Colin Chapman (primatologist)

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Colin A. Chapman is a professor at the Vancouver Island University in British Columbia, Canada. In addition, he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, an Honorary Lecturer at Makerere University in Uganda, a Member of the Committee of Research and Exploration at National Geographic, [1] and an Associate Scientists of the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. Prior to taking on his position at McGill University, he was at the University of Florida in the Department of Zoology from 1993 to 2004. He is internationally recognized for his 30+ years of research into primate ecology, population regulation, nutrition, and disease dynamics and for his contribution to conservation globally.

Contents

He is Director of the Kibale Monkey Project; a long-term project in Kibale National Park, Uganda that he started in 1989, building on the data of Thomas Struhsaker from Duke University who worked in Kibale from 1970 to 1987. [2] The project focuses on primate ecology and conservation, but also has a very strong component examining forest dynamics, including those driven by climate change, elephant numbers, and forest succession. The team of researchers he has worked with have also placed a heavy emphasis on conservation strategies, including forest regeneration, animal population recovery, fragmentation, people-parks relationships, zoonotic disease spread, and the link between providing health care and conservation.

Early life and education

Chapman was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and he did all of his degrees (B.Sc., MA. Ph.D.) at the University of Alberta and obtained a joint Ph.D. under the supervision of Drs. Linda Fedigan, John Addicott, and Jan Murie. He went on to do a Post-doc with Louis Lefebvre in Biology at McGill University and then Richard Wrangham in Anthropology at Harvard University. Prior to coming to Harvard he conducted primate research in the Caribbean (St. Kitts) and Costa Rica, but when at Harvard he started research in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

His interest in conservation started in Costa Rica as this was the time of the growth and the countries park system and he conducted surveys in the area that was to become Guanacaste National Park, with the aim of helping Daniel Janzen evaluate wildlife recovery. But conservation became the tenet of his research in Uganda, where he helped establish Makerere University Biological Field Station, [3] develop the chimpanzee ecotourism, encouraged the local community to establish small scale but sustainable ecotourism efforts, aided in fisheries management plans, worked on evaluating forest regeneration for the Uganda Wildlife Authority. [4] [5] He contributed to making Kibale field stations sustainable through forming a consortium of University users and establishing a core of courses to come to the station (Canadian Field Studies in Africa, Tropical Biology Association, Makerere University, Waterloo), [6] and established a clinic and then a mobile clinic. The clinics act as an instrument between the park and the local communities as the clinics provide subsidized health care in return for improved park-people relationship. [7] Throughout this time he put a great deal of effort into the training of Ugandan students and park personnel.

Honours and awards

YearAward
2017Velan Award for Humanitarian Service
2012 - 2014 Killam Research Fellow
2012–present Canadian Research Chair – Primate Ecology and Conservation (Tier 1)
2012Globe and Mail newspaper - the most cited Anthropologist in Canada
2010–present Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
2005 - 2011 Canadian Research Chair – Primate Ecology and Conservation (Tier 1)
2003Anderson Teacher Scholar – University of Florida

Research

Early in his career he was interested in ecological factors influencing group size, social organization, and population regulation, and it was this later interest that led him to conservation – that and the plight of primates that he witnessed through the course of his research. Early in his Ph.D. he became interested in that determined the size of spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) groups and this eventually lead him to formalize what he coined the Ecological Constraints Model. [8] A challenge from Daniel Janzen to show that primates had any ecologically significant role lead him to study seed dispersal and then the role of primates in forest regeneration of tropical tree dynamics. Forest regeneration remained a subject that he revisited throughout his research career to demonstrate the longitudinal dynamics of regeneration as observed in different parts of the forest that experienced different degrees of disturbance in the past. [9] [10]

While in Kibale he became fascinated with red colobus and the determinants of both their group size, that can lead to groups of over 150 individuals, and variation in abundance. This led him to study nutritional ecology, disease ecology, and to document long-term change. It was his friendship with Tom Struhsaker from Duke University and the extensive data that encompassed research from 1970 to 1987 that really lead Dr. Chapman to quantify long-term patterns. This data became invaluable when globally researchers became aware of climate change and the fact that old growth forests were much more dynamic than previously believed.[ citation needed ]

