimatic variation within SPs, it is critical that their impacts on soil health are understood, yet research on solar park-soil impacts remains sparse.We investigated the impact of location within SPs (under solar panels and in gap areas) and the influence of prior land use (arable and grassland) on physical, chemical, and biological indicators of soil health, to address this knowledge gap and provide one of the first quantifications on the impacts of SP development on soil health. Preliminary results suggest no difference in indicators with SP prior land use, however bulk density and inorganic phosphorus were significantly lower in gap areas compared to under panels, whilst organic matter and microbial biomass carbon were higher in gap areas. These results suggest that soil health may be degraded under the shade of solar panels.However, on-site management decisions such as livestock grazing, wildflower planting and mowing regimes likely influence soil health indicator values and vary across SPs. Further, the SPs studied have been operational since 2014, a relatively short time in terms of soil health. As such, further research is required across spatial and temporal scales, considering the impact of SP management actions to accurately infer SP impacts on soil health.

In the rush to decarbonise energy supplies to meet internationally agreed greenhouse gas emissions targets, solar parks (SPs) have proliferated around the world, with uncertain implications for the provision of ecosystem services (ES). SPs necessitate significant land use change due to low energy densities that could significantly affect the local environment. In the UK, SPs are commonly built on intensive arable land and managed as grasslands. This offers both risks and opportunities for ecosystem health, yet evidence of ecosystem consequences is scarce. Therefore, there is an urgent need to understand how ES assessments can be incorporated into land use decision making to promote SP development that simultaneously addresses the climate and biodiversity crises. We aim to provide some of the first scientific evidence to help answer this question by determining the effects of land use change for SPs in the UK on the provision of ecosystem services (e.g., biomass production, soil carbon storage) of hosting ecosystems. Through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership project between Lancaster University and Clarkson & Woods Ecological Consultants, 35 SPs in England and Wales were surveyed in summer 2021. Soil and vegetation data were collected from 420 sample plots (900 cm2) under different types of land use: underneath solar panels, between rows of solar arrays, and control sites (e.g., pastureland, areas set-aside for conservation). Total plant cover was significantly lower underneath solar panels and between solar arrays than on land set-aside for conservation, while land around the margins of SPs showed higher aboveground biomass of monocotyledons and forbs than on land underneath solar panels. Some measures of soil fertility (e.g., nitrogen) and soil organic matter, fractioned into particulate and mineral-associated organic matter, also varied significantly between these different land uses. These results have implications for land management within SPs and will enable optimisation of SP design and management to ensure the long-term delivery of ecosystem services within this fast-growing land use.

Commercial forest plantations of fast-growing species have been established globally to meet increasing demands for timber, pulpwood, and other wood products. Industrial plantations may contribute to tropical forest conservation by reducing exploitation of primary and secondary natural forests. Whether such plantations can support critical elements of biodiversity, including provision of habitat and movement corridors for species of conservation concern, is an important question in Southeast Asia. Our objectives were to investigate relationships between habitat gradients and community attributes of medium-sized to large mammals in a mixed plantation mosaic in Bengkoka Peninsula, Sabah, East Malaysia. Data on mammals were collected using 59 remote camera stations deployed for a minimum of 21 days (24-hour sampling occasions) in three major land-use types: natural forest, Acacia plantations, and non-Acacia plantations (oil palm, rubber, young Eucalyptus pellita). We used sample-based rarefaction to evaluate variation in species richness with land use. We used generalized linear models and ordination analyses to evaluate whether variation in mammal detections and species composition was associated with habitat gradients. We recorded >22 mammal species over 1572 sampling occasions. Natural forest area was positively associated with mammal species richness and detections of threatened mammals. Overall detections of mammals increased with decreasing elevation, but decreased within, and close to, Acacia plantations. Detections of threatened mammals increased with greater proportions of natural forest and Acacia and increasing proximity to roads. Sample-based rarefaction indicated that species richness of mammals in Acacia and natural forest was considerably higher than observed. Both natural forest and Acacia plantations shared similar values for species richness and diversity, but non-Acacia plantations scored lower in both metrics. Mammal species composition differed among different types of land use. Smaller generalists used non-Acacia plantation forests. A variety of other mammals including some threatened species used natural forest, Acacia, or a combination of the two. Acacia plantations possess attributes supporting a diversity of mammal species, including those we defined as threatened based on IUCN criteria. However, this is likely a function of the habitat mosaic with natural forest in the study area and the mangrove forests on the fringes of the peninsula serving as refuges of mammal diversity. Retention and restoration of natural and mangrove forests may therefore enhance the conservation potential of industrial Acacia plantations. Additionally, controlled road access in conjunction with anti-poaching operations and strengthening public awareness are essential to reduce the threat of overexploitation.