The what and where of primate field research may be failing primate conservation.

Michelle Bezanson,Allison Mcnamara

doi:10.1002/evan.21790

Abstract

With approximately 30% of nonhuman primate species listed as critically endangered, the window of opportunity to conserve primates is closing fast. In this article, we focus on the degree to which publications in field primatology are biased in favor of particular taxa and field sites. We examined more than 29,000 peer‐reviewed articles and identified 876 field visits to 349 field sites. We found a highly clumped distribution by site and species. We also examined publication ethical statements and the extent to which they acknowledged local human communities (<5%). Due to a lack of consistency across publications, we provide recommendations for improving ethical statements and for evaluating research impact. Given the plight of primate biodiversity, these results suggest broader coverage of primate species and geographies, as well as more attention to the local human communities whose support is necessary if the intent is to have primate species in the wild in the 22nd century.

Highlights

Much on-the-ground conservation is aimed at protecting particular species—often charismatic species such as orangutans, rhinos, tigers, bald eagles, and so forth
Primates are at risk throughout the world, with 60% of all primate species classified as threatened with extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).[1]
To understand primatological field research patterns, we examined 5 years of published primate field research, and asked: what issues does a quantitative description of that record of primate field research raise, with respect to primate conservation? While our focus is primates, this thread of inquiry could be useful for any taxonomically defined research

Summary

Introduction

Much on-the-ground conservation is aimed at protecting particular species—often charismatic species such as orangutans, rhinos, tigers, bald eagles, and so forth. Primatologists, especially anthropological primatologists who conduct field research, are the source of most of our key insights into primate evolution, behavior, ecology, and biology that can be used to advance primate conservation.[2,3,4,5]. We focus on field research on primates to better understand how the portfolio of published research might bias, inform, and even directly impact primate conservation and anthropological frameworks. The pattern of published primate field research defines theoretical frameworks, and constrains future conservation outcomes. The interactions of primatologists with local communities could constrain conservation success—if researchers are viewed as exploitive, and if they do not acknowledge the help of local communities, all the knowledge in the world about primates could be for naught

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