Protected areas have developed alongside intensive changes in land use and human settlements in the neighboring landscape. Here, we investigated the occurrence of 21 organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), 14 current use pesticides (CUPs), 47 halogenated flame retardants (HFRs), and 19 organophosphate esters (OPEs) in air around Las Cruces (LC) and La Selva (LS) Biological Stations, Costa Rica, and Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda using passive air samplers (PAS) with polyurethane foam (PUF) discs (PAS-PUF). Significantly higher concentrations of CUPs were observed around LS, while LC had a higher concentration of OCPs. Land use analysis indicated that LS had a higher fraction of agriculture than LC (33% vs 14%), suggesting the higher CUPs concentration at LS was related to pesticide intensive crops, while higher OCPs concentration at LC may be attributed to the area's long agricultural history characterized by small-scale subsistence farming or long-range transport. In Uganda, CUPs and OCPs were generally lower than in Costa Rica, but high concentrations of HFRs were observed inside KNP, possibly due to human activity at research camps near the protected forest. This is the first study that documented the occurrence of anthropogenic chemicals in the air at protected areas with tropical forests.

Common approaches to reverse the trend of tropical deforestation and loss of wildlife include systems of protected areas (PAs) such as national parks, payments for ecosystem services programs (PES) that provide financial reward to landowners protecting their forests, and ecotourism that attempts to increase local economic gains and protect biodiversity while minimizing detrimental ecological effects from tourists. For example, Costa Rica successfully reversed deforestation by restoring forest cover from 24.4% in 1985 to >50% by 2011 through implementation of national environmental protection policies in the 1990s that included a portfolio of PAs, PES, and ecotourism. However, the social-ecological effectiveness of this conservation portfolio in terms of interactions between deforestation, biodiversity, and community participation is not clear across local scales. Therefore, we conducted multitemporal geospatial analysis to determine forest cover change from 2001-2017, broad census surveys to determine primate species richness and group encounter rate, and surveyed private landowners to determine participation in PES and ecotourism across four regions of Costa Rica. Net forest loss varied seven-fold across regions and occurred in both protected and nonprotected areas across all regions from 2001-2017, although rates were lower inside PAs. Primate group encounter rate varied significantly across all regions with an 11fold difference between the region with the most primates compared to the region with the least. All but one region contained the full community of primate species present. Participation in conservation incentives also varied seven-fold across regions, with those reporting the highest participation having the highest primate density and diversity, as well as the lowest deforestation rates. These results suggest that the most effective strategy to simultaneously curb tropical deforestation, protect primates, and ensure community benefits may depend on a complete portfolio of PAs, PES, and ecotourism, rather than a subset of these strategies. Future studies will explore finer scale differences and similarities across PA, PES, and ecotourism forests, including measures of primate physiology and behavior, forest structure, and pesticide exposure.

ResumenEn poblaciones de pseudoescorpiones en fragmentos de bosque de manglar del departamento de Córdoba, Caribe colombiano, se realizó un estudio sobre proporción sexual y periodos de reproducción. Se colectaron 1.037 individuos distribuidos en cinco familias y seis especies. La mayoría de las especies presentó una proporción sexual 1:1, y periodos de reproducción univoltinos, sin embargo, Epactiochernes sp., registró una proporción sexual sesgada hacia las hembras y Serianus aff. carolinensis, presento periodos bivoltinos. La proporción sexual exhibida por la mayoría de las especies y los periodos de reproducción sugieren que, su estrategia selectiva ligada a la reproducción, se encuentra ajustada a las épocas climáticas de los bosques de manglar, relacionado con la exclusividad de las especies en los microhábitat donde se desenvuelven. Palabras Clave:Microhábitat; estructura; fenología; ciclo de vida; dimorfismo sexual. AbstractIn populations of pseudoscorpions in fragments of mangrove forest of the department of Córdoba, Colombian, Caribbean, was carried out a study on sex ratio and periods of reproduction. A total of 1,037 individuals were collected, distributed in five families and six species. Most of the species presented a sex ratio 1:1, and periods of reproduction univoltine, however, Epactiochernes sp., it registered a sex ratio slanted toward the females and Serianus aff. carolinensis, present periods bivoltines. The sex ratio exhibited by most of the species and the periods of reproduction, they suggest that its bound selective strategy to the reproduction, is adjusted to the climatic season of the mangrove forests, related with the exclusivity of the species in the microhabitat where they are unwrapped.

The habitats of wild primates are increasingly threatened by surrounding anthropogenic pressures, but little is known about primate exposure to frequently used chemicals. We applied a novel method to simultaneously measure 21 legacy pesticides (OCPs), 29 current use pesticides (CUPs), 47 halogenated flame retardants (HFRs), and 19 organophosphate flame retardants in feces from baboons in the U.S.A., howler monkeys in Costa Rica, and baboons, chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, and red colobus in Uganda. The most abundant chemicals were α-hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH), and hexachlorobenzene among OCPs across all sites, chlorpyrifos among CUPs in Costa Rica and Indiana, decabromodiphenylethane (DBDPE) in Costa Rica and Indiana and 2, 2', 4, 4'-tetrabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47) in Uganda as HFRs, and tris­(2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBOEP) as OPFRs across all sites. The detected chemical concentrations were generally higher in red-tailed monkeys and red colobus than in chimpanzees and baboons. Our methods can be used to examine the threat of chemical pollutants to wildlife, which is critical for endangered species where only noninvasive methods can be used.

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