Abstract

West African forests are being increasingly altered by ecological changes and human activities. Nonhuman primates, which are a key component of these landscapes, are affected by these threats to different degrees depending on their ability to adapt to changing environments. This project uses a multidisciplinary approach, integrating social science and genomics to examine the adaptive responses of four sympatric species of primates – chimpanzees, baboons, red colobus, and king colobus – to environmental change in West Africa and, more specifically, in Sierra Leone. These data will be used to model future responses of socio-ecologically distinct primates to various scenarios of environmental change and ultimately improve their long-term conservation.

Team