Over the past century, chimpanzee populations throughout equatorial Africa have been reduced to a small fraction of their historic range. While recent surveys in Uganda suggest a large population (~5000 individuals) of the eastern subspecies (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii), most are located in small, isolated patches of forest with varying degrees of protection, and the long term preservation of the species under climate change is uncertain. Our research was focused on two large forest reserves (Budongo and Bugoma) in northwestern Uganda that have stable populations of P.t. schweinfurthii and are separated by a complex matrix of farmland and small forest patches and riparian forests of various level of degradation. The objective of our research was to build a spatially explicit habitat model using land cover change analysis, environmental variables and various socio-economic GIS layers to identify possible corridors between these two reserves. Such corridors would provide animals with protected areas for dispersal and facilitate their viability under climate change.
Results/Conclusions
Our results take into account the size and connectivity of existing forest patches, the habitat variables driving chimpanzee site selection, the impact from roads/local population centers. The predicted corridors fit well with recent independent chimpanzee surveys, allowing us to recommend a series of possible corridors to the National Wildlife Authority designed to re-connect reserves and ensure the future conservation of the species in this region.