Tropical warming and the dynamics of endangered primates

Ruscena Wiederholt, Penn State University

September 9, 2009 @ 01:20 pm to 02:10 pm

10 Tyson

Many primate species are severely threatened, but little is known about the effects of global warming and the associated intensification of El Ni o events on primate populations._ Here, we tested for the influence of the El Ni o Southern Oscillation and Hemispheric climatic variability on population dynamics of four genera of ateline (neotropical, large-bodied) primates._ All ateline genera experienced either an immediate or lagged negative effect of El Ni o events._ ENSO events were also found to influence primate resource levels by having a strong effect on neotropical phenology. _Furthermore, frugivorous primates showed a high degree of interspecific population synchrony over large scales across Central and South America; attributable to recent trends in large-scale climate. These results highlight the importance of large-scale climatic variation and trends in ateline primate population dynamics, and emphasize that global warming and climate change could pose additional threats to the persistence of endangered primates.