Suitability of private natural forest fragments for chimpanzee conservation in the Albertine region, Uganda

Abstract

Forest cover continues to reduce posing a great threat to biodiversity conservation as habitats are lost. Conserving biodiversity like chimpanzees outside protected areas like on private natural forests could enhance their survival but private forest conditions have not been assessed for their suitability to inhabit chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes schweinfurthii). This study was conducted with the main objective of assessing habitat suitability of private natural forests to enhance chimpanzee conservation. The specific objectives were to determine; i) Document private natural forests in the Masindi-Hoima region with chimpanzees ii) tree species diversity and structure of private natural forests and gazetted natural forests, and iii) diversity and composition of forage trees among the private natural forests and gazetted forest. The study was conducted in Masindi and Hoima Districts from five private natural forests on the basis of signs of chimpanzee presence; including fresh nests, footmarks, fecal material and vocalizations, with reference to Budongo Central Forest Reserve. Transects measuring a length of 200 m were established in each forest patch onto which 10m by 20m plots were established. Similar procedures were used in Budongo Forest which served as a reference forest. Seedlings, saplings and DBH measurements were conducted in each forest, identifying all the species. To analyze tree diversity, and chimpanzee food tree diversity, metrics including abundance, richness, evenness, and Shannon-Weiner were computed using Diversity SDR software. The different forests were then compared using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) while Tukey’s post hoc test was employed whenever ANOVA showed significant differences. All statistical inferences were made at 5% significant level from Minitab version 19. Species composition was analyzed from Community Analysis Package using analysis of similarity to compare species composition of private forests to Budongo. Population structure, basal area and size class distribution among the forests was compared using ANOVA. Results showed that some private forests exhibited related or even higher diversity than the reference forest. Tree species abundance, evenness and Shannon-Weiner diversity showed significant differences (P ˂ 0.05) among the forests, although Tukey’s post hoc test revealed that many private natural forests were not different from the reference forest (BCFR). Tukey’s post hoc test revealed that many of the private natural forests resembled Budongo forest in terms of forest structure, stocking and size class distribution. Similarly, the diversity of chimpanzee food trees was not significantly different (P ˃ 0.05) among the different forests. These findings imply that private natural forests can serve as suitable chimpanzee corridors.