ANBI 114: Methods in primate conservation


Spring quarter, 2008


Jim Moore jjmoore@ucsd.edu

Welcome to the website for ANBI 114 (Spring 2008)

DISCLAIMER: Due to a {insert epithet here} SNAFU by UCSD's CEP, this course wasn't approved until 3 days before it started; as a new course in 2008, the result was it started with nothing prepared. This year, it's a work in progress.

Syllabus

[check for updates]

The course: We're doing a detailed study of the Ecological Reserve below SSB.

For ASSIGNMENT #1, learning to use topographic maps, click here

Readings

None of these are required per se. From the descriptions you can see what's covered, and from that you should be able to work out whether a particular article will be interesting/useful in the context of the course.

Ross & Reeve 2003: methods for primate surveys and censuses.

Habitat description

This chapter from Mueller-Dombois, D. & Ellenberg, H. (1974) Aims & Methods of Vegetation Ecology gives a good overview of methods for vegetation sampling.

The section from Kershaw, K. A. & Looney, J. H. H. (1985) Quantitative and Dynamic Plant Ecology discusses methods for detecting non-random distributions of plants (e.g., are trees of one species clustered together in clumps, or over-dispersed? Conceptually, similar to asking if 2 species are associated, etc.). Relevance for our purposes is the way that choice of quadrat size interacts with degree of association. If you're not a botanist, it is easy to think 'just go out and count trees'; can get into trouble if you select a quadrat size different from the ones at the site you want to compare your study with. Who'd have thought?

PVA, PHVA, CAMP

For an example of a PVA, see Strier (1993/94) Viability analysis of an isolated population of muriqui monkeys (Brachyteles arachnoides): Implications for primate conservation and demography. Primate Conservation 14-15: 43-52. She discusses the effects of each variable on the outcome of the PVA; is good introduction to the concepts. Have a look at the 1998 Muriqui PHVA Executive Summary that followed. A later paper that builds on it is: Strier (2000) Population viabilities and conservation implications for muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides) in Brazil's Atlantic Forest. Biotropica 32(4b): 903-913.

For an ape PHVA, have a look at the 2004 Orangutan PHVA It's more than 200 pages; you may or may not want to read it in detail, but do at least skim - this is an exemplar of conservation biology in action.

CBSG's Participatory Approach to Great Ape Conservation in Africa The Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (of the SSC-IUCN) is an international consortium, and here is an overview of PHVAs done for gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees.

Primates: Conservation and Management Plan. Minnesota 13-15 March 1991 is an early example of a CAMP, and as such explains concepts, is good intro to such documents.

Survey examples

E. Van Krunkelsven, I. Bila-Isia and D. Draulans (2000) A survey of bonobos and other large mammals in the Salonga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. Oryx 34: 180-187. is an example of a published assessment survey.

Moyer et al. (2006) Surveys of chimpanzees and other biodiversity in western Tanzania is an unpublished "grey literature" report.

Other

With many primates and great apes in particular, humanitarian concerns for individuals go hand-in-hand with efforts to conserve populations; see Chimpanzee Sanctuaries: Guidelines and Management Workshop Report for an intro to that topic (and visit the PASA website below). This is a large pdf file; it covers a conference held in Entebbe in 2000, and is focused on African sanctuaries.



Links: This is scratching the surface, barely.

Pan African Sanctuary Alliance (PASA) (extensive links)

UNEP Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP)

Jane Goodall Institute (JGI)

JGI Roots & Shoots at UCSD Get involved, right here.

African Bushmeat Expedition (High Tech High - San Diego)

Chimpanzee Species Survival Plan (SSP)

Conservation International (CI)The home page is designed for general public; see next link for science

CI Center for Applied Biodiversity Science (CABS)See esp. link to Products, Publications & Downloads.

Conservation Breeding Specialist Group This is where to go for VORTEX and most (?all?) available PHVAs.