Primates in 21st century ecosystems: does primate conservation promote ecosystem conservation?

Abstract

Contributors to this issue of the American Journal of Primatology were among the participants in an invited symposium at the 2008 Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation meeting in Paramaribo, Suriname. They were asked to assess how essential primates are to tropical ecosystems and, given their research interests, discuss how primate research contributes to the broader understanding about how ecosystems function. This introduction to the issue is divided into three parts: a review of the roles that nonhuman primates play in tropical ecosystems; the implementation of large-scale landscape methods used to identify primate densities; and concerns about the increasingly porous boundaries between humans, nonhuman primates, and pathogens. Although 20th century primate research created a rich database on individual species, including both theoretical and descriptive approaches, the dual effects of high human population densities and widespread habitat destruction should warn us that creative, interdisciplinary and human-related research is needed to solve 21st century problems.

Frugivory and Seed Dispersal Patterns of the Red-Ruffed Lemur, <b><i>Varecia rubra,</i></b> at a Forest Restoration Site in Masoala National Park, Madagascar

“…A large body of literature supports the important role of frugivorous primates as seed dispersers in tropical forests [e.g. Chapman, 1995;Kaplin and Lambert, 2002;Gross-Camp and Kaplin, 2005;Chapman and Russo, 2006;Norconk et al, 2011]. However, the effectiveness of primates as seed dispersers can be influenced by several factors like body size, gut passage time, ranging patterns, diet, food availability, habitat fragmentation, and other landscape scale disturbances [Howe, 1989;Kaplin et al, 1998;Lambert and Garber, 1998;Ganas et al, 2004;Chapman and Russo, 2006;Jordano et al, 2007;Schupp et al, 2010].…”

Dental topography indicates ecological contraction of lemur communities

“…Feeding ecology is of special interest because of the role primates play as seed dispersers, and thus potentially as “umbrella” taxa (Lyons et al, 2005; Lambert, 2011; Norconk et al, 2011), with widespread effects on numerous other species. Variation in frugivore diversity and behavior can strongly affect the dispersal of seeds, establishment of seedlings, and ultimately the distribution of trees (Bleher and Bohning‐Gaese, 2001), but there is a certain amount of redundancy in seed disperser communities, which suggests that communities can suffer a fair amount of faunal loss without jeopardizing their ecological integrity (Bollen et al, 2004).…”

Mammal extinctions and the increasing isolation of humans on the tree of life

“…Due to the high risk of extinction, designing appropriate conservation strategies for our close relatives is critically important, but requires consideration of the many costs to local peoples [39]. While primates act importantly as seed dispersers to regenerate and maintain the forest ecosystem [45], they can also act as disease reservoirs [46,47] and as pests raiding crops [48] and even our homes [20]. The interactions between humans and non-human primates are numerous.…”