Sympatric Apes in Sacred Forests: Shared Space and Habitat Use by Humans and Endangered Javan Gibbons (Hylobates moloch).

In this research, we use a combination of ethnographic observation and GIS analysis to explore the use of space by humans and gibbons (Hylobates moloch) to determine areas of potential space competition in the sacred forest and nature reserve Cagar Alam Leuweung Sancang in West Java, Indonesia. More specifically, we test whether gibbons respond to the presence of humans in a manner consistent with predator-avoidance and predicted that the gibbon study subjects would avoid areas visited by humans (Risk-Disturbance Hypothesis). Data were collected August 2010-June 2011. We collected GPS locations and behavioral data on both the humans (6,652 hours) and the gibbons (1,253 hours) in the forest using 10 minute instantaneous sampling. Results indicate that humans preferentially assemble at the most sacred spot in the forest (Cikajayaan waterfall). Two gibbon groups' home ranges encompassed most of the sacred areas. Group B avoided areas of high human use, as high human use areas and high gibbon use areas did not overlap. Group C, though, continued to use areas that were heavily visited by humans. We thus found partial support for the Risk-Disturbance Hypothesis, although the variation in gibbon response to human disturbance indicates behavioral flexibility. We suggest that understanding the effects of shared space on wildlife is necessary for informing conservation policy in human-visited forests

Hotspots for humans (a) and group C gibbons (b) in group C’s home range.

<p>Colors correspond to Z-Scores in legend. Z-scores correspond to p-values from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0146891#pone.0146891.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. Red color indicates clustering of high values (commonly used spot) and blue color indicates clustering of low values (infrequently used spot). For difference in human and gibbon Z-Scores (c) (human scores minus gibbon scores), blue areas indicate areas with high gibbon scores and low human scores (favored by gibbons but avoided by humans) and red areas indicate areas of high human scores and low gibbon scores (favored by humans and avoided by gibbons) Beige areas are areas where Z-scores for humans and gibbons are similar (either low or high). Cells are 15mx15m.</p

Sancang Timur and Study Area.

<p>Generated using OpenStreetMap data (modified to add rivers).</p

Hotspots for humans (a) and group B gibbons (b) in group B’s home range.

<p>Colors correspond to Z-Scores in legend. Z-scores correspond to p-values from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0146891#pone.0146891.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>. Red color indicates clustering of high values (commonly used spot) and blue color indicates clustering of low values (infrequently used spot). For difference in human and gibbon Z-Scores (c) (human scores minus gibbon scores), blue areas indicate areas with high gibbon scores and low human scores (favored by gibbons but avoided by humans) and red areas indicate areas of high human scores and low gibbon scores (favored by humans and avoided by gibbons) Beige areas are areas where Z-scores for humans and gibbons are similar (either low or high). Cells are 15mx15m.</p