Turvey Samuel T, Bryant Jessica V, Duncan Clare, Wong Michelle H G, Guan Zhenhua, Fei Hanlan, Ma Changyong, Hong Xiaojiang, Nash Helen C, Chan Bosco P L, Xu Yang, Fan Pengfei
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, UK.
Yunnan Academy of Biodiversity, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming, China.
Am J Primatol. 2017 Feb;79(2):1-13. doi: 10.1002/ajp.22593. Epub 2016 Sep 19.
For Critically Endangered "species of extreme rarity," there is an urgent need to clarify the potential survival of remnant populations. Such populations can be difficult to detect using standard field methods. Local ecological knowledge (LEK) represents an important alternative source of information, but anecdotal reports of rare or possibly extinct species can contain uncertainty and error. The Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus), the world's rarest primate species, is confirmed to only survive as a tiny remnant population in Bawangling National Nature Reserve, China, but unverified gibbon sightings have been reported from other forest areas on Hainan. We conducted a large-scale community interview survey to gather new data on patterns of primate LEK from 709 respondents around seven reserves across Hainan, to investigate the possibility of gibbon survival outside Bawangling and assess whether LEK can provide useful information for conservation management of cryptic remnant populations. Comparative LEK data for gibbons and macaques are consistent with independent data on the relative status of these species across Hainan. Local awareness and experience of gibbons was low across Hainan, including at Bawangling, but we recorded recent anecdotal gibbon reports from most reserves. A follow-up field survey at Limushan Provincial Nature Reserve did not detect gibbons, however, and documented intensive wildlife exploitation within this reserve. All other surveyed landscapes showed some statistically lower levels of respondent awareness, experience, or sighting histories of gibbons compared to Bawangling, and are therefore considered biologically unlikely to support gibbons. Unverified LEK data can provide important insights into the possible status of cryptic remnant populations when assessed carefully and critically in relation to data from known populations.
对于极度濒危的“极其稀有的物种”，迫切需要厘清残余种群的潜在生存状况。使用标准的野外方法可能难以检测到这些种群。当地生态知识（LEK）是一个重要的替代信息来源，但关于珍稀或可能已灭绝物种的传闻报告可能存在不确定性和错误。海南长臂猿（Nomascus hainanus）是世界上最稀有的灵长类物种，已证实仅作为一个极小的残余种群存活于中国海南霸王岭国家级自然保护区，但据报道在海南其他林区也有未经证实的长臂猿目击事件。我们开展了一项大规模的社区访谈调查，从海南七个保护区周边的709名受访者那里收集关于灵长类当地生态知识模式的新数据，以调查长臂猿在霸王岭以外地区生存的可能性，并评估当地生态知识能否为隐秘残余种群的保护管理提供有用信息。长臂猿和猕猴的当地生态知识比较数据与海南这些物种相对状况的独立数据一致。在海南，包括在霸王岭，人们对长臂猿的当地认知和了解程度较低，但我们记录了大多数保护区近期关于长臂猿的传闻报告。然而，在黎母山省级自然保护区进行的后续野外调查未发现长臂猿，并记录了该保护区内严重的野生动物盗猎情况。与霸王岭相比，所有其他被调查区域的受访者对长臂猿的认知、了解或目击历史在统计上都处于较低水平，因此从生物学角度来看，这些区域不太可能有长臂猿生存。在与已知种群的数据进行仔细和批判性评估时，未经证实的当地生态知识数据可以为隐秘残余种群的可能状况提供重要见解。