Ecological Constraints Model

Chapman has worked on issues dealing with understanding animal group size and composition since his Ph.D. and formalized the Ecological Constraints Model. The ideas are relatively simple. Various researchers have suggested that grouping confers such predictable benefits that differences in group size can be explained by the disadvantages. [11] The most widely accepted potential cost of grouping is thought to be a reduction in foraging efficiency. Being with other individuals with the same dietary requirements means that animals either fight over food, or one animal in a group beats another to the food, thus when the second animal comes to an area there is simply no food left. In both of these situations it is thought that competition over food leads to animals having to travel farther as the size of the group increases. The logic behind this argument is relatively simple. Animals must forage over an area that can meet their energetic and nutritional requirements. It follows that an increase in group size will increase the area that must be covered to find adequate food supplies. Thus individuals must travel further and expend more energy if they are in a large group, than if they forage in a smaller group. With an increase in the time spent traveling, a point is approached where the energy spent in travel is too costly and smaller groups become advantageous. In this way ecological factors can influence movement patterns and foraging efficiency, thereby constraining the size of groups that can efficiently exploit available food resources. These ideas have been formalized in what has become known as the Ecological Constraints Model [8] [12] and have been shown to predict group size in a variety of primates and other species. [13]

The Ecological Constraint Model has been found to be supported in different primate species with a variety of diet, such as, chimpanzees (Pantroglodytes), [14] spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi), [14] red colobus (Procolobus pennantii), [15] red-tailed guenon (Cercopithecus ascanius), [15] and ursine colobus monkeys (Colobus vellerosus).

Tropical forests are some of the most beautiful and biodiverse ecosystem on the face of the planet, yet they are gravely threatened. Recent global assessments report that 2.3 million km2 of forest was lost between 2000 and 2012 and in the tropics forest loss increased by 2101 km2 per year. [16] Ultimately, changes in forest cover are driven by increased human population size and natural resource consumption rates. In African countries with tropical forest, human population density increased from 8 people per km2 in 1950 to 35 people per km2 in 2010. [17] This increasingly dire situation not only threatens biodiversity, but it is clear that extreme poverty and this rapid loss of biodiversity are intimately linked, with extreme poverty and biodiversity hotspots being geographically coincident. The people living next to tropical protected areas are some of the poorest people in the world and suffer from often acute health problems. For example, in Uganda the country that Chapman has worked in for the last 27+ years, 30% of all deaths among children between the ages of 2 and 4 are caused by malaria, a disease that could be easily treated or prevented; and 26% of children under the age of five are malnourished. [7] This situation means that for effective conservation to occur the local community must be involved, which often means they receive benefits. Chapman has implemented systems that link health provision and conservation. Receiving money or employment from the park is definitely beneficial and appreciated, but saving the life of a young child suffering from malaria is enormous and its benefit unmeasurable to the parent. Chapman, first established a clinic to meet the health needs of the local people and subsequently since Kibale is large and many people could not travel to the clinic, he brought an ambulance from Canada to Kibale to act as a mobile clinic. The Mobile Health Clinic travels around the park, bringing basic health care, family planning, deworming, HIV/AIDS treatment and counselling, vaccinations, and health and conservation education to remote villagers. The staff also provide public talks on disease prevention. Chapman has taken this sort of approach of working with the local community to help them obtain the needs they identify, while still administering strict wildlife protection in all of his conservation efforts.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Primate</span> Order of mammals

