Kazaba Paul K, Kulik Lars, Beukou Choumbou Ghislain B, Douhin Tiémoko Christelle B, Oni Funmilayo L, Kamgang Serge A, Heinicke Stefanie, Koné Inza, Mucyo Samedi Jean Pierre, Sop Tenekwetche, Boesch Christophe, Stephens Colleen, Agbor Anthony, Angedakin Samuel, Bailey Emma, Bessone Mattia, Coupland Charlotte, Deschner Tobias, Dieguez Paula, Granjon Anne-Céline, Harder Briana, Head Josephine, Hicks Thurston Cleveland, Jones Sorrel, Kadam Parag, Kalan Ammie K, Langergraber Kevin E, Lapuente Juan, Lee Kevin C, Lynn Laura K, Maldonado Nuria, McCarthy Maureen S, Meier Amelia C, Ormsby Lucy Jayne, Piel Alex, Robbins Martha M, Sciaky Lilah, Sommer Volker, Stewart Fiona A, Widness Jane, Wittig Roman M, Wessling Erin G, Arandjelovic Mimi, Kühl Hjalmar, van der Hoek Yntze
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, Grauer's Gorilla Research and Conservation Programs Goma Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ecology, Restoration Ecology and Landscape (EREP) Research Unit, Département d'Aménagement des Ecosystèmes et Biodiversité, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques Université de Lubumbashi Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Ecol Evol. 2025 Mar 15;15(3):e71000. doi: 10.1002/ece3.71000. eCollection 2025 Mar.
Ongoing ecosystem change and biodiversity decline across the Afrotropics call for tools to monitor the state of biodiversity or ecosystem elements across extensive spatial and temporal scales. We assessed relationships in the co-occurrence patterns between great apes and other medium to large-bodied mammals to evaluate whether ape abundance serves as a proxy for mammal diversity across broad spatial scales. We used camera trap footage recorded at 22 research sites, each known to harbor a population of chimpanzees, and some additionally a population of gorillas, across 12 sub-Saharan African countries. From ~350,000 1-min camera trap videos recorded between 2010 and 2016, we estimated mammalian community metrics, including species richness, Shannon diversity, and mean animal mass. We then fitted Bayesian Regression Models to assess potential relationships between ape detection rates (as proxy for ape abundance) and these metrics. We included site-level protection status, human footprint, and precipitation variance as control variables. We found that relationships between detection rates of great apes and other mammal species, as well as animal mass were largely positive. In contrast, relationships between ape detection rate and mammal species richness were less clear and differed according to site protection and human impact context. We found no clear association between ape detection rate and mammal diversity. Our findings suggest that chimpanzees hold potential as indicators of specific elements of mammalian communities, especially population-level and composition-related characteristics. Declines in chimpanzee populations may indicate associated declines of sympatric medium to large-bodied mammal species and highlight the need for improved conservation interventions.Changes in chimpanzee abundance likely precede extirpation of sympatric mammals.
整个非洲热带地区持续的生态系统变化和生物多样性下降，需要能够在广泛的时空尺度上监测生物多样性或生态系统要素状态的工具。我们评估了大猩猩与其他中大型哺乳动物共现模式之间的关系，以评估在广泛的空间尺度上，猿类数量是否可作为哺乳动物多样性的替代指标。我们使用了在撒哈拉以南非洲12个国家的22个研究地点记录的相机陷阱影像，每个地点都有已知的黑猩猩种群，有些地点还有大猩猩种群。从2010年至2016年期间记录的约350,000个1分钟相机陷阱视频中，我们估算了哺乳动物群落指标，包括物种丰富度、香农多样性和平均动物体重。然后，我们拟合了贝叶斯回归模型，以评估猿类检测率（作为猿类数量的替代指标）与这些指标之间的潜在关系。我们将地点层面的保护状况、人类足迹和降水变化作为控制变量。我们发现，大猩猩的检测率与其他哺乳动物物种以及动物体重之间的关系在很大程度上是正相关的。相比之下，猿类检测率与哺乳动物物种丰富度之间的关系不太明确，并且因地点保护和人类影响背景而异。我们没有发现猿类检测率与哺乳动物多样性之间存在明显关联。我们的研究结果表明，黑猩猩有潜力作为哺乳动物群落特定要素的指标，特别是种群水平和与组成相关的特征。黑猩猩种群数量的下降可能表明同域分布的中大型哺乳动物物种也随之减少，并凸显了改进保护干预措施的必要性。黑猩猩数量的变化可能先于同域哺乳动物的灭绝。
