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Lope Research Center
HIGHLIGHTS
Habitat Types
Lowland rain forest with savanna and gallery forest in the north.
Ogooué River.
Detailed species studies
Forest elephant*
Western lowland gorilla*
Chimpanzee*
Mandrill*
Forest buffalo
Grey-cheeked mangabey
Leopard
Black colobus
WCS Involvement
Since 1989
Collaborators
Gabon National Parks Office, Gabon Ministry of Water and Forests, International Center for Medical Research (CIRMF), Missouri Botanic Garden, University of Stirling,
Contacts
Kate Abernethy
Director, SEGC Lopé
kabernethy@wcsgabon.org
WCS Gabon – BP 7847
Libreville - Gabon
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The SEGC research-station (Station d’Etudes des Gorilles et des Chimpanzés) is located in the north of Lopé National Park in Gabon. The Station was founded by the Gabonese International Center for Medical Research (CIRMF) in 1983 and run by CIRMF under the auspices of Dr Caroline Tutin and Michel Fernandez until 2000. WCS has supported research projects at the station since 1989 and is now co-funding core operations in partnership with CIRMF.
The SEGC has one of the longest continuous histories of scientific research in the region. It has been carrying out pioneering ecological study and monitoring programs for over 20 years.
The main focus of SEGC research during the 1980’s was Great Ape ecology. During the 1990’s the station extended its general forest ecology study, though still specializing in mammals. Today its multidisciplinary program includes archaeology, social studies, behavioral ecology, phylogeographic studies, taxonomic botany, plant inventory, genetics, biometry and conservation.
Key results from SEGC research are:
• First national census of gorillas and chimpanzees in
• The first detailed documentation of western gorilla ecology
• Demonstration that temperature controls flowering in some rainforest trees
• First studies of the impact of selective logging on mammals
• Detailed studies of mandrill, forest leopard, buffalo and elephant ecology
• 20 years of climate & phenology monitoring in 67 tree species
The Human Aspect
SEGC has hosted more than 100 scientists and produced over 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications, nine doctoral thesis studies, four Masters dissertation studies and over 30 degree-level studies to our global knowledge of Central African ecology.
Threats
The only threat to continuing world-class research is the lack of resources dedicated to it. Without true understanding of the functioning of an ecosystem, we cannot hope to design effective conservation for it.
WCS Activities
• A biological monitoring program informing park staff of mammal densities and human incursions into the park.
• A detailed study of leopard densities across different habitats and hunting pressures (see leopard fact sheet).
• Ongoing monitoring of vegetation dynamics and the effects of climate change.
• Doctoral thesis projects on mandrill ranging and responses to food availability, forest buffalo activity and habitat use, forest elephant ranging and use of savanna habitat, village hunting and use of bushmeat resources.
• Ongoing multi-institutional collaborations to study phylogeographic patterns in multiple taxa: elephants, gorillas, mandrills, drosophila, duikers, okoumé and caesalpiniaceae trees.
• Ongoing research in to vegetation dynamics and climate change.
Important next steps
• Continue to undertake and publish new and needed world-class research in areas where our knowledge of basic natural history of fauna and flora is lacking
• Promote multidisciplinary analyses to understand evolutionary process and increase our power to predict change
• Increase use of research to guide and inform management decisions in Lope National Park by providing access to data in an easy, user-friendly format.
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