Primate Conservation

Ecology

Study of an organism’s interactions with its habitat

Challenges

• Species nutritional state

• Health

• Predation risk

• Parasitism

• Altering trophic, mutualistic, and competitive relationships with other species

Behavioral changes

• Altered ranging

• Habitat use

• Social behavior

Biggest pressure on primate population

Habitat change

Major cause of biodiversity loss

Habitat loss: destruction and conversion of habitat

Climatic domains

Categorized by temperature, precipitation, and seasonality

Climatic domains types

Tropical (A)

Dry/Arid (B)

Temperate/humid Middle Latitude (C)

Continental/microthermal (D)

Polar (E)

Most extensive type of forest

Tropical domain

Tropical areas are more vulnerable because

Poverty-stricken

“Emerging” economies

Growing populations

three top tropical countries in forest area

Brazil, Congo, Indonesia

Reduction in forest equals…

Resulting in total population

Increases in a ____ fashion as populations decreases

Non-linear

50/500 rule

Ne of 50 is required to avoid short term inbreeding depression while 500 is necessary to maintain long term genetic variance for adaptation

Impacts depend on..

Spatial scale and species range

At large scales

Some species may go extinct while others persist

Small habitat reductions

Population declines but not always extinction

Allopatry

Non overlapping ranges

Habitat loss is…

Geographically uneven

Interior Amazon species

Little/no habitat loss

Coastal species

Severe loss (golden lion tamarins)

Species-area relationship

positive, curvilinear relationship between area sampled and species richness

Larger areas equals

More species

1. Sampling effect

Larger areas = more individuals = more species detected

2. Habitat diversity

Larger area contains more habitats

3. Area per se (island biogeography)

Balance of extinction and colonization rates

4. Disturbance buffering

Large zones have protected interior zones

Z-Value

Slope (z) indicates how strongly species richness depends on area

Higher z- value

Greater sensitivity to habitat loss

Extinction debt

Species may persist temporarily after habitat loss but are doomed to extinction

Limits of species-area model

Mechanisms differ (local vs. continental)

May oversimplify complex ecological processes

Predicts patterns but not exact patterns

Immediate effects of fragmentation

Stranded populations

Dispersal problems

Small fragment for large primates equal

Severe impact but may support small species

Larger fragment

Home range ratio = better persistence

Metapopulations

Set of populations connected by dispersal

Metapopulation dynamics

Local extinction is normal

Recolonization maintains overall system

“Rescue effect”

Connectivity dispersal rates

Rescue effect

Immigration strengthens existing populations

Persistence depends on

Connectivity dispersal rates

Not all primates respond equally because

Large, terrestrial primates cross matrix easily while small, arboreal species are highly limited

Matrix

Non-habitat between fragments

Hard matrix

Agriculture, grassland; high risk, no food

Soft matrix

Secondary forest

SLOSS

Single large (reserve) or several small (reserve)

Complimentary

Conservation focuses on maximizing functional diversity

Redundancy

maintaining sufficient species overlap (redundancy) to handle disturbances

The higher the nestedness

the stronger the motivation to maximize reserve area rather than the number of reserves

Habitat loss does not equal

Just area reduction

Two main drivers of habitat degradation

Edge effects

Anthropogenic extraction/disturbance

Edge effects

Changes at boundary between habitat and non-habitat

Types of edge effects

Abiotic effects (microclimate)

Direct biological effects (vegetation changes)

Indirect biological effects (species interaction)

Conservation priority

Minimize edge creation

Protect interior (core) habitat

Expected impact on primates

Microclimate changes (thermoregulation costs)

Altered structure (locomotion challenges)

Increased visibility (vegetation)

Disease risk (zoonotic exposure)

Reduced food availability (less carrying capacity)

Increased hunting pressure

Folivorous species are often

More resilient

Larger home ranges are

Less resilient and lower tolerance

Temporal lags

Habitat changes can cause delayed declines leading to extinction debt

Older lineages equals

More specialized and less tolerant

Recent species equals

More generalist and more tolerant

Impacts occur as a series of

Stages

3 main reasons to focus on genetics

Reveals hidden biological processes

Works when observation is difficult

Essential for long term species survival

Conservation genetics

Study of genetic diversity in populations

Links genetic to conservation management

Conservation genetics Goal

Maintain evolutionary potential

Genetic diversity

Enables adaption to environmental change

Reduces extinction risk

Maintains population health

Do Primates Exhibit High Genetic Diversity?

Relatively high compared to humans

Primate genomes show deep evidence of

Adaptation

• sensory systems

• Diet specializations

• Musculoskeletal systems

Short term genetic risk

Demographic/environmental factors

Long term genetic risk

Genetic factors (loss of diversity)

Other genetic risks

Inbreeding depression

Genetic drift

Accumulation of deleterious alleles

Problems of small/isolated communities

Stronger effects of drift

Increased isolation

Higher extinction risk

Population genetics

Studies genetic variation within/between populations

Reconstructs past demographic events

Identifies evolutionary processes

What Types of Genetic Data are Important?

DNA variation

Allele frequency

Geographic genetic patterns

Molecular markers

What genomic adds

Detects adaptive variation

Identifies genes under selection

Improves conservation decisions

How to collect DNA?

Non-invasive sampling

Hair

Urine

Feces, saliva

Hair sample advantages

Less contamination

Easier for international travel

Hair sample disadvantages

Low DNA quantity

Variable success

Lower RNA quantity

Fecal sample advantages

More DNA available

Multiple extractions possible

Urine and saliva disadvantages

Contamination

Biohazard

Harder to transport

Fecal sample disadvantages

Contamination

Chemical inhibitors

Biohazard

Urine and saliva advantages

More DNA available

Multiple extractions possible

Endocrinology

Challenges of collection processes

Dense vegetation

Rapid decomposition

High collection effort

No universal best method for storage

Species & environmental matter

Costs can be high

Challenges of Non-Invasive Sampling

Low-quality DNA

Contamination from other organisms

High sequencing costs

Genotyping by sequencing (GBS)

Focuses on subset of genome (typically around restriction sites) which significantly lowers cost per sample

Conservation Applications of Genetic Data

Measure genetic diversity

Estimate population size

Detect migration & dispersal

Identify kinship

Risks of using genomics

Complex models can be mislead

Incorrect assumptions make wrong conclusions

Requires careful interpretation

Lack of reference genomes

Data analysis complexity

Need for bioinformatics training

Genetics alone is not enough…. Must combine with

Ecology

Behavior

Demography

Policy

Genetics is underused in conservation because

Lack of training

Poor communication with policy makers

Audiences’ poor understanding of genomics

Small DNA regions used to track variation

Micro satellites

mtDNA

SNPs