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- Convenors:
-
Rui M. Sá
(Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Politicas)
Tânia Rodrigues (ISCTE)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 26 October, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Departing from the concept of primate conservation and the dichotomy of traditional ecological knowledge versus academic epistemologies this panel seeks contributions about human-nonhuman primate interactions, environmental histories and primate-oriented political ecologies.
Long Abstract:
Human activities such as deforestation, extractivism, hunting, illegal trade, or unsustainable agricultural practices are considered extinction drivers to non-human primates. West Africa is among the tropical regions experiencing higher anthropogenic impacts in their landscapes. In the current Antropocenic context of global biodiversity loss, increasing contact between humans and wildlife, how does anthropology perceive (and deals with) primate in situ conservation? Departing from the concept of primate conservation and the dichotomy of traditional ecological knowledge versus academic and scientific epistemologies this panel seeks contributions about human-nonhuman primate interactions in changing landscapes, its challenges, environmental histories and primate political ecologies, thus creating new knowledge and narratives. How does anthropology stand for primate conservation in landscapes shared with humans? How can better ecological surveillance and monitoring be designed to include participatory methodologies? What strategies are being used by researchers and local stakeholders to cope with the threatening factors?
Contributions could be empirical or policy-focused from West-Africa and must explore the dynamics posed by primate conservation. The purpose of this panel is to debate new anthropological approaches, the contribution of transdisciplinary methodologies and share knowledge about ongoing research though an optic focused on primates in West Africa.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 26 October, 2021, -Paper short abstract:
The study aims to identify the primary wild plants used mutually by local people and two endangered primates (western red colobus and western chimpanzee) in contrasting ecosystems of West Africa, a disturbed protected area in Guinea-Bissau, and a pristine national Park in Sierra Leone.
Paper long abstract:
At a time that human population is rapidly growing and the natural habitat is declining at unprecedented rates, it is essential to understand how humans continue to coexist with some of the most threatened species on Earth. Forests not only are the primary habitat for several non-human primates, but they also play a central role in people’s livelihood. Our study identifies the primary wild plants used mutually by local people and two endangered primates in a disturbed forest in Guinea-Bissau - Cantanhez National Park, and a pristine forest in Sierra Leone - Gola Rainforest National Park. We used DNA metabarcoding on non-invasive samples to characterise the diet of western red colobus (Piliocolobus badius, N=331) and western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus, N=62). In addition, we conducted 108 semi-structured interviews in 27 forest communities to assess people’s use of plants collected in protected grounds. Around 80% of the interviewees rely on wild plants and claimed to use on average 6.5 plant items. We inferred that more than 60% of the wild plants listed by people are consumed by western chimpanzees and only a third is co-used by red colobus. However, behavioural observations indicate likely higher degrees of co-use in wild plants for shelter and movement. This multidisciplinary approach aims to understand dietary flexibility in forest-dwelling primates and inform the Parks’ conservation management teams, which is crucial to assure the primates long-term persistence in altered landscapes, and contribute to a growing body of research that supports the co-existence between humans and wildlife.
Paper short abstract:
We use whole genome sequences of four sympatric but socio-ecologically contrasting primates to unravel their past demographic changes and spatial dynamics across West African landscapes
Paper long abstract:
West African landscapes are among the most impacted by the rapid increase of the human population and their associated activities. Anthropogenic landscapes are characterized by rapid changes in the habitat mosaic, with natural habitats being converted for agriculture and human settlements. Moreover, communities living alongside forests and wildlife, often rely on these resources for their own subsistence. Non-human primates are usually negatively affected by these human-related impacts, with most species being threatened to extinction. Here we used a genomic approach to infer the past demographic history, the genetic diversity and population structure of two strictly forest dependent primates, the Western red colobus – Piliocolobus badius - and Western black-and-white colobus – Colobus polykomos, and two more ecologically plastic species, the Guinean baboon – Papio papio – and the Western chimpanzee – Pan troglodytes verus in the Upper Guinean Forests. We sequenced genomes of 31 wild individuals from The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Ivory Coast, to a mean of 13-fold coverage per individual ,to perform the population genomic analyses. We found that all four West African primates have undergone several populations size changes but occurring in different historical periods, suggesting that they are differently affected by the same factors. The demographic histories of the two most forest dependent primates (the two colobus) overlap extensively. Interestingly, baboons and chimpanzees show opposite demographic trends, which may reflect their inter-specific interactions. The resolution provided by the whole genome data allow us to unravel more subtle impacts of anthropogenic activities address the conservation concerns affecting each primate across West Africa.
Paper short abstract:
A comparison of the genetic diversity, demographic history and population structure of Piliocolobus badius and Colobus polykomos in two different protected areas: Gola National Park (Sierra Leone) and Cantanhez National Park (Guinea-Bissau).
Paper long abstract:
With most of the human population growth occurring in areas of high levels of biodiversity, it is crucial to understand and assess the impacts of anthropogenic activities on wildlife. This includes the case of West Africa, a region characterized by a highly anthropogenic landscape, yet home to many endangered non-human primates. The focus of this study is directed to scanning for possible connections between human presence/activity and the genetic diversity, effective population size and population structure of two sympatric colobines extant in the Gola Rainforest National Park (GRNP, Sierra Leone). We analysed 12 microsatellites and 400 bp of the mitochondrial D-loop region for 146 Piliocolobus badius (Western red colobus) and 25 Colobus polykomos (King colobus). We compared the results to published data from populations of the same species, sampled in the Cantanhez Forest National Park (CFNP, Guinea Bissau) in 2008. The colobus monkeys are hunted in both parks, but the extension and continuity of the forest habitat differs. The forests of CNP are highly fragmented and the presence of humans is intense. Contrastingly, GRNP has larger and continuous forests with lower levels of human pressure. We have found higher levels of genetic diversity at GRNP, which suggest that human presence - along with habitat size and connectivity, are likely the main factors contributing to the maintenance or loss of genetic diversity. Our results reinforce the importance of maintaining well-preserved forests for the conservation of arboreal primates.
Paper short abstract:
The first genetic assessment of the red colobus (Piliocolobus badius) in The Gambia, West Africa. We show results of genetic diversity, population structure, and demographic history, with the goal of contributing to the species conservation.
Paper long abstract:
The red colobus (Piliocolobus badius) is a colobine monkey inhabiting the forests of West Africa. It is currently classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, mainly due to habitat loss and hunting. Nevertheless, most natural populations inhabit forests near human settlements and little is known about them. In The Gambia, the smallest country where the species is known to exist, there are very few studies addressing its conservation status. Here we present what is, to our knowledge, the first genetic assessment of the red colobus species in The Gambia. We have genotyped more than 40 individuals from different locations in the country using up to 13 microsatellite loci. We will present the levels of genetic diversity, population structure, and demographic history for the species in the country, as well as a comparison with metrics found in other populations of the same species in West Africa. The results show relatively high levels of genetic diversity, within the range found for other African colobines, and no strong signals of population substructure. The red colobus high dispersal ability is thus highlighted by the results of this study. The contrasting results found for the same species in forested areas with varying degrees of fragmentation emphasise the usefulness of genetics in conservation science.