Conserving forest connectivity for the Central American spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) in southwestern Nicaragua

The native forests and forest-dependent wildlife of Central America are currently threatened by accelerated land cover change. The endangered Central American spider monkey species, Ateles geoffroyi, provides a valuable example of a species that is impacted by forest loss but relies on forests within human-dominated landscapes across the continent. In Nicaragua, spider monkeys have been extirpated within all protected areas in the Mesoamerican Tropical Dry Forest ecoregion on the Pacific slope. However, the species persists in fragmented forests within private lands on the Rivas Isthmus. For this project I collaborated with a conservation nonprofit organization in Rivas to assess the viability of the spider monkey population and determine how forest restoration could be used to ensure the future of the species in Nicaragua.;I used population genetic and landscape genetic approaches to assess diversity within the spider monkey population, gene flow among social groups, and to determine the role of open-canopy, regenerating forests in maintaining connectivity. I used noninvasive genetic material and analyzed two neutral genetic markers; the HVR1 mitochondrial DNA region, to represent female-biased gene flow, and nuclear microsatellites to illustrate biparental patterns.;Population genetic patterns within and among predefined spider monkey subpopulations and unbiased distance classes indicated a strong pattern of spatial autocorrelation in genetic similarity and extreme levels of inbreeding within social groups. This population also exhibited lower genetic diversity than spider monkey populations in less-disturbed forests. Together these phenomena suggest that the population is currently impacted by anthropogenic disturbance, but the relative impact of forest loss compared to other pressures, such as hunting, is not clear. This population will require forest preservation and the restoration of forest connectivity to ensure gene flow within and beyond Rivas.;Landscape genetic analyses provide further support for spatial autocorrelation within this population and highlight the importance of a spatial perspective when analyzing data from natural populations. Individual-based analyses of landscape resistance suggest that non-forest matrices comprise a barrier to gene flow for spider monkeys, but that open-canopy, naturally-regenerating stands support gene flow, and hence migratory movement. Additionally, spatially-informed, Bayesian clustering algorithms (Tess 2.3.1 and Geneland 3.2) proved more informative and less affected by deviations from Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium than algorithms that do not include this information (Structure 2.3.2). Results from these analyses also suggested that groups that are defined by expectations of home range size may contain more than one reproductive unit.;The landscape perspective used in this study provided an effective means to predict the response of wildlife species to land cover change. To encourage conservation practitioners and land managers to take a landscape perspective, I also provide a review of landscape connectivity modeling as applied to non-native forest plantations. Using least-cost path and circuit resistance modeling approaches, I demonstrated that the commercial forestry operations on the Rivas Isthmus in Nicaragua will have a significant impact on landscape connectivity for forest-dependent species like spider monkeys. It is likely that if existing forest is converted as planned, populations of native species will become isolated. However, landscape connectivity tools and techniques are very accessible and can be easily incorporated in the early stages of project planning. In the case of the Rivas Isthmus, an analysis of landscape connectivity proved to be a deciding factor for plantation development and helped conservation and forestry organizations find a common ground that meets both of their needs.