Spatial Overlap Between People and Non-human Primates in a Fragmented Landscape

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Conservation Biology
• Wildlife Management

Background:

• Fragmented landscapes surrounding Kibale National Park (KNP) in Uganda exhibit complex human-wildlife interactions.
• These interactions are hypothesized to drive primate population declines and disease transmission between humans and primates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the spatial patterns of human-primate overlap within and around forest fragments near KNP.
• To identify key drivers and locations of human-primate spatial interaction using a social-ecological systems framework.

Main Methods:

• Conducted on-the-ground mapping in five forest fragments near KNP to identify human-primate spatial overlap.
• Utilized nearest neighbor analysis and Getis-Ord statistics to analyze spatial clustering and hotspots of activity.
• Quantified the percentage of shared spaces between human and primate habitats.

Main Results:

• Human and primate activities were spatially clustered within and around forest fragments.
• While 5.5% of human space overlapped with primate space, 69.5% of primate space overlapped with human space.
• Human activities like fuelwood collection were primary drivers of overlap; primates also utilized agricultural areas.

Conclusions:

• Human-primate overlap is not uniform across fragmented landscapes and is spatially aggregated.
• Understanding these spatial dynamics is crucial for mitigating primate population declines and cross-species disease transmission.