Spatial Overlap Between People and Non-human Primates in a Fragmented Landscape

Abstract

In western Uganda, the landscape surrounding Kibale National Park (KNP) contains households, trading centers, roads, fields, and forest fragments. The mosaic arrangement of these landscape features is thought to enhance human-primate interaction, leading to primate population declines and increased bi-directional disease transmission. Using a social-ecological systems research framework that captures the complexity of interaction among people, wildlife, and environment, we studied five forest fragments near KNP and conducted intensive on-the-ground mapping to identify locations of human-primate spatial overlap. Primate locations and human activities were distributed within, on the edges, and far beyond fragment borders. Analysis of shared spaces indicated that 5.5% of human space overlapped with primate spaces, while 69.5% of primate spaces overlapped with human spaces. Nearest neighbor analysis indicated that human activities were significantly spatially clustered within and around individual fragments, as were primate locations. Getis-Ord statistics revealed statistically significant "hotspots" of human activity and primate activity, but only one location where spatial overlap between humans and primates was statistically significant. Human activities associated with collecting fuelwood and other forest products were the primary drivers of human-primate overlap; however, primates also spent time outside of forest fragments in agricultural spaces. These results demonstrate that fragmented landscapes are not uniform with respect to human-primate overlap, and that the implications of human-primate interaction, such as primate population declines and possible cross-species disease transmission, are spatially aggregated.

Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia coli and Class 1 Integrons in Humans, Domestic Animals, and Wild Primates in Rural Uganda

“…The median age of participants was 14 years (range, Ͻ1 year to 77 years), with most either 6 to 10 years old (21.8%; n ϭ 44) or 21 to 49 years old (21.8%; n ϭ 44), and the population consisted mainly of subsistence farmers of the Batooro tribe, who keep small herds of domestic livestock (cattle, goats, pigs, and sheep). People in this population report frequent interactions with wild primates, especially in locations where forest habitats occur near agricultural lands (22,23). A total of 37 (18.3%) participants reported taking an antibiotic within 4 weeks prior to donating a fecal sample, but the identity of the antibiotic taken could be determined in only three (8.1%) of these cases.…”

“…Similarly, livestock tended to be grazed in pastures near agricultural fields frequented by people, where primates often raid crops. Fecal contamination of soil, vegetation, and water as a result of shared activity spaces might therefore explain the patterns observed (22,23). Such effects could also explain the higher proportions of resistant isolates in red-tailed guenons than in other sympatric primates; red-tailed guenons are notorious for entering agricultural lands to raid crops (33).…”

Multidimensional analysis of landscape dynamics in a Central African forest‐savannah mosaic

“…‘All humanly used resources’, Elinor Ostrom has argued, ‘are embedded in complex, socio‐ecological systems…composed of multiple subsystems and internal variables within these subsystems’. (Ostrom, 2009, p. 419) As a ‘field‐based, microscale, interdisciplinary study design’ (Paige, Bleecker, Mayer, & Goldberg, 2017), the SES approach enables us to evaluate the physical, ecological landscape through remote sensing analysis, as well as its social dimensions, reflected in local knowledge and local land use practices.…”

A multi-disciplinary comparison of great ape gut microbiota in a central African forest and European zoo

“…These varied conclusions suggest that the labels used to describe conditions-"wild", "captive", "westernized", "rural", "pristine", "disturbed" -may obscure more than they reveal. "Wild" NHPs suggests that they live in isolation from human presence; yet they have shared habitats with humans for millennia and have adapted to anthropogenically altered terrains [29][30][31][32] . Similarly, "captive" NHPs can live under highly variable conditions.…”