Abstract
It is difficult to make valid comparisons of chimpanzee densities among sites because observers calculate them using different methods. We argue that nest count estimates of density are preferable to densities from home range estimates because of the problems of defining home range. There are many problems associated with nest count methods, some of which have not been addressed in previous studies. In 1992, we censused chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest using three methods;the standing crop nest count (SCNC), the marked nest count (MNC), and visual sightings of the animals (VS). Each method is based on standard line transect techniques. Of 96 nests monitored for decay rate,those constructed in the dry seasons decayed faster than those in the wet seasons. All- day follows of individual chimpanzees and observations of nesting chimpanzees at dusk showed that about 15.8% of night nests were reused,17.5% of the population did not build nests, and 18.8% of nests were first constructed as day nests. Given the variability in nest decay rates, we argue that MNC is a better method than SCNC because it avoids having to calculate decay rates.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amman, K. (1994). The bush-meat babies.BBC Wildlife 12(10): 16–24.
Barnes, R. F. W., and Barnes, K. L. (1992). Estimating decay rates of elephant dung piles in forestAfr. J. Ecol. 30: 316–321.
Barnes, R. F. W., and Jensen, K. L. (1987). How to count elephants in forests.Afr. Elephant Rhino Special. Group Tech. Bull 1: 1–6.
Buckland, S. T., Anderson, D. R., Burnham, K. P., and Laake, J. L. (1993).Distance Sampling: Estimating Abundance of Biological Populations, Chapman & Hall, London.
Burnham, K. P., Anderson, D. R., and Laake, J. L. (1980). Estimation of density from line-transect sampling of biological populations.Wildlife Monogr. 72.
Chapman, C. A., and Wrangham, R. W. (1993). Range use of the forest chimpanzees of Kibale: implications for the understanding of chimpanzee social organisation.Am. J. Primatol. 31: 263–273.
Eggeling, W. (1947). Observations on the ecology of the Budongo rainforest, Uganda.J. Ecol. 34: 20–87.
Ghiglieri, M. P. (1984).The Chimpanzees of Kibale Forest: A Field Study of Ecology and Social Structure, Columbia University Press, New York.
Goodall, J. (1986).The Chimpanzees of Gombe, Belknap Press, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
McClanahan, T. R. (1986). Quick population survey method using faecal droppings and a steady state assumption.Afr. J. Ecol. 24: 37–39.
Nishida, T.(1990).The Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains: Sexual and Life History Strategies, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo.
Plumptre, A. J., and Harris, S. (1995). Estimating the biomass of large mammalian herbivores in a tropical montane forest: A method of faecal counting that avoids assuming a “steady state” assumption.J. Appl. Ecol. 32: 111–120.
Reynolds, V., and Reynolds, F. (1965). Chimpanzees of Budongo Forest. In Devore, I. (ed.),Primate Behaviour, Holt, Rinehart-Winston, New York.
Skorupa, J. P. (1988).The Effects of Selective Timber Harvesting on Rainforest Primates in Kibale Forest, Uganda. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of California.
Sugiyama, Y. (1968). Social organisation of chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest, Uganda.Primates 9: 225–258.
Sugiyama, Y. (1969). Social behaviour of chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest, Uganda.Primates 10: 197–225.
Sugiyama, Y., and Koman, J. (1979). Social structure and dynamics of wild chimpanzees at Bossou, Guinea.Primates 20: 323–329.
Suzuki, A. (1979). The variation and adaptation of social groups of chimpanzees and black and white colobus monkeys. In Bernstein, I. S., and Smith, E. O. (ed.),Primate Ecology and Human Origins, Garland STPM Press, New York.
Synnott, T. J. (1985). A checklist of the flora of Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda, with notes on ecology and phenology.CFI Occasional Paper No 27, OFT, Oxford.
Tutin, C. E. G., and Fernandez, M. (1984). Nationwide census of gorilla(Gorilla g. gorilla) and chimpanzee(Pan t.troglodytes) populations in Gabon.Am. J. Primatol. 6: 313–336.
White, L. J. T. (1994). Biomass of rain forest mammals in the Lope reserve, Gabon.J. Anim. Ecol. 63: 499–512.
Whitesides, G. H., Oates, J. F., Green, S. M., and Kluberdanz, R. P. (1988). Estimating primate densities from transects in a west african rainforest: A comparison of techniques.J. Anim Ecol. 57: 345–367.
Wrangham, R. W. (1977). Feeding behaviour of chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania. In Clutton-Brock, T. H. (ed.),Primate Ecology: Studies of Feeding and Ranging Behaviour in Lemurs, Monkeys and Apes, Academic Press, London.
Wrogemann, D. (1992).Wild Chimpanzees in Lope, Gabon: Census Method and Habitat Use, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Bremen University, Germany.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Plumptre, A.J., Reynolds, V. Censusing chimpanzees in the Budongo Forest, Uganda. International Journal of Primatology 17, 85–99 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02696160
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02696160