Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T15:31:44.213Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluating the potential effectiveness of alternative management scenarios in ape habitat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2016

INAOYOM IMONG ,
HJALMAR S. KÜHL ,
MARTHA M. ROBBINS  and
ROGER MUNDRY
INAOYOM IMONG*
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany Wildlife Conservation Society, Nigeria Programme, GPO Box 796, Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
HJALMAR S. KÜHL
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
MARTHA M. ROBBINS
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
ROGER MUNDRY
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
*
*Correspondence: Dr Inaoyom Imong Tel: +49 (0) 341 3550 263+234 806 4011 246 e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Choosing appropriate management strategies and effective conservation actions requires information about the future consequences of current conservation actions; however, this crucial information is rarely available to conservation planners. This study applies scenario planning and agent-based modelling (ABM) to assess the potential impact of alternative management strategies on future suitability and functional connectivity of Cross River gorilla (CRG) habitat in the Nigeria–Cameroon border region. The CRG population is small and fragmented, with many subpopulations and migration corridors located outside protected areas. This study used ABM to simulate human land use in the study area over a period of 15 years under different management scenarios and assessed the impact on future suitability and functional connectivity of CRG habitat. The simulations showed that a landscape approach with greater focus on interventions to change human behaviour towards conserving gorillas and sustainable forest use would result in greater improvement in habitat suitability and functional connectivity compared to focusing on improving law enforcement within existing protected areas. However, the best scenarios were when both law enforcement and behaviour change increased. The results highlight the importance of human behaviour change to conservation in human-dominated landscapes and can inform conservation planning and management of other species and in similar landscapes.

Keywords

agent-based modelalternative management scenariosCross River gorillahabitat connectivityhabitathuman behaviour changehuman pressurehuman-dominated landscapelaw enforcement
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , June 2016 , pp. 161 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andriamalala, G., Peabody, S., Gardner, C. J. & Westerman, K. (2013) Using social marketing to foster sustainable behaviour in traditional fishing communities of southwest Madagascar. Conservation Evidence 10: 37–41.Google Scholar
Bergl, R. A. (2006) Conservation Biology of the Cross River Gorilla (gorilla gorilla diehli). PhD Thesis. New York, NY, USA: Graduate Faculty in Anthropology, The City University of New York.Google Scholar
Bergl, R. A., Warren, Y., Nicholas, A., Dunn, A., Imong, I., Sunderland-Groves, J. L. & Oates, J. F. (2012) Remote sensing analysis reveals habitat, dispersal corridors and expanded distribution for the Critically Endangered Cross River gorilla Gorilla gorilla diehli . Oryx 46: 278–289.Google Scholar
Bonabeau, E. (2002) Agent-based modeling: methods and techniques for simulating human systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 99: 7280–7287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bousquet, F., Le Page, C., Bakam, I. & Takforyan, A. (2001) Multiagent simulations of hunting wild meat in a village in eastern Cameroon. Ecological Modelling 138: 331–346.Google Scholar
Bucknell, D. & Groves, J. L. (2002) Local perception on the population size, distribution and ranging behaviour of the Cross River gorilla within the Takamanda and Mone Forest Reserves and the Mbulu Forest, Cameroon. Report to GTZ/PROFA, WCS, Primate Conservation Inc.Google Scholar
DeFries, R., Hansen, A., Turner, B. L., Reid, R. & Liu, J. (2007) Land use change around protected areas: management to balance human needs and ecological function. Ecological Applications 17: 1031–1038.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Drielsma, M., Ferrier, S. & Manion, G. (2007) A raster-based technique for analysing habitat configuration: the cost–benefit approach. Ecological Modelling 202: 324–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drielsma, M. & Ferrier, S. (2009) Rapid evaluation of metapopulation persistence in highly variegated landscapes. Biological Conservation 142: 529–540.Google Scholar
Dunn, A., Bergl, R., Byler, D., Eben-Ebai, S., Etiendem, D. N., Fotso, R., Ikfuingei, R., Imong, I., Jameson, C., Macfie, L., Morgan, B., Nchanji, A., Nicholas, A., Nkembi, L., Omeni, F., Oates, J., Pokempner, A., Sawyer, S. & Williamson, E. A. (2014) Revised Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of the Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) 2014–2019. New York, NY, USA: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Wildlife Conservation Society.Google Scholar
