Complex Variation in Afrotropical Mammal Communities With Human Impact

The diversity and composition of mammal communities are strongly influenced by human activities, though these relationships may vary across broad scales. Understanding this variation is key to conservation, as it provides a baseline for planning and evaluating management interventions. We assessed variation in the structure and composition of Afrotropical medium and large mammal communities within and outside protected areas, and under varying human impact. We collected data at 512 locations from 22 study sites in 12 Afrotropical countries over 7 years and 3 months (2011-2018) with 164,474 camera trap days in total. Half of these sites are located inside protected areas and half in unprotected areas. The sites are comparable in that they all harbor at least one great ape species, indicating a minimum level of habitat similarity, though they experience varying degrees of human impact. We applied Bayesian Regression models to relate site protection status and the degree of human impact to mammal communities. Protected area status was positively associated with the proportion of all threatened species, independent of the degree of human impact. Similarly, species richness was associated with area protection but was more sensitive to human impact. For all other attributes of the mammal communities, the pattern was more complex. The influence of human impact partially overrides the positive effects of protected area status, resulting in comparable mammal communities being observed both within protected areas and in similarly remote locations outside these areas. We observed a common pattern for large carnivores, whose probability of occurrence declined significantly with increasing human impact, independent of site protection status. Mammal communities benefit from sustainability measures of socio-economic context that minimize human impact. Our results support the notion that conservation of mammalian species can be achieved by reducing human impact through targeted conservation measures, adopting landscape-level management strategies, fostering community engagement, and safeguarding remote habitats with high mammal diversity.

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Journal
Ecology and Evolution
Published
2025-05-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71331
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.72

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Complex Variation in Afrotropical Mammal Communities With Human Impact

Deogratias Tuyisingize, Juan Lapuente, Solange Mekuate Kamga, Onella Mundi et al.
1 citations
Ecology and Evolution
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
1.72
article

Complex Variation in Afrotropical Mammal Communities With Human Impact

Deogratias Tuyisingize, Juan Lapuente, Solange Mekuate Kamga, Onella Mundi, Erin G. Wessling, A. Piel, Charlotte Coupland, Mimi Arandjelovic, Fiona A. Stewart, Laura K. Lynn, Tenekwetche Sop, Volker Sommer, Villard Ebot Egbe, Hjalmar S. Kühl, Nuria Maldonado, Maureen S. McCarthy, Roman M. Wittig, Lucy Jayne Ormsby, Jane Widness, Josephine Head, Kevin E. Langergraber, Mattia Bessone, Colleen Stephens, Emma Bailey, Samuel Angedakin, Sorrel Jones, Ammie K. Kalan, Lilah Sciaky, Amelia Meier, Anthony Agbor, Diorne Zausa, Délagnon Assou, Tobias Deschner, Inza Koné, Yntze van der Hoek, Anne‐Céline Granjon, Stefanie Heinicke, Paula Dieguez, Kevin Lee, Lars Kulik, Christophe Boesch, Thurston C. Hicks, Samedi Jean Pierre Mucyo, Pauline Strohbach
article en
1 citations

Abstract

The diversity and composition of mammal communities are strongly influenced by human activities, though these relationships may vary across broad scales. Understanding this variation is key to conservation, as it provides a baseline for planning and evaluating management interventions. We assessed variation in the structure and composition of Afrotropical medium and large mammal communities within and outside protected areas, and under varying human impact. We collected data at 512 locations from 22 study sites in 12 Afrotropical countries over 7 years and 3 months (2011-2018) with 164,474 camera trap days in total. Half of these sites are located inside protected areas and half in unprotected areas. The sites are comparable in that they all harbor at least one great ape species, indicating a minimum level of habitat similarity, though they experience varying degrees of human impact. We applied Bayesian Regression models to relate site protection status and the degree of human impact to mammal communities. Protected area status was positively associated with the proportion of all threatened species, independent of the degree of human impact. Similarly, species richness was associated with area protection but was more sensitive to human impact. For all other attributes of the mammal communities, the pattern was more complex. The influence of human impact partially overrides the positive effects of protected area status, resulting in comparable mammal communities being observed both within protected areas and in similarly remote locations outside these areas. We observed a common pattern for large carnivores, whose probability of occurrence declined significantly with increasing human impact, independent of site protection status. Mammal communities benefit from sustainability measures of socio-economic context that minimize human impact. Our results support the notion that conservation of mammalian species can be achieved by reducing human impact through targeted conservation measures, adopting landscape-level management strategies, fostering community engagement, and safeguarding remote habitats with high mammal diversity.

Ecology and EvolutionVol. 15(5)
International Gorilla Conservation Programme (RW), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (GB), Osnabrück University (DE), Université de Dschang (CM), University of Konstanz (DE), University of Victoria (CA), University of Würzburg (DE), German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (DE), German Primate Center (DE), Leibniz Association (DE), Yale University (US), Tanzania National Parks (TZ), Gashaka Primate Project (NG), Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior (DE), Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (DE), Swiss Centre for Scientific Research (CI), Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz (DE), International University Institute (IHI) Zittau (DE), Institut des Sciences Cognitives (FR), Global Wildlife Conservation (US), University of Lomé (TG), University College London (GB), University of Warsaw (PL), Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny (CI), Arizona State University (US), Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (DE), Technische Universität Dresden (DE), Leipzig University (DE)
Yale University, Arizona State University, University College London, Volkswagen Foundation, Technische Universität Dresden, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Deutsches Primatenzentrum, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie, Universität Leipzig, Universität Konstanz, Deutsches Zentrum für integrative Biodiversitätsforschung Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft
Life in Land
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
1.72
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