Studies on seasonal change in habitat use by African great apes and conservation of tropical rain forest

通过对非洲不同类型热带森林生态研究的对比，研究了黑猩猩和倭黑猩猩对环境季节变化的适应情况。在位于热带雨林边缘地带的乌干达Kalinzu森林，我们研究了不同植被类型在不同季节的粮食生产力变化。我们发现黑猩猩的密度在很大程度上取决于每种植被类型的树种组成，而不是它是初级还是次级植被。我们还发现，黑猩猩在不同的季节会改变对不同类型植被的利用，黑猩猩在初级植被果实产量较低的季节依赖于次生林中广泛存在的毛桑加树的果实。在坦桑尼亚的乌加拉地区，位于干燥的开阔森林中，黑猩猩的活动范围比潮湿森林中的黑猩猩大得多。随着我们对它们栖息地的了解越来越多，在这个地区直接观察黑猩猩的机会急剧增加。虽然还不够充分，但我们可以期待未来研究的进一步结果。在位于热带雨林中部的刚果民主共和国万巴地区，自1996年以来，对倭黑猩猩的研究一直因内战而中断。然而，在2002年，我们可以在刚果研究合作者的支持下恢复研究。我们可以重新适应倭黑猩猩的研究小组，现在我们可以建立一个开始详细的生态调查的机构。在热带森林保护研究方面，我们对卡林祖森林采伐活动的影响和采伐后的恢复过程进行了监测。我们发现，即使是选择性采伐也会对森林地面造成相当大的破坏，因此需要比预期更长的时间才能恢复。根据我们的报告，乌干达林业部门对森林的可持续利用进行了研究，并决定通过引入生态旅游来实现这片森林的可持续利用。少

This study examined how chimpanzees and bonobos of genus Pan adapt to the seasonal change in environment, by comparison of the ecological researches in various types of the tropical forest in Africa.In the Kalinzu Forest, Uganda, which situates in a marginal area of the rain forest, we studied the variation of food productivity in different vegetation types in different seasons. We revealed that the density of chimpanzees depends largely on the tree species composition of each vegetation type, rather than whether it is primary or secondary vegetation. We also revealed that chimpanzees shift the use of various types of vegetation in different seasons, and that chimpanzees depend on the fruit of Musanga trees that are widely found in the secondary vegetation, in the season when the fruit productivity is low in the primary vegetation.In Ugala area, Tanzania, which situates in the dry open forest, chimpanzees used a much larger home range than chimpanzees in the wet forest. As we know more … More about their habitat use, chance of direct observation of chimpanzees in this area increased dramatically. Though not sufficient yet, we can expect further results of future studies.In the Wamba area, Democratic Republic of Congo, which situates in the central part of the rain forest, study of bonobos had been long interrupted by civil war since 1996. However, in 2002, we could resume the research with the support of Congolese research cooperators. We could rehabituate the study groups of bonobos, and now we could establish a setup to start detailed ecological surveys.As for the study for conservation of tropical forest, we made a monitoring of the effect of logging activities and process of recovery after the harvest in the Kalinzu Forest. We found that even a selective logging gives a considerable damage on the forest floor, and therefore it takes much longer time for recovery than expected. According to our report, the Forest Department of Uganda made a research for sustainable use of the forest, and decided to realize the sustainable use of this forest by introducing ecotourism. Less