Etiendem, D. N., Funwi-Gabga, N., Tagg, N., Hens, L. & Indah, E. K. (2013) The Cross River Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli) at Mawambi Hills, South-West Cameroon: habitat suitability and vulnerability to anthropogenic disturbance. Folia Primatologica 84: 18–31.Google Scholar
Fa, J. E., Seymour, S., Dupain, J., Amin, R., Albrechtsen, L. & Macdonald, D. (2006) Getting to grips with the magnitude of exploitation: bushmeat in the Cross–Sanaga rivers region, Nigeria and Cameroon. Biological Conservation 129: 497–510.Google Scholar
Federal Government of Nigeria (1991) Final Results of 1991 Census. Abuja, Nigeria: National Population Commission.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2010) Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010. Main Report. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Google Scholar
Cameroon, Government of (1987) Results of 1987 National Population and Housing Census. National Office for Population and Housing Census of Cameroon.Google Scholar
Grimm, V., Berger, U., Bastiansen, F., Eliassen, S., Ginot, V., Giske, J., Goss-Custard, J., Grand, T., Heinz, S. K., Huse, G., Huth, A., Jepsen, J. U., Jørgensen, C., Mooij, W. M., Müller, B., Pe'er, G., Piou, C., Railsback, S. F., Robbins, A. M., Robbins, M. M., Rossmanith, E., Rüger, N., Strand, E., Souissi, S., Stillman, R. A., Vabø, R., Visser, U. & DeAngelis, D. L (2006) A standard protocol for describing individual-based and agent-based models. Ecological Modelling 198: 115–126.Google Scholar
Hansen, A. J. & DeFries, R. (2007) Ecological mechanisms linking protected areas to surrounding lands. Ecological Applications 17: 974–988.Google Scholar
Harcourt, A. H., Stewart, K. J. & Inahoro, I. (1989) Gorilla quest in Nigeria. Oryx 23: 7–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, D., Fay, M. J. & Macdonald, N. (1987) Report of gorillas from Nigeria. Primate Conservation 8: 40.Google Scholar
Imong, I., Robbins, M. M., Mundry, R., Bergl, R. & Kühl, H. S. (2014 a) Distinguishing ecological constraints from human activity in species range fragmentation: the case of Cross River gorillas. Animal Conservation 17: 323–331.Google Scholar
Imong, I., Robbins, M. M., Mundry, R., Bergl, R. & Kühl, H. S. (2014 b) Informing conservation management about structural versus functional connectivity: a case-study of Cross River Gorillas. American Journal of Primatology 76: 978–988.Google Scholar
Koh, L. P. & Ghazoul, J. (2010) Spatially explicit scenario analysis for reconciling agricultural expansion, forest protection, and carbon conservation in Indonesia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107: 11140–11144.Google Scholar
Kuehl, H. S., Nzeingui, C., Yeno, S. L. D., Huijbregts, B., Boesch, C. & Walsh, P. D. (2009) Discriminating between village and commercial hunting of apes. Biological Conservation 142: 1500–1506.Google Scholar
Manson, S. M. & Evans, T. (2007) Agent-based modeling of deforestation in southern Yucatan, Mexico, and reforestation in the Midwest United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104: 20678–20683.Google Scholar
Matthews, R. B., Gilbert, N. G., Roach, A., Polhill, J. G. & Gotts, N. M. (2007) Agent-based land-use models: a review of applications. Landscape Ecology 22: 1447–1459.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFarland, K. L. (2007) Ecology of Cross River Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla diehli) on Afi Mountain, Cross River State, Nigeria. PhD Thesis. New York, NY, USA: Graduate Faculty in Anthropology, The City University of New York.Google Scholar
Oates, J. F., Bergl, R. A. & Linder, J. M. (2004) Africa's Gulf of Guinea Forests: Biodiversity Patterns and Conservation Priorities. Advances in Applied Biodiversity Science, No. 6. Washington D. C., USA: Conservation International Center for Applied Biodiversity Science.Google Scholar
Oates, J., McFarland, K., Groves, J., Bergl, R., Linder, J. & Disotell, T. (2003) The Cross River gorilla: natural history and status of a neglected and critically endangered subspecies. In: Gorilla Biology, eds. Taylor, A. B. & Goldsmith, M. L., pp. 472–497. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Oates, J., Sunderland-Groves, J., Bergl, R., Dunn, A., Nicholas, A., Takang, E., Omeni, F., Imong, I., Fotso, R., Nkembi, L. & Williamson, L. (2007) Regional Action Plan for the Conservation of the Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). Arlington, VA, USA: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Conservation International.Google Scholar
Painter, M., Alves, A. R., Bertsch, C., Bodmer, R., Castillo, O., Marques, F., Noss, A., Painter, L., de Deus, C. P., Puertas, P., de Queiroz, H. L., Varese, M., Venticinque, E. M. & Wallace, R. (2008) Landscape Conservation in the Amazon Region: Progress and Lessons, WCS Working Paper No. 34. Bozeman, MT, USA: Wildlife Conservation Society.Google Scholar
Parrott, L. & Meyer, W. S. (2012) Future landscapes: managing within complexity. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 10: 382–389.Google Scholar
