Kibale Forest National Park

Kibale National Park is a national park in South Uganda protecting moist evergreen rain forest. It is 766 km2 in size and is located between 1100 and 1600 meters in elevation. Despite encompassing primarily moist evergreen forest, it contains a diverse array of landscapes.

Kibale is one of the last remaining expanses to contain both lowland and montane forests. In East Africa, it sustains the last significant expanse of pre-montane forest. The park was gazetted in 1932 and formally established in 1993 to protect a large area of forest previously managed as a logged Forest Reserve.

The park forms a continuous forest with Queen Elizabeth National Park. This adjoining of the parks creates a 180 km (111 mi.) wildlife corridor.

It is an important eco-tourism and safari destination, popular for its population of habituated chimpanzees and 12 other species of primates. It is also the location of the Makerere University Biological Field Station (MUBFS).

Kibale National Park is located in the districts of Kabarole and Kamwenge, approximately 320 kilometres (200 mi), by road, west of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest city. Fort Portal in Kabarole District is the nearest large city to the national park. The coordinates of the park are: 00 30N, 30 24E (Latitude: 0.5000; Longitude: 30.4000).

Locals and the Park

Two major tribes, the Batooro and Bakiga, inhabit the area around the park. They use the park for food, fuel, and other resources with the help of the Uganda Wildlife Authority.[4] In the last century, the population around the park has increased by sevenfold. This is speculated to be because the park directly brings in revenue for those living around it and the tourism industry creates jobs. In addition, many farmers believe that the soil is better for growing crops year round. This increase in the population has caused the area around the park to be divided and developed or turned into plantations and farmland. This fragmentation of the area outside the park has begun to affect the biodiversity inside the park.

Biodiversity

Kibale National Forest has one of the highest diversity and concentration of primates in Africa. It is home to a large number of endangered chimpanzees, as well as the red Columbus monkey (status: Threatened) and the rare L’Hoest’s monkey. The park is also home to over 325 species of birds, 4 wild felids, 13 species of primates, a total of at least 60 other species of mammals, and over 250 tree species. The predominant ecosystem in Kibale is moist evergreen and semi-deciduous forest. Much of the forest was logged during its time as a Forest Reserve, and some exotic species of trees were planted in plantations (pines and eucalyptus). Since the national park was gazetted many of these introduced trees have been removed and logging has ended.

Fauna

There are 13 species of primates in Kibale National Park. The park protects several well-studied habituated communities of Common Chimpanzee, as well as several species of Central African monkey including the Uganda Mangabey (Lophocebus ugandae), the Ugandan Red Columbus (Procolobus tephrosceles) and the L’Hoest’s Monkey. Other primates that are found in the park include the black (Columbus satanas) Columbus and the blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis). The park’s population of elephants travels between the park and Queen Elizabeth National Park. Other terrestrial mammals that are found within Kibale National Park include red and blue duikers, bush pigs, warthogs, and buffalo. The carnivores that are present include leopards, bush pigs, three species of duiker and two species of otter. In addition, lions visit the park on occasion.

Habituated Chimpanzee in Kibale National Park

Bird life is also prolific. The park boasts 325 sited species of birds, including the olive long-tailed cuckoo, Western Green tinker bird, two species of pitas (African and Green-breasted) and the African Grey Parrot. The ground thrush (Turdus kibalensis) is endemic to Kibale National Park.

Primates

Primates are very common in Kibale National Forest. The forest has some of the highest abundances of species of primates in the area. There are many species of primates and these species persist in the less disturbed areas of the forest in their natural habitats. There are disturbances that are hindering some of these species.

Disturbance Effects on Primates

Many studies have been conducted to determine the effect of different disturbances on primates. Many of these studies have found that there is a decline in the amount of primates in differently disturbed regions. One study found that there was a reduction in primate number but that primate abundance was still high in the remaining forest of the southern corridor (Chapman and Lambert 2000). Some disturbances studied have been commercial logging, degraded agricultural lands, and fragmented forest. All of these studies showed that there is a wide variety of primates affected by different disturbances, and some are not affected by any. In all of the cases it shows that because of the variable effects on different species that all forms of human disturbance should be as minimal as possible, at least until further studies have been conducted to know the full effects of these disturbances.

Logging Effects on Primates

Logging effects have been studied specifically by a few people. Most studies find that logging seems to be having a negative effect on the species but there are some contradictions.

Chapman and Lambert (2000) found that some species of primates are found less frequently in logged areas but others were unaffected. This study helps reveal the importance of stopping logging in certain regions of Kibale National Forest. The species from the study are shown below. These species densities show the effect of logging on each separate species:

* Heavily Logged areas:

* Found in lower densities: Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), Red tails (Cercopithecus ascanius)

* Found in mixed densities: Red Columbus (Procolobus badius), Black-and-white Columbus (Columbus guereza)

* Unlogged areas:

* Found in mixed densities: Red Columbus (Procolobus badius), Black-and-white Columbus (Columbus guereza)

Another study conducted by Chapman and her colleagues in 2000 showed that many species of primates returned and came back to their original densities in lightly logged forest but in the heavily logged forest primates species were not able to recover. This study helps support that Kibale National Forest needs to develop a light logging system different from their heavily logging system they conduct now.

Degraded Agricultural Lands Effect on Primates

Degraded lands occur when land is cleared for agriculture and then abandoned after a few years. These lands are coming back at different rates and some are showing no possibility of re-growth. The effect these lands have on primates is still slightly unknown but some studies have started weeding out answers. One study found that most species of primates were found evenly distributed throughout the entire forest, whether there was agriculture encroachment or not (Chapman and Lambert 2000).

Fragmentation Effects on Primates

Fragmentation happens when a forest or habitat is broken into patches by outside disturbances. A fragmentation study done by Onderdonk and Chapman in 2000 showed an overall non-generalization on primates within fragments on the edge of Kibale National Forest. The species found in the fragments highlighted by the study are shown below. These species distributions show how fragmentation is affecting each species:

* Found in almost all fragments: Black-and-white Columbus (Columbus guereza), Red-tailed guenons (Cercopithecus ascanius)

* Found in some fragments: Pennant’s red Columbus (Procolobus pennantii), Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes)

* Found in no fragments: Blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), Gray-cheeked mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena)

Diet of Primates in Kibale National Park

Different species have different diets and many of the species are folivorous. One study actually found that black-and-white Columbus monkeys (Columbus guereza) eat younger leaves over older leaves (this is thought to happen because the leaves have more protein and are easier to digest) (Chapman et al. 2004).

Flora

There are approximately 229 species of trees found within the moist tropical forests of the park. Some endangered timber species of trees include Cordia millenii, Entandrophragma angolense, and Lovoa swynnertonnii. The forest understory is dominated by shade-tolerant shrubs and herbs, which include Palisota schweinfurthii and Pollia condensate, in addition to ferns and broad leaf grasses.