W Mayoukou, D Morgan, S Strindberg, P McElmurray, C Abedine, C Sanz
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Existing protected areas are anchors for conservation. Safeguarding flora and fauna within their peripheral areas is essential to maintaining their integrity and to potential increases to the area under effective conservation. With the decline in tropical forests, initiatives to increase the area of undisturbed forests under strict protection, particularly those neighboring protected areas, is of critical importance. Applied research has informed such land-management decisions for areas surrounding the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park (NNNP) in Republic of Congo since the park's inception three decades ago. Here, we present results of the first systematic line transect survey of great ape nests conducted in the Djéké Triangle, a 100 km2 unlogged continuous forest in the Kabo Forestry Management Unit adjacent to the NNNP. Distance sampling methods applied along 26 line transects on two different occasions (2016 and 2018, with total effort of 69.4 km) provided density estimates of 0.75 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.52-1.09) and 0.61 (95% CI 0.40-0.92) chimpanzees/km2 and 2.15 (95% CI 1.36-3.40) and 1.19 (95% CI 0.78-1.82) gorillas/km2 for each of the two surveys, respectively. Estimated ape densities were compared to others across the landscape. The findings provide a unique baseline in an area that supports ongoing behavioral research and future gorilla tourism opportunities in the Djéké Triangle. More importantly, results provided empirical evidence of the environmental value and strategic conservation importance supporting inclusion of the Djéké Triangle into the NNNP in 2023. These long-term monitoring results inform best-practice standards and ape tourism certification.
期刊介绍:
Primates is an international journal of primatology whose aim is to provide a forum for the elucidation of all aspects of primates. The oldest primatological journal, Primates publishes original papers that advance the scientific study of primates, and its scope embraces work in diverse fields covering biological bases of behavior, socio-ecology, learning and cognition, social processes, systematics, evolution, and medicine. Contributions relevant to conservation of natural populations and welfare of captive primates are welcome. Studies focusing on nonprimate species may be considered if their relevance to primatology is clear. Original Articles as well as Review Articles, News and Perspectives, and Book Reviews are included. All manuscripts received are initially screened for suitability by members of the Editorial Board, taking into account style and ethical issues, leading to a swift decision about whether to send the manuscript for external review.