Parrott, L., Chion, C., Martins, C. C. A., Lamontagne, P., Turgeon, S., Landry, J. A., Zhens, B., Marceau, D. J., Michaud, R., Cantin, G., Ménard, N. & Dionne, S. (2011) A decision support system to assist the sustainable management of navigation activities in the St. Lawrence River Estuary, Canada. Environmental Modelling & Software 26: 1403–1418.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, G. D., Cumming, G. S. & Carpenter, S. R. (2003) Scenario planning: a tool for conservation in an uncertain world. Conservation Biology 17: 358–366.Google Scholar
Petit, S. & Burel, F. (1998) Connectivity in fragmented populations: Abax parallelepipedus in a hedgerow network landscape. Ecology 321: 55–61.Google Scholar
Polasky, S., Carpenter, S. R., Folke, C. & Keeler, B. (2011) Decision-making under great uncertainty: environmental management in an era of global change. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 26: 398–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R Development Core Team (2011) R: a Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing. [www document] URL http://www.R-project.org/ Google Scholar
Redford, K. H. (1992) The empty forest. BioScience 42: 412–422.Google Scholar
Rowlingson, B. & Diggle, P. (1993) Splancs: spatial point pattern analysis code in S-Plus. Computers and Geosciences 19: 627–655.Google Scholar
Sandker, M., Semboli, B. B., Roth, P., Péllisier, C., Ruiz-Pérez, M., Sayerf, J., Turkalo, A. K., Omoze, F. & Campbell, B. M. (2011) Logging or conservation concession: exploring conservation and development outcomes in Dzanga-Sangha, Central African Republic. Conservation and Society 9: 299–310.Google Scholar
Sawyer, S. C. & Brashares, J. S. (2013) Applying resource selection functions at multiple scales to prioritize habitat use by the endangered Cross River gorilla. Diversity and Distributions 19: 943–954.Google Scholar
Schultz, P. W. (2011) Conservation means behaviour. Conservation Biology 25: 1080–1083.Google Scholar
Slayback, D. (2003) Land cover change in the Takamanda Forest Reserve, Cameroon: 1986–2000. In: Takamanda: The Biodiversity of an African Rainforest. SI/MAB Series #8, eds. Sunderland, T. C. H., Comiskey, J.A., Sunderland-Groves, J. L.. Washington, D.C., USA: Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Stabler, B. (2006) Shapefiles: read and write ESRI shapefiles. R package version 0.6. [www document]. URL https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/shapefiles/index.html Google Scholar
Stokes, E. J., Strindberg, S., Bakabana, P. C., Elkan, P. W., Iyenguet, F. C., Madzoké, B., Malanda, G. A., Mowawa, B. S., Moukoumbou, C., Ouakabadio, F. K. & Rainey, H. J. (2010) Monitoring great ape and elephant abundance at large spatial scales: measuring effectiveness of a conservation landscape. PLoS One 5: e10294.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sunderland, T. C. H., Besong, S., Ayeni, J. S. O. (2003) Distribution, utilization, and sustainability of non-timber forest products from Takamanda Forest Reserve, Cameroon. In: Takamanda: The Biodiversity of an African Rainforest, eds. Sunderland, T. C. H. Comiskey, J. A. & Sunderland-Groves, J. L., pp. 155–172. Washington, D.C., USA: Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Sunderland-Groves, J. L., Maisels, F. & Ekinde, A. (2003) Surveys of the Cross River Gorilla and chimpanzee populations in Takamanda Forest Reserve, Cameroon. In: Takamanda: The Biodiversity of an African Rainforest. SI/MAB Series #8, eds. Comiskey, J. A., Sunderland, T. C. H., Sunderland-Groves, J. L.. Washington, DC, USA: Smithsonian Institution.Google Scholar
Sunderland-Groves, J. (2008) Population, Distribution and Conservation Status of the Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) in Cameroon. M. Phil. Thesis. Brighton, UK: University of Sussex.Google Scholar
Thomas, D. (1988) Status and conservation of Takamanda gorillas (Cameroon). Final Report WWF-1613. WWF-USA.Google Scholar
USGS (2004) Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. Global Land Cover Facility. College Park, MD, USA: University of Maryland.Google Scholar
Van Etten, J. (2011) gdistance: distances and routes on geographical grids. R package, Version 1.1–2. [www document] URL http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=gdistance Google Scholar
Veríssimo, D. (2013) Influencing human behaviour: an underutilised tool for biodiversity management. Conservation Evidence 10: 29–31.Google Scholar
Wilson, K. A., Underwood, E. C., Morrison, S. A., Klausmeyer, K. R., Murdoch, W. W., Reyers, B., Wardell-Johnson, G., Marquet, P. A., Rundel, P. W., McBride, M. F., Pressey, R. L., Bode, M., Hoekstra, J. M., Andelman, S., Looker, M., Rondinini, C., Kareiva, P., Shaw, M. R. & Possingham, H. P. (2007) Conserving biodiversity efficiently: what to do, where, and when. PLoS Biology 5: e223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yanggen, D., Angu, K. & Tchamou, N. (2010) Landscape-scale conservation in the Congo basin: lessons learned from the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), Phase II. [www document] URL http://carpe.umd.edu/ Google Scholar