Primates is an order of mammals, which is further divided into the strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and lorisids; and the haplorhines, which include tarsiers and simians. Primates arose 85–55 million years ago first from small terrestrial mammals, which adapted for life in tropical forests: many primate characteristics represent adaptations to the challenging environment among tree tops, including large brain sizes, binocular vision, color vision, vocalizations, shoulder girdles allowing a large degree of movement in the upper limbs, and opposable thumbs that enable better grasping and dexterity. Primates range in size from Madame Berthe's mouse lemur, which weighs 30 g (1 oz), to the eastern gorilla, weighing over 200 kg (440 lb). There are 376–524 species of living primates, depending on which classification is used. New primate species continue to be discovered: over 25 species were described in the 2000s, 36 in the 2010s, and six in the 2020s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-and-white colobus</span> Genus of Old World monkeys

Black-and-white colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus Colobus, native to Africa. They are closely related to the red colobus monkeys of genus Piliocolobus. There are five species of this monkey, and at least eight subspecies. They are generally found in high-density forests where they forage on leaves, flowers and fruit. Social groups of colobus are diverse, varying from group to group. Resident-egalitarian and allomothering relationships have been observed among the female population. Complex behaviours have also been observed in this species, including greeting rituals and varying group sleeping patterns. Colobi play a significant role in seed dispersal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zanzibar red colobus</span> Species of Old World monkey

The Zanzibar red colobus is a species of red colobus monkey endemic to Unguja, the main island of the Zanzibar Archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania. It is also known as Kirk's red colobus after Sir John Kirk, the British Resident of Zanzibar who first brought it to the attention of zoological science. It is now classified as an endangered species and in the mid-1990s was adopted as the flagship species for conservation in Zanzibar. The population is still decreasing, and conservationists are attempting to work with the local government to devise a proper, effective strategy to protect the population and habitat. Challenges include the species' habitat, which is limited to the archipelago. The species has been reclassified three times; it was previously in the genus Colobus, then in the genus Procolobus, and later in the genus Piliocolobus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pig-tailed langur</span> Species of Old World monkey

The pig-tailed langur, monotypic in genus Simias, is a large Old World monkey, endemic to several small islands off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Its face is black, its fur is black-brown and it has a relatively short tail. It is a diurnal species, feeding in the rainforest canopy on leaves, and to a lesser extent, fruit and berries. Little is known of its natural history, but it is heavily hunted, its populations have been declining rapidly and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being "critically endangered". It has been included on a list of the World's 25 Most Endangered Primates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kibale National Park</span> National park in Uganda

Kibale National Park is a national park in western Uganda, protecting moist evergreen rainforest. It is 766 square kilometres (296 sq mi) in size and ranges between 1,100 metres (3,600 ft) and 1,600 metres (5,200 ft) 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 eastern Africa, it sustains the last significant expanse of pre-montane forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mantled guereza</span> Species of mammal

The mantled guereza, also known simply as the guereza, the eastern black-and-white colobus, or the Abyssinian black-and-white colobus, is a black-and-white colobus, a type of Old World monkey. It is native to much of west central and east Africa, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Chad. The species consists of several subspecies that differ in appearance. It has a distinctive appearance, which is alluded to in its name; the long white fringes of hair that run along each side of its black trunk are known as a mantle. Its face is framed with white hair and it has a large white tail tuft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Wrangham</span> British anthropologist and primatologist

Richard Walter Wrangham is an English anthropologist and primatologist; he is Professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. His research and writing have involved ape behavior, human evolution, violence, and cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red colobus</span> Genus of Old World monkeys

Red colobuses are Old World monkeys of the genus Piliocolobus. It was formerly considered a subgenus within the genus Procolobus, which is now restricted to the olive colobus. They are closely related to the black-and-white colobus monkeys, and some species are often found in groups with the blue monkey. The western red colobus is frequently hunted by the common chimpanzee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miss Waldron's red colobus</span> Species of Old World monkey

Miss Waldron's red colobus is a species of the red colobus native to West Africa. It had previously been described as a subspecies of the western red colobus, P. badius. It has not been officially sighted since 1978 and was considered extinct in 2000. However, new evidence suggests that a very small number of these monkeys may be living in the southeast corner of Côte d'Ivoire. The IUCN Red List notes Miss Waldron's red colobus as critically endangered.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albertine Rift montane forests</span> Ecoregion in east-central Africa

