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Human proximity and habitat fragmentation are key drivers of the rangewide bonobo distribution

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Abstract

Habitat loss and hunting threaten bonobos (Pan paniscus), Endangered (IUCN) great apes endemic to lowland rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Conservation planning requires a current, data-driven, rangewide map of probable bonobo distribution and an understanding of key attributes of areas used by bonobos. We present a rangewide suitability model for bonobos based on a maximum entropy algorithm in which data associated with locations of bonobo nests helped predict suitable conditions across the species’ entire range. We systematically evaluated available biotic and abiotic factors, including a bonobo-specific forest fragmentation layer (forest edge density), and produced a final model revealing the importance of simple threat-based factors in a data poor environment. We confronted the issue of survey bias in presence-only models and devised a novel evaluation approach applicable to other taxa by comparing models built with data from geographically distinct sub-regions that had higher survey effort. The model’s classification accuracy was high (AUC = 0.82). Distance from agriculture and forest edge density best predicted bonobo occurrence with bonobo nests more likely to occur farther from agriculture and in areas of lower edge density. These results suggest that bonobos either avoid areas of higher human activity, fragmented forests, or both, and that humans reduce the effective habitat of bonobos. The model results contribute to an increased understanding of threats to bonobo populations, as well as help identify priority areas for future surveys and determine core bonobo protection areas.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Arcus Foundation, Columbus Zoo, Conservation International, European Union, Frankenberg Foundation, IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group, Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation Primate Action Fund, Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Evolutionary Anthropology, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE), United States Fish and Wildlife Service Great Apes Program, United States Forest Service, University of Georgia, University of Kent, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Woodtiger Foundation, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for funding. MPI compiled the bonobo presence data through the IUCN/SSC A.P.E.S. database. Terese Hart (Lukuru Foundation), Jo Thompson (Lukuru Wildlife Research Project), Simeon Dino S’hwa (WCS and Lukuru Foundation) and Christine Tam (WWF) provided a portion of the bonobo presence data. The first author holds an American Fellowship with the American Association of University Women.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Jena R. Hickey

  2. Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, 2181 LeFrak Hall, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Janet Nackoney

  3. Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602-2152, USA

    Nathan P. Nibbelink

  4. Max Planck Institute of Ornithology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Schlossallee 2, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany

    Stephen Blake

  5. Wildlife Conservation Society, 1725 Ave Col. Mondjiba Ngaelima, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Aime Bonyenge, Maurice Emetshu, Bernard Ikembelo, Innocent Liengola, Pascal Naky & Pele Nkumu

  6. Bonobo Conservation Initiative, 2701 Connecticut Ave. NW #702, Washington, DC, 20008, USA

    Sally Coxe

  7. African Wildlife Foundation Conservation Centre, Ngong Road, Karen, P.O. Box 310, Nairobi, 00502, Kenya

    Jef Dupain

  8. Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Kanrin, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan

    Takeshi Furuichi, Chie Hashimoto, Tetsuya Sakamaki & Hiroyuki Takemoto

  9. Wildlife Conservation Society, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY, 10460, USA

    Falk Grossmann, Fiona Maisels, Joel Masselink, Robert Rose & Samantha Strindberg

  10. Bonobo and Congo Biodiversity Initiative, Zoological Society of Milwaukee, 10005 W. Bluemound Rd., Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA

    Patrick Guislain & Gay Edwards Reinartz

  11. Lukuru Foundation, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    John Hart

  12. World Wildlife Fund, DRC, 14, Avenue Sergent Moke, Kinshasa, Commune de Ngaliema, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Omari Ilambu & Bila-Isia Inogwabini

  13. Kokolopori Bonobo Nature Reserve, Avenue Nguma Numero 80, Ma Campagne, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Albert Lotana Lokasola

  14. African Wildlife Foundation, Kinshasa Office, 12 Avenue Comité Urbain, Gombe, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Alain Lushimba

  15. School of Natural Sciences, Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK

    Fiona Maisels

  16. Congo Basin Ecosystems Conservation Support Program (PACEBCo), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Valentin Mbenzo

  17. Center of Research in Ecology and Forestry (CREF), Ministry of Education and Scientific Research, Mabali, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Norbert Mbangia Mulavwa & Nicolas Mwanza Ndunda

  18. Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN), Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Valentin Omasombo

  19. Wildlife Conservation Society, Pointe Noire, Zanaga, Democratic Republic of the Congo

    Ashley Vosper

  20. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany

    Hjalmar S. Kühl

Authors
  1. Jena R. Hickey
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  2. Janet Nackoney
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  3. Nathan P. Nibbelink
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  4. Stephen Blake
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  5. Aime Bonyenge
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  6. Sally Coxe
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  7. Jef Dupain
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  8. Maurice Emetshu
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  9. Takeshi Furuichi
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  10. Falk Grossmann
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  11. Patrick Guislain
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  12. John Hart
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  13. Chie Hashimoto
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  14. Bernard Ikembelo
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  15. Omari Ilambu
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  16. Bila-Isia Inogwabini
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  17. Innocent Liengola
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  18. Albert Lotana Lokasola
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  19. Alain Lushimba
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  20. Fiona Maisels
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  21. Valentin Mbenzo
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  22. Norbert Mbangia Mulavwa
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  23. Pascal Naky
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  24. Nicolas Mwanza Ndunda
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  25. Pele Nkumu
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  26. Valentin Omasombo
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  27. Gay Edwards Reinartz
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  28. Robert Rose
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  29. Tetsuya Sakamaki
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  30. Samantha Strindberg
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  31. Hiroyuki Takemoto
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  32. Ashley Vosper
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  33. Hjalmar S. Kühl
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jena R. Hickey.

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Supplementary material 1

The response curves of the relative suitability of conditions for bonobos and the predictor variables from the final rangewide MaxEnt model depict a negative relationship for forest fragmentation as measured by edge density (km/km2), and positive relationships for distance from river (km), distance from agriculture (km), and percent-forest landcover (TIFF 1300 kb)

Supplementary material 2

A comparison of the MaxEnt rangewide spatial predictions of relative suitability for bonobos (a) without elevation and (b) with elevation as a fifth variable, Democratic Republic of Congo (TIFF 7736 kb)

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Hickey, J.R., Nackoney, J., Nibbelink, N.P. et al. Human proximity and habitat fragmentation are key drivers of the rangewide bonobo distribution. Biodivers Conserv 22, 3085–3104 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0572-7

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