Density and distribution of western chimpanzees around a bauxite deposit in the Boé Sector, Guinea-Bissau
Abstract
The Boé sector in southeast Guinea‐Bissau harbors a population of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) that inhabits a mosaic of forest and savanna. The Boé sector contains a substantial bauxite deposit in a region called Ronde Hill, and there are plans for the construction of a mine, which may endanger the chimpanzee population. In 1‐week survey in May 2013, we used the standing crop nest counts method to obtain the number of chimpanzee nests and from that estimate the density and abundance of chimpanzees. We carried out five 1‐km line transects that covered the bauxite deposit and surrounding valleys. We used density surface modeling to analyze habitat preferences, then predicted chimpanzee nest density and distribution based on environmental variables. We found the projected location of the mine partially coincides with an area of high predicted abundances of chimpanzee nests and is surrounded by highly suitable areas for chimpanzees (northeast and southwest). We conclude the mine could have significant direct and indirect effects on this population of chimpanzees whose impacts must be carefully considered and properly mitigated if the mine is built.
Citation
Dias , F , Wenceslau , J , Marques , T A & Miller , D L 2019 , ' Density and distribution of western chimpanzees around a bauxite deposit in the Boé Sector, Guinea-Bissau ' , American Journal of Primatology , vol. 81 , no. 9 , e23047 . https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23047
Publication
American Journal of Primatology
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0275-2565Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23047
Description
Funding: partial support by CEAUL (funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal, through the project UID/MAT/00006/2019) (TAM).Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.