 under the worst case scenario by 2080. With roughly half of the 6,000 Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees existing in the ecotone habitat of central Cameroon, the results suggest that this subspecies of chimpanzee is particularly vulnerable to climate change.
The authors note that their models may be something of a worst-case scenario for climate change because they do not take into account the potential for these chimpanzee populations to adapt to the changes brought about by climate change, or to migrate to new areas with optimal conditions. On the other hand, chimpanzees continue to face other threats of habitat loss to human land uses, as well as illegal hunting.
“We know very little about Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees in the wild,” said Gonder. “But everything we have learned about them suggests that Cameroon is a particularly vital location for preserving the diversity found within the species. The governments of Cameroon and Nigeria have made important strides in the last five years to save their chimpanzee remaining populations. The papers published this week in BMC Evolutionary Biology will boost these efforts by providing a solid foundation for policy makers in these countries to make stronger arguments for additional protection in places, such as central Cameroon, which have often been overlooked in ape conservation planning activities.”
Paul Sesink Clee (left) and Matthew Mitchell (right) in Cameroon
For more about the process of the research described above, see the blog post by Gonder, Mitchell and Sesink Clee on the BMC Series Blog.
For more information about Drexel University’s ongoing research projects in Central Africa, please visit: caballiance.org and bioko.org
For more information on the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee or to read the IUCN conservation action plan, please visit: ellioti.org
For more information on the Gonder Lab at Drexel University, please visit: pages.drexel.edu
Portions of this article were adapted with permission from a press release prepared by BMC Evolutionary Biology.
Images are available for use by the media (with credits provided in file names) here.
The three papers published in BMC Evolutionary Biology are available here: