Open AccessEffects of Land cover change on Great Apes distribution at the Lobéké National Park and its surrounding Forest Management Units, South-East Cameroon. A 13 year time series analysis
Author(s) -
Yisa Ginath Yuh,
Zacharie N. Dongmo,
Paul K. N’Goran,
Herbert Ekodeck,
Achile Mengamenya,
Hjalmar Kuehl,
Tenekwetsche Sop,
W. Tracz,
Michael Agunbiade,
Elvis Tangwa
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-018-36225-2
Subject(s) - land cover , geography , national park , distribution (mathematics) , wildlife , transect , physical geography , forest cover , change detection , land use , environmental resource management , ecology , environmental science , remote sensing , archaeology , mathematics , mathematical analysis , biology
Understanding the effects of land cover change on wildlife distribution is very important for resource management and conservation planning. This paper aimed at detecting the effects of land cover change on great apes distribution at the Lobéké National Park and its bounded forest management units (FMUs). Data on great ape nests were collected in the field for the years 2001 and 2014 through distance sampling with line transects. Landsat TM images of South-East Cameroon for the years 2001 and 2014 were acquired from earth explorer and corrected atmospherically for proper visualization. An area of interest comprising the Lobéké National Park and its FMUs was extracted for classification and change detection. A comparison in great apes nest distribution and change per land cover change category was done for both years through point pattern analysis, whereas a time series analysis of the detected land cover change impacts on great apes nest distribution for a period of 13 years was modeled using logistic growth and regression equations in Vensim 7.2. The results could illustrate that, as land cover changes from one cover type in 2001 to another in 2014, increases or decreases in great apes nests were observed within each changed area.