Wildlife in a Premier African Protected Area do not Perceive Ecotourists as Predators

Researchers have reported that the presence of ecotourists may displace or disturb wildlife with potentially adverse effects, and may be a more serious problem if wildlife perceive ecotourists as predators. I used a playback experiment to test if wildlife at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, perceive ecotourists as predators. I contrasted wildlife behavioural responses to vocalizations that simulate those of ecotourists to those of local predators (positive controls; dogs and the extirpated native apex predator, leopard) and a non-predator (negative control; insects). Using responses from 14 mammal species, I show that wildlife do not perceive ecotourists as predators, responding no more fearfully to ecotourist vocalizations than to insects, but demonstrating persistent aversive reactions to local predators. My results suggest limited impacts of ecotourism, but negative impacts of dogs and leopard extirpation on the Bwindi wildlife community. Future research should test the response of individual species of conservation concern to ecotourism

Community structure and diversity of tropical forest mammals: Data from a global camera trap network

Terrestrial mammals are a key component of tropical forest communities as indicators of ecosystem health and providers of important ecosystem services. However, there is little quantitative information about how they change with local, regional and global threats. In this paper, the first standardized pantropical forest terrestrial mammal community study, we examine several aspects of terrestrial mammal species and community diversity (species richness, species diversity, evenness, dominance, functional diversity and community structure) at seven sites around the globe using a single standardized camera trapping methodology approach. The sites-located in Uganda, Tanzania, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Suriname, Brazil and Costa Rica-are surrounded by different landscape configurations, from continuous forests to highly fragmented forests. We obtained more than 51 000 images and detected 105 species of mammals with a total sampling effort of 12 687 camera trap days. We find thatmammal communities from highly fragmented sites have lower species richness, species diversity, functional diversity and higher dominance when compared with sites in partially fragmented and continuous forest. We emphasize the importance of standardized camera trapping approaches for obtaining baselines for monitoring forest mammal communities so as to adequately understand the effect of global, regional and local threats and appropriately inform conservation actions. © 2011 The Royal Society

Annual cycles are the most common reproductive strategy in African tropical tree communities

We present the first cross continental comparison of the flowering and fruiting phenology of tropical forests across Africa. Flowering events of 5,446 trees from 196 species across 12 sites, and fruiting events of 4,595 trees from 191 species, across 11 sites were monitored over periods of 6 to 29 years, and analysed to describe phenology at the continental level. To study phenology we used Fourier analysis to identify the dominant cycles of flowering and fruiting for each individual tree and we identified the time of year African trees bloom and bear fruit and their relationship to local seasonality. Reproductive strategies were diverse and no single regular cycle was found in >50% of individuals across all 12 sites. Additionally, we found annual flowering and fruiting cycles to be the most common. Sub-annual cycles were the next most common for flowering whereas supra-annual patterns were the next most common for fruiting. We also identify variation in different subsets of species, with species exhibiting mainly annual cycles most common in West and West-Central African tropical forests, while more species at sites in East-Central and Eastern African forests showed cycles ranging from sub-annual to supra-annual. Despite many trees showing strong seasonality, at most sites some flowering and fruiting occurred all year round. Environmental factors with annual cycles are likely to be important drivers of seasonal periodicity in trees across Africa, but proximate triggers are unlikely to be constant across the continen

An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e. at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa

The global abundance of tree palms

Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Palms (Arecaceae). Methods We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests

Standardized Assessment of Biodiversity Trends in Tropical Forest Protected Areas: The End Is Not in Sight

Extinction rates in the Anthropocene are three orders of magnitude higher than background and disproportionately occur in the tropics, home of half the world’s species. Despite global efforts to combat tropical species extinctions, lack of high-quality, objective information on tropical biodiversity has hampered quantitative evaluation of conservation strategies. In particular, the scarcity of population-level monitoring in tropical forests has stymied assessment of biodiversity outcomes, such as the status and trends of animal populations in protected areas. Here, we evaluate occupancy trends for 511 populations of terrestrial mammals and birds, representing 244 species from 15 tropical forest protected areas on three continents. For the first time to our knowledge, we use annual surveys from tropical forests worldwide that employ a standardized camera trapping protocol, and we compute data analytics that correct for imperfect detection. We found that occupancy declined in 22%, increased in 17%, and exhibited no change in 22% of populations during the last 3–8 years, while 39% of populations were detected too infrequently to assess occupancy changes. Despite extensive variability in occupancy trends, these 15 tropical protected areas have not exhibited systematic declines in biodiversity (i.e., occupancy, richness, or evenness) at the community level. Our results differ from reports of widespread biodiversity declines based on aggregated secondary data and expert opinion and suggest less extreme deterioration in tropical forest protected areas. We simultaneously fill an important conservation data gap and demonstrate the value of large-scale monitoring infrastructure and powerful analytics, which can be scaled to incorporate additional sites, ecosystems, and monitoring methods. In an era of catastrophic biodiversity loss, robust indicators produced from standardized monitoring infrastructure are critical to accurately assess population outcomes and identify conservation strategies that can avert biodiversity collapse. © 2016 Beaudrot et al

Long‐term funding of community projects has contributed to mitigation of illegal activities within a premier African protected area, Bwindi impenetrable National Park, Uganda

At Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (hereafter Bwindi), illegal activities often provide major challenges to park management. In 1994, an Integrated Conservation and Development Program (ICDP) was introduced in Bwindi as a novel park management approach that included among others, funding of community projects in park adjacent communities. This study assessed key drivers of illegal activities and the impact of long-term funding of community projects on illegal activities reduction in Bwindi. We used a 21-year-old illegal activities dataset, environmental drivers' dataset; a 21-year-old dataset of funded community projects and interviews data of 2734 households located around Bwindi for the study. A total of 3383 illegal activities and 338 funded community projects were recorded. Key drivers of illegal activities in Bwindi were accessibility and the number of funded community projects. Parishes with the highest number of community projects experienced fewer illegal activities. The number of illegal activities was negatively correlated with the number of funded community projects. Water and sanitation and household income-generating projects were the most funded. In conclusion, long-term funding of community projects contributed to reduction in illegal activities. A targeted approach of increasing community projects in those parishes that showed high incidences of illegal activities is recommended

Regulated access to wild climbers has enhanced food security and minimized use of plastics by frontline households at a premier African protected area

The amount of food harvested, processed and stored by households determines food availability—a key dimension to food security. In developing countries, frontline households around protected areas harvest wild climbers for making food security products. When access to the wild climbers is denied, households adapt by using other available alternatives such as plastics with potential consequences to biodiversity. The relationships between harvesting wild climbers and: (a) food availability, (b) plastic use, and (c) wild climber populations have rarely been investigated. We interviewed 119 frontline households adjacent to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda to evaluate the relationships between household access to wild climbers and: (a) plastic use and (b) food security. We used forest surveys to assess the impact of harvest on population structure of three mostly utilized wild climbers. The frontline households used more wild climber products (65.02%) than plastics (34.97%). Fifteen wild climbers were harvested for food security products. Two of these; Dracaena laxissima and Smilax anceps depicted size class distributions similar to those of healthy sustainable plant populations, while Monanthotaxis littoralis depicted a size class distribution of unsustainably harvested plant populations. We recommend increased access to wild climbers for enhancing food security and minimizing use of plastics