Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) Density and Environmental Gradients at Their Biogeographical Range Edge

Autor: Hjalmar S. Kühl, Paula Dieguez, Jill D. Pruetz, Liliana Pacheco, Manuel Llana, Erin G. Wessling
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Primatology
ISSN: 1573-8604
0164-0291
DOI: 10.1007/s10764-020-00182-3
Popis: Identifying ecological gradients at the range edge of a species is an essential step in revealing the underlying mechanisms and constraints that limit the species’ geographic range. We aimed to describe the patterns of variation in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) density and habitat characteristics perpendicular to the northern edge of their range and to investigate potential environmental mechanisms underlying chimpanzee distribution in a savanna–mosaic habitat. We estimated chimpanzee densities at six sites forming a 126-km latitudinal gradient at the biogeographical range edge of the western chimpanzee in the savanna–mosaic habitats of southeastern Senegal. To accompany these data, we used systematically placed vegetation plots to characterize the habitats at each site for habitat heterogeneity, tree density and size, and floral assemblages, among other variables. We found that both biotic and abiotic factors are potential determinants of the chimpanzee range limit in this ecoregion. Specifically, chimpanzee-occupied landscapes at the limit had smaller available floral assemblages less habitat heterogeneity, and contained fewer closed canopy habitats in which chimpanzees could seek refuge from high temperatures than in landscapes farther from the range limit. This pattern was accompanied by a decline in chimpanzee density with increasing proximity to the range limit. Our results provide several indications of the potential limits of food species diversity, thermal refuge, and water availability to the chimpanzee niche and the implications of these limits for chimpanzee biogeography, especially in the face of climate change predictions, as well as for species distributional modeling more generally.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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