The African Forest Ecology Group

Research

The African Forest Ecology Group is divided into 5 main areas of expertise:

Great Ape Ecology and Conservation

Ecological studies of wild chimpanzees and gorillas were pioneered by Caroline Tutin and as a result of over 20 years of continuous research by the AFEG members and more than 70 publications, Lopé National Park in Gabon remains a site of reference on the ecology of these species. In addition to a wealth of ecological data on feeding ecology, behaviour and habitat use, ape survey methods were also developed and refined over a number of years by our group, providing startling evidence that ape numbers are declining faster due to hunting and disease than anyone had previously predicted. These valuable data have been used to influence environmental and conservation policy, for example to the Regional Great Ape Survival Action Plan, GRASP, the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation portfolio, the Ministry of Water and Forests and the Gabon National Parks Agency. More recently, we have developed genetic methods to better understand population dynamics and phylogeographic structuring, and to improve abundance estimates. To address growing concerns for the health of remaining vulnerable ape populations, we have run a great ape health program for several years to minimize the risks of contact with human pathogens and improve our understanding of disease ecology.

Carbon sequestration and Climate Change

The Gabonese Government recognize the threat posed by global warming to their country’s integrity and have responded by creating a Climate Change Task Force, for which Lee White is technical director. To enable Gabon to negotiate agreements on climate change and participate in the REDD project, we are carrying out comprehensive research on Climate Change in Gabon as part of this government-backed process. The goal is to understand the nature of ongoing and future climate change in Congo Basin Forest Regions, of the sensitivity of the regions forests to this change, and the implications of potential for loss for regional and global weather patterns.
Since 1983, our group members have been collecting continuous data on forest dynamics, weather and tree behaviour in Lopé National Park. These data, the longest records in the region, now form a priceless resource for quantifying carbon stocks and environmental changes in the Congo Basin and linking them to weather patterns, as climate change accelerates.
In 2009, as part of a multi-institutional partnership, we undertook the first phase of the Climate Change Initiative and carried out a rapid assessment of stocks and flows of carbon in the forests of Gabon. Field measurements of trees and soil in over 100 hectares of forest were combined with remote sensing data, to develop an accurate map of carbon for Gabon, estimates of forest biomass, carbon from forest and soil, and their temporal changes. Preliminary results suggest a strong increase in biomass in the park between 1996-2007. These data enabled the Ministry of the Environment to develop a negotiating position for REDD mechanisms for the COP15 in Copenhagen in December 2009.
From 2010 we aim to establish a robust and durable scientific framework with which to monitor and predict the future status of Gabon’s 13 National Parks.

Large Mammal Conservation

Building good conservation policy requires detailed knowledge of wildlife numbers and ecological needs, as well as quantification of threats. In Central Africa, this knowledge is often hard to come by, even for seemingly familiar species, like the gorilla, chimpanzee or mandrill. Ecological research on large mammals carried out by our group for almost 3 decades, mainly at Lopé, now guides species and habitat conservation activities across the region. We have collected (or overseen collection of) scientific data on the ecological needs of a large number of mammal species including apes, mandrills, small primates, buffalo, elephants and leopards. These data, along with threats posed by logging, hunting and disease, have enabled us to guide conservation policy both nationally and regionally. Examples include:

• Long-term ecological research into wild mandrills was pioneered by Kate Abernethy, leading her to develop a successful mandrill ecotourism product for Lopé National Park and a national mandrill conservation strategy. 
• An effective wildlife monitoring programme has been overseen by Fiona Maisels across much of the protected area network in the Congo Basin since 2003. This programme provides baseline data on the population, spatial distribution, and trends of large mammal species to protected area managers across the region. This ensures a solid basis for adaptive management both at the site level (e.g. for planning patrols), and at the national or regional level (e.g. to inform Governments and international conservation bodies on species action plans, protected area network design, and hunting and logging best practice guidelines).
• A national assessment of wildlife distributions using state-of-the-art methods in 2000-2001 contributed significantly to the designation of Gabon’s National Parks in 2002.

Human-Wildlife Interactions

Members of our group have worked for many years with partners in Gabon towards the sustainable use of wildlife, reduction of human-wildlife conflicts and mitigation of the environmental impacts of human activities.

Hunting is a major threat to wildlife. For the last 8 years, Kate Abernethy has been leading a high-profile national project to develop a National Strategy for Bushmeat Management, aimed at creating a framework for a sustainable bushmeat harvest that will not impact vulnerable wildlife populations, whilst enabling needy rural communities to provide some of their protein needs from wild meat.

Kath Jeffery has focussed on wildlife-human health issues, through the establishment of wildlife epidemic response systems in Lopé, and the implementation of good practice field guidelines for health and safety.  Research on parasite and disease transmission risks, both to humans and wildlife, of human presence in the rainforest has shaped ecotourism and guidelines to reduce cross-infection.
Human modification of habitat is seen most dramatically at Lopé in the annual savannah burning programme. The impacts of savannah burning are quantified by vegetation plots, savannah wildlife censuses and measures of Lopé erosion, so that the burning programme can best respond to multiple management goals. AFEG members have been closely involved in fire management and research into fire ecology since 1996.

Education and Training

For over 20 years, AFEG members have been strongly committed to training and educating wildlife biologists in the Congo Basin. We have mentored and trained hundreds of students, ranging from local ecoguides and ecoguards to biology undergraduates, wildlife college students, conservation professionals and graduate research students. We have developed and run a number of regionally-recognized training courses in wildlife monitoring, ecology and conservation research, and produced a suite of training materials that are used across the region, such as Lee White’s technical handbook for conservation research.

• In 1998, Kate Abernethy initiated a community ‘Nature-Culture’ programme at Lopé, with the construction of an ‘Ecomusée’ and the creation of a community outreach team. This team, now run by WCS, has been teaching environmental issues in local schools for more than 10 years.
• In 2004, Lee White and Kate Abernethy founded the Centre Educatif Dr Alphonse Mackanga Missandzou (CEDAMM), a WCS training centre for wildlife ecology and conservation in Lopé National Park. Directed for 2 years by Kath Jeffery, we channelled the scientific expertise built up at SEGC over 20 years to support biology training to university undergraduates and wildlife college students.
• Each year Fiona Maisels runs a prestigious and intensive training course in Wildlife Monitoring across the region to select in-service conservationists.

All these activities have contributed to a growing national and international capacity and constituency for conservation in the region.