The Albertine Rift montane forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in east-central Africa. The ecoregion covers the mountains of the northern Albertine Rift, and is home to distinct Afromontane forests with high biodiversity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black colobus</span> Species of Old World monkey

The black colobus, or satanic black colobus, is a species of Old World monkey belonging to the genus Colobus. The species is found in a small area of western central Africa. Black colobuses are large, completely covered with black fur, and like all other Colobus monkeys, do not have a thumb. The species has faced large declines in population due to habitat destruction and hunting by humans, and was consequently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Uganda</span>

The wildlife of Uganda is composed of its flora and fauna. Uganda has a wide variety of different habitats, including mountains, hills, tropical rainforest, woodland, freshwater lakes, swamps and savanna with scattered clumps of trees. The country has a biodiverse flora and fauna reflecting this range of habitats and is known for its primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees. There are ten national parks and thirteen wildlife reserves; some 345 species of mammal and 1020 species of bird have been recorded in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tana River mangabey</span> Species of Old World monkey

The Tana River mangabey is a highly endangered species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. Some authorities have included the taxa agilis and sanjei as subspecies of this species, while others award these full species status.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moustached guenon</span> Species of Old World monkey

The moustached guenon or moustached monkey is a species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is found in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pennant's colobus</span> Species of Old World monkey

Pennant's colobus or Pennant's red colobus is a species of tree-dwelling primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is endemic to tropical Central Africa. Three subspecies have traditionally been recognised but its distribution is peculiarly disjunct and has been considered a biogeographical puzzle, with one population on the island of Bioko, a second in the Niger River Delta in southern Nigeria, and a third in east-central Republic of Congo. It is found in rainforests and marshy forests. It is threatened by habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tana River red colobus</span> Species of Old World monkey

The Tana River red colobus, also called the eastern red colobus, is a highly endangered species of primate in the family Cercopithecidae. It is endemic to a narrow zone of gallery forest near the Tana River in southeastern Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ugandan red colobus</span> Species of Old World monkey

The Ugandan red colobus or ashy red colobus is an endangered species of red colobus monkey, recognised as a distinct species since 2001. There is disagreement however over taxonomy with many considering the Ugandan red colobus to be a subspecies. The Ugandan red colobus is an Old World monkey which is found in five different locations across Uganda and Tanzania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central chimpanzee</span> Subspecies of ape

The central chimpanzee or the tschego is a subspecies of chimpanzee. It can be found in Central Africa, mostly in Gabon, Cameroon, Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lynne A. Isbell is an American ethologist and primatologist, professor of anthropology at the University of California, Davis.

