8
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: not found

      Primate population dynamics over 32.9 years at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda.

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPubMed
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          We present census data for eight primate species spanning 32.9 years along the same transect at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda, demonstrating major changes in the composition of the primate community. Correlated with an estimated decline of ∼89% in the red colobus population was an increase in encounter rates with chimpanzee parties. Our data, along with the unusually high rates of predation by chimpanzees on red colobus at Ngogo and the fact that the chimpanzee community at Ngogo is the largest ever recorded, support the conclusion that the red colobus decline was caused primarily by chimpanzee predation. This seems to be the first documented case of predation by one nonhuman primate causing the population decline in another. We evaluated disease and interspecific competition as other possible causes of the red colobus decline, but judged them to be relatively insignificant compared with predation by chimpanzees. Notable changes in encounter rates with other primate species may have resulted from forest expansion. Those for mangabeys, redtails, and black and white colobus increased significantly. Encounter rates increased for l'Hoest's monkeys too, but the increased sightings may have been an artifact of increased habituation. Sightings of blue monkey and baboon groups declined. There was no significant change in encounter rates for all species combined. The Ngogo primate community seemed to be in a nonequilibrium state, changing from one dominated by two species, a folivore (red colobus) and a frugivorous omnivore (redtails), to one dominated by three species of frugivorous omnivores (redtails, mangabeys, and chimpanzees). This study demonstrates the importance of long-term monitoring in understanding population dynamics and the role of intrinsic variables in shaping the species composition of a community.

          Related collections

          Author and article information

          Journal
          Am. J. Primatol.
          American journal of primatology
          Wiley
          1098-2345
          0275-2565
          Oct 2011
          : 73
          : 10
          Affiliations
          [1 ] Institute of Environment and Natural Resources, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
          Article
          10.1002/ajp.20965
          21557287
          6d7bdcec-d973-48ea-afb2-0d7edf9f724b
          History

          Comments

          Comment on this article