High Mammal Diversity and Flagship Species Persist Under Community Conservation in a Forest‐Savannah Transition Zone in Central Cameroon
DOKPE
- Massoh, Gertruide D. ORCID University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
- Fotsing, Ernest D. B. ORCID University of Fribourg
- Kekeunou, Sévilor University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
- Simo, Franklin T. ORCID University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
- Difouo, Ghislain F. ORCID University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
- Kirsten, Iris ORCID African Parks Network, Greater Zakouma Ecosystem Ndjamena Chad
- Wandji, Alain C. University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
- Breuer, Thomas World Wide Fund for Nature Germany Berlin
- Bastin, Didier Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Yaoundé Cameroon
- Kamgang, Serge A. ORCID Biodiversité Environnement et Développement Durable (BEDD) Garoua Cameroon
- Mvéimané, André Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Yaoundé Cameroon
- Tamesse, Joseph L. University of Yaoundé 1, Cameroon
- Bauer, Hans ORCID University of Oxford Tubney UK
- 2025
Published in:
- African Journal of Ecology. - Wiley. - 2025, vol. 63, no. 8
Camera trapping
Council forest
Covariates
Generalised linear models
Mammal community
Relative abundance index
Species richness
English
Community conservation areas often classified as council forests play an important role in the persistence or maintenance of diversemammal communities. However, these areas often receive limited conservation attention and resources. The Yoko Council Forest(YCF) is among the key biodiversity hotspot areas found in Cameroon. Located in the forest-savannah transition zone, YCF is man-aged under a community conservation regime which is ranked low within the national Protected Area hierarchy. Although severalconservation activities, including community conservation, are ongoing, the diversity of wildlife needs to be updated in order tosupport conservation management. To this end, we conducted systematic camera trapping in YCF to assess the status and diversityof mammals. We also used binomial generalised linear models to evaluate factors affecting species richness. From 6499 independentphotographic events obtained over 17,981 camera trap days, the study documented 38 terrestrial mammal species, including flagshipspecies identified on the IUCN Red List; the endangered Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti), two endangeredpangolin species (giant-ground pangolin (Smutsia gigantea) and white-bellied pangolin (Phataginus tricuspis)), and two vulnera-ble carnivore species (African golden cat (Caracal aurata) and crested genet (Genetta cristata)). The most common species wereblue duiker (Philantomba monticola), African brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus africanus) and bay duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis).The species rarefaction curve indicates that our efforts were sufficient to record the majority of species present in the YCF. Speciesrichness increased during the long rainy and dry seasons, but decreased during the short dry season. The response of mammalianspecies to ecological and anthropogenic covariates varied. For example, canopy height was positively associated with species rich-ness, whereas distance to villages did not. Understanding how mammals respond to these factors provides insight into developing conservation strategies that support both wildlife persistence and community needs. Regarding the diversity of wildlife found in YCF,this area contributes at a larger scale to the global 30 × 30 initiative through sustainable management and community engagement
- Faculty
- Faculté des sciences et de médecine
- Department
- Département de Biologie
- Language
-
- English
- Classification
- Biological sciences
- Other electronic version
- License
-
CC BY
- Open access status
- hybrid
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1111/aje.70126
- ISSN 0141-6707
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/334704
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