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References

  1. ↑ "Grants Program". National Geographic Society .
  2. ↑ Box, Hilary; Butynski, Thomas M.; Chapman, Colin A.; Lwanga, Jeremiah S.; Oates, John F.; Olupot, William; Rudran, Rudy; Waser, Peter M. (2008-01-29). "Thomas T. Struhsaker: Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Primatological Society 2006". International Journal of Primatology. 29 (1): 13–18. doi:10.1007/s10764-007-9155-3. ISSN   0164-0291. S2CID   31433764.
  3. ↑ "Makerere University Biological Field Station - Kibale - Home". caes.mak.ac.ug. Archived from the original on 2016-11-13. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
  4. ↑ Johns A.D., Chapman L.J., Chapman C.A. 1991 A field station profile: Makerere University Biological Field Station. Tropinet (Fall).
  5. ↑ Chapman, Colin A.; Struhsaker, Thomas T.; Lambert, Joanna E. (2005). "Thirty Years of Research in Kibale National Park, Uganda, Reveals a Complex Picture for Conservation". International Journal of Primatology. 26 (3): 539–555. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.671.8258 . doi:10.1007/s10764-005-4365-z. ISSN   0164-0291. S2CID   5577722.
  6. ↑ Kasenene J., Ross E. 2008 Community benefits from long-term research programs: a case study from Kibale National Park, Uganda. (pp. 99-114, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
  7. 1 2 Chapman, Colin A.; Bavel, Bianca van; Boodman, Carl; Ghai, Ria R.; Gogarten, Jan F.; Hartter, Joel; Mechak, Lauren E.; Omeja, Patrick A.; Poonawala, Sofia (2015-10-01). "Providing health care to improve community perceptions of protected areas". Oryx. 49 (4): 636–642. doi:10.1017/S0030605313001592. ISSN   0030-6053. PMC   4594866 . PMID   26456977.
  8. 1 2 Chapman C.A., Chapman L.J. 2000 Determinants of group size in primates: the importance of travel costs. In On the move: how and why animals travel in groups (eds. Boinski S., Garber P.A.), pp. 24-41. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
  9. ↑ Omeja, Patrick A.; Jacob, Aerin L.; Lawes, Michael J.; Lwanga, Jeremiah S.; Rothman, Jessica M.; Tumwesigye, Charles; Chapman, Colin A. (2014-11-01). "Changes in Elephant Abundance Affect Forest Composition or Regeneration?". Biotropica. 46 (6): 704–711. doi:10.1111/btp.12154. ISSN   1744-7429. S2CID   38677653.
  10. ↑ Chapman, Colin A.; Chapman, Lauren J. (1997-12-01). "Forest Regeneration in Logged and Unlogged Forests of Kibale National Park, Uganda". Biotropica. 29 (4): 396–412. doi:10.1111/j.1744-7429.1997.tb00035.x. ISSN   1744-7429. S2CID   84685726.
  11. ↑ Alexander, R D (1974-11-01). "The Evolution of Social Behavior". Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 5 (1): 325–383. doi:10.1146/annurev.es.05.110174.001545. ISSN   0066-4162.
  12. ↑ Ganas, Jessica; Robbins, Martha M. (2005-03-09). "Ranging behavior of the mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda: a test of the ecological constraints model". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 58 (3): 277–288. doi:10.1007/s00265-005-0920-z. ISSN   0340-5443. S2CID   29533701.
  13. ↑ Wrangham, R. W.; Gittleman, J. L.; Chapman, C. A. (1993). "Constraints on group size in primates and carnivores: population density and day-range as assays of exploitation competition". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 32 (3): 199–209. doi:10.1007/BF00173778. ISSN   0340-5443. S2CID   24665859.
  14. 1 2 Chapman, C. A.; Chapman, L. J.; Wrangham, R. W. (1995). "Ecological constraints on group size: an analysis of spider monkey and chimpanzee subgroups". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 36 (1): 59–70. doi:10.1007/BF00175729. ISSN   0340-5443. S2CID   22958072.
  15. 1 2 Chapman, Colin A.; Chapman, Lauren J. (2000). "Constraints on Group Size in Red Colobus and Red-tailed Guenons: Examining the Generality of the Ecological Constraints Model". International Journal of Primatology. 21 (4): 565–585. doi:10.1023/A:1005557002854. ISSN   0164-0291. S2CID   1472332.
  16. ↑ Hansen, M. C.; Potapov, P. V.; Moore, R.; Hancher, M.; Turubanova, S. A.; Tyukavina, A.; Thau, D.; Stehman, S. V.; Goetz, S. J. (2013-11-15). "High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st-Century Forest Cover Change". Science. 342 (6160): 850–853. Bibcode:2013Sci...342..850H. doi:10.1126/science.1244693. ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   24233722. S2CID   23541992.
  17. ↑ Estrada, Alejandro (2013-01-01). "Socioeconomic Contexts of Primate Conservation: Population, Poverty, Global Economic Demands, and Sustainable Land Use". American Journal of Primatology. 75 (1): 30–45. doi:10.1002/ajp.22080. ISSN   1098-2345. PMID   23047543. S2CID   33524396.
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