Connectivity and conservation of Western Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) habitat in Liberia

Abstract

Aim As part of the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa, Liberia has pledged to include the value of nature in national decision making through natural capital accounting. Surveying species of concern, such as the western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), which was recently reclassified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and identifying protection priority areas are critical first steps towards achieving Liberia's goal to conserve 30% of its remaining forests and supporting the wave of conservation projects taking place in the country. Location Liberia, Africa. Methods We modelled western chimpanzee habitat suitability, focusing on determining relevant environmental predictors and the most appropriate scale for modelling species–habitat relationships. We built models at six resolutions (30–960 m) to identify scale domains where relationships remain constant. We include several habitat variables that have not been included in prior modelling efforts. We then used the suitability map as the conductance input into a connectivity analysis using Circuitscape. Results The amount of forest within 1–3 km was the most important predictor of chimpanzee occurrence. Variable ranks and importance shifted considerably between modelling scales, supporting the need for multiscale investigations, but scale domains were present. Several important corridors for chimpanzee habitat and movement overlap considerably with existing timber and palm oil concessions and overlap mining and rubber concessions to a lesser degree. Main conclusions The proportion of primary forest within 1–3 km is critically important for chimpanzee habitat. Ongoing conservation projects and efforts taking place in Liberia including the Good Growth Partnership and the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa can utilize the spatial findings on connectivity provided by this study to inform future conservation decisions, particularly expanding exiting protected areas.

Research on the coupled mechanism of landscape connectivity simulation by integrating multi‐level ecological security patterns and multi‐scenario simulation: A case study of the main urban area of Hangzhou

“…Landscape connectivity measures the degree of passage for species migration, dispersion, or certain ecological processes across landscapes (Brooks, 2003;Forman & Godron, 1986;Taylor et al, 1993).…”

“…Landscape connectivity measures the degree of passage for species migration, dispersion, or certain ecological processes across landscapes (Brooks, 2003; Forman & Godron, 1986; Taylor et al, 1993). Previous studies, often based on graph theory methods (Kindlmann & Burel, 2008; Pascual‐Hortal & Saura, 2006; Urban & Keitt, 2001), percolation theory (Adriaensen et al, 2003; McRae et al, 2008; Walpole et al, 2012), habitat suitability assessments (Frazier et al, 2021; Sun et al, 2021), and ecological network analyses (Guimaraes, 2020; Huang, Wang, Fang, et al, 2021; Huang, Wang, Shan, & Xiao, 2021), have evaluated and optimized regional landscape connectivity from structural (interconnection of different landscape components in spatial patterns not necessarily linked with ecological processes) and functional (smoothness of species migration or other ecological process progression among patches) perspectives (Carlier & Moran, 2019; Foltête et al, 2014; Kong et al, 2010; Tischendorf & Fahrig, 2000; Zhang et al, 2021). These research outcomes have been widely applied in reserve conservation decisions (Zhang et al, 2016), environmental impact assessments (Tarabon, Berg'es, et al, 2019; Tarabon, Bergès, et al, 2019), and land spatial planning (Jia & Wang, 2022), demonstrating the actual impact of land‐use changes during urban expansion on landscape connectivity (Huang et al, 2018; Tarabon, Berg'es, et al, 2019; Tarabon, Bergès, et al, 2019; Wang, Li, Zhang, et al, 2020).…”

Reaffirming the Loma Mountains National Park in Sierra Leone as a critical site for the conservation of West African chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus)

“…Vegetation cover composition and floristic heterogeneity, which is indirectly related to food availability and diversity, also play important roles in nesting site selection (Chitayat et al, 2021). There are many other biotic factors affecting nesting site preferences, such as low levels of forest loss (Heinicke et al, 2019), presence of primary forest (Frazier et al, 2021), predator avoidance (Baldwin et al, 1981) and tree biomechanical characteristics (Samson & Hunt, 2014).…”