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 sciences and genomics to examine the adaptive responses of three sympatric taxa of primates – chimpanzees, baboons and red colobus – to environmental change 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.