The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and the cores of high biodiversity in gallery forests of Guinea in relation to human and chimpanzee commensalism

Abstract

The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis), occurring with a remarkably high density in the northwestern coastal area of Guinea, provides a key resource to the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), including food and nesting sites. However no evidence of nut cracking has been observed, although potential tools are available and are occasionally used by humans. The abundance of food resources in the gallery forest, and the availability, throughout the year, of the pulp of the oil palm may explain the absence of this peculiar behaviour, observed in other areas of Guinea. In the Kanfarandé area, where the home range of groups of chimpazees overlap the shifting cultivations of local populations, the commensalism is characterized by peaceful relationships. Some parts of the gallery forest are efficiently protected by traditional beliefs preventing penetration. Such cores of rich biodiversity, maintained through a social system allowing commensalism with apes, presently play an important role for species dispersal and regeneration